The Dallas Wings tipped off their inaugural season on the road with a 90-79 win over the Indiana Fever inside Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
After a shaky first-half, the Wings offense dominated in the second half outscoring the Fever 46-32.
“I think for us, kind of get a little bit better execution on offense”, said head coach Fred Williams. “I thought we took some early rushed shots. But luckily tonight they went down for us and it’s not going to go that way every game. I felt we have to get better at that end, be selective of taking quick shots, kind of work the ball around a little bit. We just really did a really good job of taking care of the ball defensively, I mean on the defensive end. Our rotation got better especially in the second half. Having Karima Christmas and Courtney Paris back for just two days, what we worked on, I saw a lot of positive things that they did out there, especially with Christmas going to the basket and posting up.”
Erin Phillips started the Wings off by banking a three to put the Wings up 3-2 early in the first quarter. Indiana took the lead mostly throughout, until the Wings went on a 10-0 run trimming down the fever lead by three, ending the first quarter 22-19.
“A hard fought game,” said 13-year veteran Plenette Pierson. “We came out to work hard to start our season off right. We were more aggressive. We started making shots, we got fouls called on them. That’s what helped us get the win.”
Pierson led the team in all points, going 7-for-11 from the field, scoring 17 points. Odyssey Sims, also saw double figures, shooting perfect behind the free throw line (10-for-10), tallying a total of 14 points.
Defensively, the Wings out rebounded the Fever with a total of 37, 26 of them on defense. Courtney Paris led the team with nine, while Sims and Karima Christmas had six.
Four Wings saw double figures that include Pierson and Sims. Christmas scored 13 points, while Theresa Plaisance scored twelve, shooting perfectly from the three point line going 2-for-2.
The Wings will head to New York tomorrow for back-to-back games, when they take on the Liberty inside Madison Square Garden tomorrow afternoon at 4 pm CT.