Shorthanded Liberty Comeback Falls Just Short vs. Wings
The Dallas Wings proved to be just a little too spicy for the shorthanded New York Liberty.
With All-Star Breanna Stewart seated alongside depth stars Kennedy Burke and Nyara Sabally, the Liberty dropped a 92-82 decision to the Wings on Monday night in Arlington. Arike Ogunbowale scored 20 points to share the team lead wth Paige Bueckers and dished out a career-best 14 assists, most of them coming in a first half offensive barrage that rendered College Park Center euphoric.
The Liberty managed to clean things up in a comeback that fell just short, whittling what was a 30-point deficit down to six before the clock and the reinsertion of Dallas starters intervened. Jonquel Jones had 18 points in defeat to lead the team, one ahead of Sabrina Ionescu, who earned all but one of her tallies in the improved second half.
No matter how many women were missing, New York (17-8) more than likely won't be pleased with its defensive efforts in the first half, one that saw Dallas go up by 27 by intermission. Eight Liberty turnovers became 18 points for the Wings while the seafoam savants were outrebounded by nine, as three different North Texans (Bueckers and reserves Grace Berger and Li Yueru) had at least four boards.
The Wings (8-19) took early control with a 16-2 lead before four minutes had gone by, never losing the lead after Bueckers opened scoring with a successful Bueckers and-one. Dallas shot over 58 percent over the first 20 minutes and scored more than half of its 63 points in the paint, mirroring an issue that haunted the Liberty in its prior loss against Los Angeles on Saturday.
Part two of this four-game road trip will send the Liberty north as they take on the Minnesota Lynx at Target Center (8 p.m. ET, ESPN). It'll be the first of four WNBA Finals rematches set to be staged between now and Aug. 19.
Geoff Magliocchetti is a veteran sportswriter who contributes to a variety of sites on the "On SI" network. In addition to the Yankees/Mets, Geoff also covers the New York Knicks, New York Liberty, and New York Giants and has previously written about the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Staten Island Yankees, and NASCAR.