ARLINGTON, Texas — It came down to overtime on Sunday! The Dallas Wings were prevented from the clinching the fourth seed in the playoffs after Indiana's Kelsey Mitchell and Nalyssa Smith combined for 30, leading them to a 97-84 win on the Wings' home floor.
The Wings are now still looking to wrap up homecourt advantage in the first round.
Satou Sabally and Arike Ogunbowale scored 22 points apiece to lead Dallas (20-17). Natasha Howard scored 15 and Crystal Dangerfield added 11 points off the bench. Teaira McCowan totaled 12 points and 10 boards for her 11th double-double this season.
But it wasn't enough to combat Mitchell, who sank 10 of 20 shots from the floor, including 7 of 11 from beyond the arc for Indiana (12-25) and Smith, who made 12 of 18 shots with two 3-pointers. Aliyah Boston, the top pick in this year's draft, pitched in with 13 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. It was Boston's 10th double-double.
Dallas took a two-possession lead in the fourth before a Mitchell 3-pointer left Indiana trailing by a point with 3:28 remaining. Mitchell connected for a sixth time from behind the arc to tie it at 78-all with 26 seconds left. Dangerfield and Ogunbowale missed shots in the final three seconds for the Wings, forcing overtime.
Mitchell opened the extra period with her final 3-pointer as Indiana scored the first eight points and never trailed again.
“They won. We messed up on defensive assignments, missed a lot of good open looks, and things just went their way," said Dallas Wings head coach Latricia Trammell in her postgame interview.
Dallas clinched a playoff berth with a 110-100 victory over the Fever on Friday, Aug. 29 in Indianapolis.
Indiana will miss the playoffs for a seventh straight season, but the Fever's 12 victories this season are more than they had in the past two seasons combined.
Up next, the Wings take on the the number two team in the WNBA, the New York Liberty on Tuesday, Sept. 5. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. CT in Arlington at College Park Center.
