Arike Ogunbowale scored all of her game-high 24 points in the second half and Jessica Shepard had a triple-double with 18 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists as the Dallas Wings defeated the host Portland Fire 101-97 on Wednesday night in the final game before the WNBA’s All-Star break.
Reigning Rookie of the Year Paige Bueckers returned after a one-game absence to add 21 points for the Wings (18-9), who have won seven of their past eight games. Bueckers missed Monday’s 99-98 overtime loss to the New York Liberty after hitting her head on the floor a night earlier in a victory against the Los Angeles Sparks.
Maddy Siegrist came off the bench to score 14 points and Azzi Fudd added 11.
Megan DiLeo — formerly Gustafson before getting married over the weekend — led the expansion Fire (11-16) with 21 points. Bridget Carleton added 18 points, Frieda Buhner 15, Carla Leite 12 and Karlie Samuelson 10.
A 3-pointer by Bueckers gave the Wings an 83-73 lead with 8:05 left in regulation, the first double-digit advantage by either team.
Two free throws by Ogunbowale midway through the quarter made it 90-79.
The Fire scored nine of the next 10 points, pulling within 91-88 on Samuelson’s 3-pointer with 2:34 to go.
Fudd, the No. 1 overall pick in this spring’s draft, and Bueckers sank back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 99-90 with 1:21 remaining.
Portland still wouldn’t quit. A 3-pointer by Carleton and layups by DiLeo and Samuelson made it a two-point game with 32 seconds left. Carleton missed a 15-foot turnaround that would’ve tied it with 3 seconds to go.
Siegrist sank two free throws with 0.7 seconds remaining for the final margin.
The Wings shot 48.6% from the field (35 of 72), including 12 of 30 from 3-point range. The Fire shot 56.9% (37 of 65) and were 10 of 26 from distance. Dallas had a 35-22 rebounding edge.
After the Wings trailed 42-40 at the half, Ogunbowale opened the third quarter with back-to-back 3-pointers and later converted a three-point play to give Dallas a six-point advantage.
The Fire got within a point on a Buhner trey before Bueckers and Ogunbowale twice made back-to-back baskets. A layup by Siegrist gave the Wings a 76-69 lead heading into the fourth.
Early in the second quarter, a 3-pointer by Siegrist and a three-point play by Li Yueru extended Dallas’ advantage to six points. The Fire rallied and pulled ahead on a 3-pointer by Samuelson before the Wings went back out front. DiLeo’s trey tied the score and Leite made a driving layup with 8 seconds left to put the hosts up at the intermission.
The Wings led 18-17 after a back-and-forth first quarter. Portland made an early 7-0 run, including a 3-pointer by Buhner to take an 11-3 lead. Dallas scored 10 straight points later in the quarter, capped by 3s from Siegrest and Bueckers, to pull ahead.
–Field Level Media
