Dallas Wings fell 86-76 after Golden State Valkyries' rally in the second half

CBS News

a day ago

Dallas got off to a great start, but a second-half rally by Golden State, in which the Valkyries scored 56 points, pushed them past the Wings 86-76 on Friday night.
After being held to 30 points in the first half and falling behind by 12 early in the second half, the Valkyries scored 33 points in the third quarter to take a 63-60 lead heading to the fourth.
The Wings stayed within five points early in the fourth quarter and tied it at 71 on a short floater from Paige Bueckers.
Golden State led 75-72 with under three minutes remaining when Temi Fagbenle grabbed an offensive rebound to keep a possession alive. Her layup and subsequent three-point play gave the Valkyries a 78-72 lead.
Hayes made 5 of 6 free throws and Veronica Burton added 3 of 4 down the stretch wrap up the victory.
Dallas shot over 40% for the fourth straight game and made double-digit threes for the third consecutive game, but had a tough time at the charity stripe and with rebounds Friday night.
During a post-game press conference, Bueckers touched on the missed free throws, layups and rebounding battle against the Valkyries.
"They got more offensive rebounds than us and a lot of them were at pivotal points in the game, so all things we can control and all things we can fix and improve on," Bueckers said.
Despite the loss, rookie Bueckers led all scorers with 17 points, Arike Ogunbowale had 16, Aziaha James had 13 and Haley Jones had 10.
With Friday's loss, the Wings remain 12th out of 13 teams in the overall WNBA standings with a record of 7-18 on the season.
Dallas returns home to Arlington at College Park Center to begin a four-game homestretch, starting on Sunday when the Wings host the Las Vegas Aces. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT.