MONTVILLE, Conn. — The Dallas Wings fell to the Connecticut Sun 93-68 in Game 1 of their first-round series Thursday night.
Third-seeded Connecticut pulled away in the third quarter, scoring 13 straight points to build a 64-45 lead. The sixth-seeded Wings went five-plus minutes without a field goal in the third quarter, and the Sun closed the frame on a 17-5 run for an 18-point lead.
“They were aggressive. We had two turnovers, they got out in transition early and we allowed our offense to dictate our defense. And that should never like that," Dallas Wings Head Coach Vickie Johnson said about the Sun's third-quarter run. "Our defense should dictate everything. They don’t score, we don’t score, but we allowed missed shots and missed opportunities to prevent us from getting back in transition. Closing out long, being on the nail, being in our team defense. We can’t win like that, there is no way we can win like that. So, we got to go back to details, doing the little things from the beginning to the end of the game.”
Game 2 of the best-of-three series is Sunday at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT. It will air on ABC Channel 8 at 11 a.m.
“We’ve been working the entire season to be here, so we don’t want to squander this opportunity,” Connecticut Sun forward Jonquel Jones said of the home-court advantage. “We got to come up with that right intensity.”
PHOTOS: Jonquel Jones has 19 points, Sun clip Wings 93-68 in Game 1
Dallas scoring leader Arike Ogunbowale sat out while recovering from abdominal surgery.
The Wings got a boost when Satou Sabally played in her first game since July 12. Sabally scored 10 points in the first half, including a half-court heave to beat the first-quarter buzzer, but she went scoreless after halftime.
Allisha Gray led Dallas with 17 points. Tyasha Harris added 13 points and Marina Mabrey had 11.
Johnson said the Wings need to work on energy and effort going into Game 2 of the series.
"That is the biggest thing for me: playing together as a team and believing in each other, and holding each other accountable in the right way, and executing on both sides of the basketball. I want to see the team that I saw in LA, against Las Vegas, in Chicago, New York. That team. The team that came back and beat Indiana in overtime. That team believed and played together. They believed that they could win, and I want to see that team on Sunday," said Johnson.
If you want to help cheer on the Wings Sunday, join the watch party at Texas Live!, located at 1650 E Randol Mill Road in Arlington at 10:45 a.m.
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