It was a physical battle in a sold out College Park Center but the Dallas Wings fell short as A’ja Wilson’s 36 point game pushed the Aces over the Wings 95-81.
Arike Ogunbowale led the Wings with 31 points, four rebounds, seven assists and four steals. Teaira McCowan recorded her first three-pointer in tonight’s matchup while also having a double-double of 14 points and 15 rebounds.
The Las Vegas Aces got off to a hot start at the College Park Center, with A’ja Wilson dominating by scoring 14 points in the first quarter alone. Following a 5-0 run by Vegas, Dallas had an opportunity to cut the deficit when a shooting foul was called on rookie Kate Martin, sending Maddy Siegrist to the line, where she converted both attempts, bringing the score to 11-27.
However, the Aces’ defense posed a significant challenge for the Wings, as their field goal percentage fell to 19%. As they settled into the second quarter, they improved to 34.2%, thanks to contributions from Teaira McCowan and Arike Ogunbowale.
Ogunbowale hit back-to-back threes to make it a 10-point game with 3:53 on the clock, 29-39. Siegrist, showing improvement from last season, is now considered one of the team’s reliable shooters. In the final seconds of the quarter, Siegrist hit a crucial three-pointer, followed by a two-pointer from McCowan, narrowing the Wings’ deficit to seven points. The Wings went into halftime down 42-47.
Each time it seemed like the Wings were within striking distance, Las Vegas extended their lead. Kelsey Plum and A’ja Wilson played pivotal roles in the Aces pulling away with a 19-point lead, both scoring in double digits alongside Jackie Young and newcomer Tiffany Hayes.
With a little over two minutes left in the game, leading scorer Ogunbowale staged a comeback for the Wings, making back-to-back two-pointers followed by a successful layup from rookie Stephanie Soares. On the next play, Ogunbowale passed down low to Monique Billings, who made the layup, bringing the score to 79-90. However, it wasn’t enough to overcome the defending champs. Young made two consecutive layups to seal the game at 94-79.
Arike Ogunbowale acknowledged post game that A’ja Wilson is such a great player that you can’t stop her, but only limit her. As far as it goes for her and the Dallas squad, she said they need to do a better job at defending the ball.
“We are playing against great defenders every night, you are never going against a team that cannot hold their defense,” said Ogunbowale. “We just have to be smarter and take care of the ball. Starting with me.”
UP NEXT: The Dallas Wings will travel to Los Angeles to take on the Sparks Friday, tip-off is set for 9 p.m. at Crypto.com Arena.
Arike Ogunbowale led the Wings with 31 points, four rebounds, seven assists and four steals. Teaira McCowan recorded her first three-pointer in tonight’s matchup while also having a double-double of 14 points and 15 rebounds.
The Las Vegas Aces got off to a hot start at the College Park Center, with A’ja Wilson dominating by scoring 14 points in the first quarter alone. Following a 5-0 run by Vegas, Dallas had an opportunity to cut the deficit when a shooting foul was called on rookie Kate Martin, sending Maddy Siegrist to the line, where she converted both attempts, bringing the score to 11-27.
However, the Aces’ defense posed a significant challenge for the Wings, as their field goal percentage fell to 19%. As they settled into the second quarter, they improved to 34.2%, thanks to contributions from Teaira McCowan and Arike Ogunbowale.
Ogunbowale hit back-to-back threes to make it a 10-point game with 3:53 on the clock, 29-39. Siegrist, showing improvement from last season, is now considered one of the team’s reliable shooters. In the final seconds of the quarter, Siegrist hit a crucial three-pointer, followed by a two-pointer from McCowan, narrowing the Wings’ deficit to seven points. The Wings went into halftime down 42-47.
Each time it seemed like the Wings were within striking distance, Las Vegas extended their lead. Kelsey Plum and A’ja Wilson played pivotal roles in the Aces pulling away with a 19-point lead, both scoring in double digits alongside Jackie Young and newcomer Tiffany Hayes.
With a little over two minutes left in the game, leading scorer Ogunbowale staged a comeback for the Wings, making back-to-back two-pointers followed by a successful layup from rookie Stephanie Soares. On the next play, Ogunbowale passed down low to Monique Billings, who made the layup, bringing the score to 79-90. However, it wasn’t enough to overcome the defending champs. Young made two consecutive layups to seal the game at 94-79.
Arike Ogunbowale acknowledged post game that A’ja Wilson is such a great player that you can’t stop her, but only limit her. As far as it goes for her and the Dallas squad, she said they need to do a better job at defending the ball.
“We are playing against great defenders every night, you are never going against a team that cannot hold their defense,” said Ogunbowale. “We just have to be smarter and take care of the ball. Starting with me.”
UP NEXT: The Dallas Wings will travel to Los Angeles to take on the Sparks Friday, tip-off is set for 9 p.m. at Crypto.com Arena.
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SportsTranscript
00:00It was a physical battle out here in the sold-out College Park Center, but the
00:08Dallas Wings fell short as Asha Wilson's 36-point game pushed the Las Vegas Aces
00:12over the Wings 95 to 81. Arike Ongumawali led the Wings with 31 points,
00:184 rebounds, 7 assists, and 4 steals, while Tiara McCowan recorded her first
00:22three-pointer in tonight's matchup, while also having a double-double of 14 points
00:27and 15 rebounds. Arike acknowledged postgame that Asha Wilson is so good you
00:32can't stop her but only limit her, but as far as it goes for her and the Dallas
00:35squad, they need to do a better job at protecting the ball. She's a great player,
00:38two-time MVP, and you can only try to limit her, you can't really stop her, you
00:43know, that's how good of a player she is, and we kind of, and it takes team defense,
00:47it's not just one person, whoever's guarding her, it's not like Asha
00:50scoring on her, she's scoring on the whole team, and we have to help whoever's
00:53guarding her, so it has to be team defense against a player like that, but she did
00:56great. Up next, the Wings will hit the road to Los Angeles to take on the
00:59Sparks at Crypto.com Arena Friday night, tip-off is set for 9 p.m. For all things
01:04Dallas Wings, make sure to tune in to Spectrum Cable Channel 15 every
01:07Wednesday and Thursday night. I'm Lyss Marquez with D210 Sports, and you've
01:11just been Credentialed.