By: Jonathan Donville

The Dallas Wings are looking for some revenge as they take on the Washington Mystics on Sunday at College Park Center.

Dallas dropped the first meeting of the season against the Mystics on June 2^nd by a score of 75-74. Duncanville, Texas native, Ariel Atkin, sank five free-throws in the final 25 seconds of the game to seal the victory for Washington. The good news for Dallas is that the CPC has been kind to them so far this season, as they enter Sunday’s game with a 5-2 record at home.

The Wings return home after a three-game swing to the West Coast that saw them drop a pair of games to the Los Angeles Sparks before rebounding to defeat the Phoenix Mercury. Dallas enters the game in the sixth spot in the WNBA standings at 7-8, two spots behind the Mystics who sit fourth at 9-5.

Dallas will hope to carry their defensive form into the Mystics game, as they held the Mercury to a season low 62 on Tuesday, including just 11 in the fourth quarter. The Wings also got standout performances from their big three offensively, including All-Star starters Satou Sabally and Arike Ogunbowale. Ogunbowale had 23 points including nine in the deciding fourth quarter, while Sabally and Natasha Howard both had double-double’s, with 18 and 19 points, respectively.

The game will be a matchup of two of the best units in the league. The Wings bring their fourth ranked offense into the contest, scoring 84 points per game with the fifth best offensive rating. Meanwhile, the Mystics boast the best defense in the league, both by opponents points and defensive rating.

The challenge for the Wings will be to contain the remarkable depth across the Mystics starting lineup. Four of the five Mystics starters are currently averaging double figures, led by Elena Delle Donne (18.6 points) and followed by Ariel Atkins (11.9), Natasha Cloud (11.0) and Brittney Sykes (10.6). Shakira Austin who was a regular starter for the Mystics suffered a hip injury last week and has been ruled out for the foreseeable future.

That five-player lineup for the Mystics has played an impressive 182 minutes together already this season, posting the best defensive rating of any five-player lineup that has played more than 30 minutes together.

Luckily for the Wings, their new-look starting lineup of Crystal Dangerfield, Howard, Teaira McCowan, Ogunbowale and Sabally has the third best defensive rating in their 65 minutes played. When both those units are on the floor, points may be hard to come by.

A specific battle to watch will be on the offensive glass, where the Mystics allow the fewest second chance points in the league. Dallas’s 11.9 offensive rebounds per contest is two full boards more than the next closest team and nearly double the Mystics, who average just 6.5 offensive rebounds.

Dallas made roster moves this week to supplement that lineup as well, as the team welcomed back Odyssey Sims to a rest-of-season contract and locked in Kalani Brown as well. The pair of former Baylor Lady Bears have performed well this season for Dallas and will be counted on to bring energy and production off the bench.

After the contest on Sunday, Dallas will prepare for a home and home set against the league leading Las Vegas Aces.