ARLINGTON, TX – The Dallas Wings will complete their week on the road starting with an afternoon matchup against the Los Angeles Sparks. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT, and can be seen via the WNBA’s league pass.
ON THE ROAD
The Wings will head west for a two-game road trip against the Sparks and the Storm. Overall while traveling, the Wings are 4-5 with wins over Atlanta, Indiana, Las Vegas and New York. The Wings are 1-4 against the west on the road. Away from College Park Center, the Wings are averaging 83.5 points per game. the dynamic duo of Skylar Diggins-Smith and Liz Cambage lead all scorers on the road, combining for over 40 points per game. Both Diggins-Smith and Cambage reached career highs while on the road. During their first contest against New York on 5/29, Cambage recorded 28 points to tie her career high. On 6/8, Skylar Diggins-Smith recorded a career-high 35 points against the Fever. It marked as her seventh 30-point career game, to tie her for first in franchise history with Deanna Nolan.
AGAINST THE WEST
The Wings are 5-7 against the Western Conference so far this season, including 4-3 at home. The Wings currently own the series against Las Vegas with a 2-0 record. The team’s largest margin of victory over western conference teams is 29, when the Wings beat the Sparks 101-72 at home. The Wings were led by the bench, which scored 39 points in the victory. They tied that margin of victory with a 101-72 blowout win over the Phoenix Mercury on 7/10. The Wings begin a two-game road trip against the Los Angeles Sparks and the Seattle Storm. The Wings have split the season series so far with both teams 1-1.
AGAINST THE SPARKS
This afternoon’s contest marks as the final time the Wings and Sparks will play against each other for the regular season. So far this season the series is tied at 1-1. The Wings victory over the fourth ranked Sparks occurred in their first meeting at home with a 101-72 victory, the largest win at that point of the season. The Wings were led by Liz Cambage who scored 20 points on 9-for-10 from the field.
FOUR GAME WIN STREAK
The Wings are currently on a four-game winning streak, which ranks as their longest of the season and the longest in franchise history. They have picked up wins over the Sky, the Fever, the Liberty and most recently the Mercury. The Wings own the season series against the Fever, with a 2-0 record, while they beat the Liberty on the road in their most recent contest to even the season series at 1-1. Against the Sky, the Wings scored a season-high 108 points which included 62 points in the paint. The Wings look to continue their win streak as they head west to take on the Los Angeles Sparks and the Seattle Storm. With wins over both teams, the Wings can take the season series.
WHERE WE STAND
The Wings are currently sixth in the WNBA standings with an 11-8 record, including 7-3 at home. Since moving to Dallas, the Wings have never finished above seventh in the final standings. In their inaugural season, the Wings finished 11th in the league before improving to seventh in the 2017 season. The Wings are looking to record their first winning season since moving to the DFW area. The Wings are currently in line to make the playoffs for the second straight season.
TEXAS TWO-STEP
Liz Cambage and Skylar Diggins-Smith continue to lead the Wings and rank as one of the top duos in the league. The duo combined for a season-high 58 points in the win against the Indiana Fever. Cambage is fourth in the league at 20.1 points, while Diggins-Smith is eighth in the WNBA in scoring, averaging 19.3 points per contest. Their combined 39.4 points per game makes the pair the third-highest scoring duo in the WNBA. Diggins-Smith is third in the league in assists with 6.2 assists per game, while Cambage is second in the WNBA averaging 9.6 rebounds per game and third in the league with 1.8 blocks per game. In the duos most recent victory, they combined for 33 points in a blowout win over the Phoenix Mercury. Diggins-Smith led the duo with 20 points, while Cambage added 13 points. The pair is set to be the highest scoring duo in Wings franchise history and will look to continue as one of the best duos in the entire WNBA against Phoenix on Tuesday.
ROOKIE ON A ROLL
Rookie Azurá Stevens has recorded double digits in four straight games, including a new career high in the Wings victory on 7/5 over Indiana. The UCONN grad poured in 26 points to record her first WNBA 20-point game, which led the Wings to their ninth overall win for the season. Stevens made her first career start against the Los Angeles Sparks. The 22-year-old Stevens was drafted with the sixth pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft and came off the bench for the first 10 games of the season. In her first start, Stevens scored 13 points on 5-for-8 from the field, including 3-for-5 from downtown. The 6-foot-6 phenom also tied a career high for the third time this season, with six rebounds. She now sits fifth in the league for rookie leaders in total boards. The rookie is has picked her scoring average from 6.6 points to now 8.4 points per game. She also recorded a career-high seven rebounds against the Mercury and now averages 3.9 rebounds per game. She is second among rookies with 0.95 blocks per contest. She also leads the Wings in three-point percentage, shooting 34.9 percent on the season.
SHE’S GOT THE POWER
Aerial Powers recorded her third double-digit game of the season, with a career-high 18 points on 6-for-11 shooting off the bench in a blowout win over the Phoenix Mercury. After missing the first seven games, Powers has been a spark off the bench since her return. She is averaging 6.8 points per game and has scored in double figures in two of her last three contests. Powers averaged 10.8 points in 12 games a season ago, while she scored in double figures 15 times her rookie season in 2016.