SEATTLE, WA – The Dallas Wings round out their west coast road trip tonight, when they take on the Seattle Storm. Tonight’s matchup will be the third time both teams will meet for the 2018 season. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT/6 p.m. PST and can be seen on the WNBA’s league pass.
ON THE ROAD
The Wings wrap up their two-game road trip against the Storm. Overall while traveling, the Wings are 5-5 with wins over Atlanta, Indiana, Las Vegas, New York and Los Angeles. The Wings are 2-4 against the west on the road. Away from College Park Center, the Wings are averaging 84.4 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 6-7 against the Western Conference so far this season, including 4-3 at home. With their most recent victory over the Sparks, the Wings took the season series 2-1. 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 wrap up their road trip against the Storm.
AGAINST THE STORM
Tonight’s contest marks as the third time the Wings and Storm will meet up for the season and 64th time overall. Currently the 2018 series is tied at 1-1. In the first meeting of the season, the Wings picked up a 94-90 victory behind the All-Star duo of Skylar Diggins-Smith and Liz Cambage who combined for 52 points. Diggins-Smith scored 27 points, while Cambage added 25. After tonight’s game, the Wings will have one more matchup against the storm scheduled as the final game of the season.
FIVE GAME WIN STREAK
The Wings are currently on a five-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, the Mercury and most recently the Sparks. 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. During the five-game win streak, the Wings are averaging a 20.8 win differential with three wins coming by more than 20 points. The Wings look to continue their win streak as they head west to take on the Storm.
WHERE WE STAND
The Wings are currently sit in fourth place in the WNBA standings with an 12-8 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.
SKY’S THE LIMIT
Skylar Diggins-Smith scored 32 points on the road against the New York Liberty. She recorded her 54th career 20-point game and her eighth career 30-point game on the road. In both categories, Diggins-Smith moved ahead of Deanna Nolan for the lead in franchise history. Against the Lynx, she moved ahead of Swin Cash as the second-highest scorer in franchise history. Diggins-Smith scored a career-high 35 points, grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds and added six assists against the Fever on June 8. The game was her second straight 25/5/5 game after she scored 27 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished out seven assists. Before the two performances, there had never been a 25/5/5 game in Wings history. Her 6.3 assists per game are on pace to break the Wings franchise record in assists per game which is currently held by Temeka Johnson with 4.7 assists per contest. Her 19.3 points per game puts her in second all-time for the Wings. Diggins-Smith, a 2017 First-Team All-WNBA selection, ranks in the top three for the Wings in points, assists, blocks, steals and leads the WNBA in minutes per game. She also leads the team and ranks ninth in the league in free throw percentage at 87.2 percent. Diggins-Smith has recorded three straight 20-point games, her longest streak of the season.
AUSSIE BOOM
In the most recent home game against the Chicago Sky, Cambage recorded a career-high 37 points on 16-for-20 from the field. She also recorded her seventh double-double of the season. Against the Lynx, Cambage recorded her 1,000th career point midway through the second quarter. She finished the game with 14 points and five rebounds in just the first half. She did not play in the second half due to an eye injury. Earlier in June, Cambage earned WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week with a 23-point performance against Indiana that marked her third straight 20-point game at the time. She also tied a career-high with 28 points and grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds against the Las Vegas Aces. The performance marked her second of the season with at least 25 points and 15 rebounds. She also tied a career-high with 28 points and added 16 boards against the New York Liberty on 5/29. The 2011 WNBA All-Star ranks third in the league with 1.8 blocks per contest and ranks second in the WNBA in rebounding at 9.6 rebounds per game. She leads the Wings and is fourth in the league in scoring with 20.1 points per game. Cambage’s 19.7 points per game would be second in Wings history behind Skylar Diggins-Smith’s 2014 mark, while Cambage’s 7.5 defensive rebounds per contest would set a Wings record.
ROOKIE ON A ROLL
Rookie Azurá Stevens has recorded double digits in five 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 has picked her scoring average from 6.6 points to now 8.8 points per game. She also recorded a career-high seve n rebounds against the Mercury and now averages 3.9 rebounds per game. She is second among rookies with 1.0 blocks per contest. She is second on the Wings in three-point percentage, shooting 32.3 percent on the season.