Arlington, TX – This Sunday afternoon, the Dallas Wings look to tie the 2017 series over the Chicago Sky inside College Park Center for a 3:30 pm tip-off.
LAST TIME AGAINST THE SKY
On July 12, the Wings and Sky met up for the first time this season in Chicago. In a close first half, the Wings came out on top with a four point lead. Allisha Gray lit up the court, scoring 11 points in the second quarter, to assist the team with the lead. In the second half, the Sky found daylight and took command, to take game one of the series, 90-84.
AGAINST THE EAST
When facing eastern conference opponents, the Wings are 4-6 this season, taking wins over Indiana, Washington, Connecticut and Atlanta. Three of the wins occurred at College Park Center. The 4-6 mark ranks as the best record overall, under the Wings name against eastern conference opponents. The four wins beats last year’s total wins against the East, which was three. Last season, the Wings ended the year with a 3-12 record against the East.
THE HEAT IS ON
With their 9-11 record, the Wings are currently amongst the top teams in the league at eighth place overall, and remain in the playoff hunt. In the last four games in June, the team won four straight to end the month with a 5-6 record, matching the exact record they held last season walking into the month of July.
ROCKING RESERVES
Off the bench, the Wings reserves are coming off strong and assisting the team in total points scored, total rebounds and take aways. Kayla Thornton and Kaela Davis have become a big threat when it comes to Wings reserves. In the 20 games played, they are averaging 7.8 (Thornton) and 7.1 (Davis) points per game, while averaging 3.5 (Thornton) and 1.7 (Davis) total boards per game. After missing almost a month of action, Courtney Paris has come back and has come off the bench taking the court by storm. In her first game back, Paris saw a little over five minutes of play and recorded four points, five total rebounds and two assists. In the three games, she has played in after coming back, she is averaging 4.3 points per game, along with 4.3 total rebounds.
REACH FOR THE SKY
Skylar Diggins-Smith has been instrumental this season. This week, Diggins-Smith has recorded back-to-back 20-point games, to push her up the ranks in league leaders. With the 17.9 points per game, she went up two notches and now sits eighth overall in league leaders and remains in the top five at fourth in total assists leaders averaging 5.8 per game. On 6/23, she recorded her first 30-point game of the season leading the Wings to their seventh victory of the season. The last 30-point game she recorded was on 6/28/15, when she scored 31 points against Seattle. The 30 points scored is four points shy of her career high which also took place against San Antonio on 7/22/14. Was awarded Player of the Week for the week of June 26.
TEAM STATS
The Wings are now 9-11 as they continue the second half of the season. In the league, they are ranked eighth and in the final playoff spot as of today.
WATCH US WORK
Tomorrow’s broadcast will be seen on Live Access via Twitter.