All five Dallas starters scored in double figures, including Maddy Siegrist, whose putback with 36.1 seconds left in regulation helped the Wings secure an 84-83 victory over the host Los Angeles Sparks on Sunday night.
Dallas (3-2) entered Sunday coming off Saturday’s 107-92 win over the Phoenix Mercury. Arike Ogunbowale scored a team-high 40 points in that contest, and she led the Wings again with 20 against Los Angeles.
However, Ogunbowale was just 7-for-30 from the field and 0-for-8 from 3-point range on Sunday.
But Dallas’ balanced attack made up for Ogunbowale’s season-low point total, as Monique Billings added 18 points and Siegrist finished with 15. Teaira McCowan and Sevgi Uzun rounded out the Wings’ starting five with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Billings hauled in 12 rebounds to record a double-double.
Rookie Cameron Brink paced the Sparks (1-4) with a game-high 21 points. Dearica Hamby added 19 points and 13 boards, while Lexie Brown netted 12 points.
Dallas outshot Los Angeles 42.1 percent to 39.5 percent overall. The Sparks only hit six treys — on 21 attempts — with three makes from deep coming from Brink.
Aari McDonald connected from deep with 5:25 remaining in the fourth quarter for a rare Sparks 3-pointer, cutting Los Angeles’ deficit to 74-73. Nearly a minute later, things were tied at 76-all after Sparks center Li Yueru converted a three-point play.
Hamby broke the tie with a layup, but a Siegrist free throw and four points from Billings put the Wings up 81-78 with 2:04 to go.
Brink answered with two free throws to make it a one-point game ahead of Siegrist’s pivotal putback, and Dallas hung on from there.
Brown canned a triple with 1.5 seconds remaining to make things appear closer than they actually were.
Ogunbowale scored 13 of her points in the first half, helping the Wings take a 49-42 advantage into the break. Dallas led by as many as 12 in the third quarter.
–Field Level Media