ARLINGTON, TX — The blueprint for the Dallas Wings’ 88-77 loss to the New York Liberty (20-10) reverted back to May specifications, as Dallas started slow, fell behind by close to 20 points, then attempted a frantic comeback late in the game, only to come up short in the end.
The Wings (8-23) were once again left with a big bag of what-ifs as they walked off the floor at College Park Center on Friday, having lost two of the team’s three meetings with the defending champion Liberty, all in the last two weeks. Dallas whittled what was once a 19-point Liberty lead in the second quarter all the way down to three points late in the third, but the Wings didn’t have the juice to come all the way back.
Budding rookie superstar Paige Bueckers sat out of the loss after carrying a “questionable” injury designation all the way until 30 minutes before game time. They’re calling it a back issue on the injury report, and it’s hard to get grumpy about handling the last month or so of the season with some measure of caution surrounding Bueckers’ workload down the stretch.
After taking a 50-34 lead at half, the Liberty let the Wings back into the game in the third. Six straight points from Arike Ogunbowale midway through the third brought Dallas back to within 54-44 after she went just 1-of-7 in the first half. Then Luisa Geiselsoder hit her first 3-pointer of the game with 3:35 left in the third to bring Dallas back within seven, down just 56-49 at the time.
Grace Berger mixed in a couple of driving makes after missing her first three attempts in the first half. Her second sneak-attack drive pulled the Wings to within 56-51 with three minutes left in the third.
The first half came down to a simple proposition between the two teams, headed in opposite directions this year. The Wings couldn’t manufacture any offense without Bueckers, who scored 21 and 20 points in the previous two games against the Liberty this season, and they couldn’t stop the Liberty from getting the shot they wanted on the other end.
“We came out with a lot more intention to get out in transition,” Ogunbowale said. “That started with getting stops. If we can put two halfs together like [Friday’s] second half, we’re in good shape, but I think that’s been the story all along this year. Putting two halves together, four quarters together. We’ll use these last five weeks just locking into that and just building.”
Ogunbowale scored 12 of her 17 points in the third quarter of the loss, and Maddie Siegriest scored 15 in her second game back from a knee injury that kept her out most of the season, following her 13-point performance against this same New York team in her first game back on Tuesday. Sabrina Ionescu led six Liberty players in double figures in the win.
All that’s left to do for Dallas is to avoid getting Bueckers hurt in the 13 remaining games on the schedule and to sort out who on this roster needs to be here with her next year. It would be nice — sure — to see progress being made in terms of win-loss record in the early post-Bueckers portion of this rebuild. At times, it looks like that’s happening, and at times, like Friday, it reverts back to a prior build.