After a grueling stretch of six games in 11 days, the Dallas Wings are finally back in action following the All-Star break. And guess what? The revitalized and reenergized squad didn’t take long to make noise, snatching a dominant win over the Seattle Storm, despite entering the matchup with four players on the injury list. Even more impressive? That win came against a full-strength Storm roster sitting at 14-9, who had already claimed the first two meetings of the season. But while Paige Bueckers and company pulled off the 24-point blowout, head coach Chris Koclanes wasn’t quite satisfied just yet!
Well, that’s because, across all 13 WNBA teams, the race to the playoffs has officially begun, and Chris wants his team to sprint, not stroll, to the finish line. And don’t let that 7–16 record fool you because the Wings are as plucky as ever. It certainly helps when Arike Ogunbowale finds her rhythm from the perimeter, like she did in Dallas’ 87–63 stunner over the Storm at Climate Pledge Arena on Tuesday.
And it also helps when the Wings’ defense holds one of the top teams in the league to just 27 second-half points. So, you know it was this performance that marked Dallas’ first win of the second half of the 2025 season, and urged Chris Koclanes to make his expectations crystal clear. “Urgency” is the motto of this revitalised side.
“I’m not sure we started the game with urgency, but we responded with urgency,” Chris Koclanes said.
“I’m asking for urgency in each moment, each possession.”
Koclanes previously said the motto for the Wings’ second half is “urgency.”
— Joey Mistretta (@JoeyMistretta_) July 23, 2025
Well, that’s the aim Wings HC had set for the remainder of the season, and his team lived up to it in their win against the Storm. Dallas was led by Ogunbowale, who got 20 points from 4-of-6 shooting beyond the arc. But it was hardly a solo effort. This is one of those rare occasions this season when the entire team clicked together.
Still, it wasn’t as smooth as the final score suggests, as tensions ran high when things got physical between Nneka Ogwumike and Luisa Geiselsöder. With 3just over three minutes left in the third quarter, Ogwumike appeared to throw Geiselsöder to the floor as the latter established position for a defensive rebound. Ogwumike then lost her cool, pointing and shouting in the direction of both Geiselsöder and the referees as play moved down the court.
But Luisa? She didn’t back down as she stayed true to the team’s “urgency” mantra. She went on to deliver a crucial 13-point effort on 3-of-4 shooting from deep, helping the Wings hold firm as the first half of the game turned into a physical grind, just as both teams returned from the All-Star break.
From there, the Wings launched a blistering 14–2 run to open the third quarter and never looked back. Seattle mustered just 15 points in the frame compared to Dallas’ 32, handing the Wings a 15-point cushion heading into the fourth. And it only got better from there as Dallas’ defense clamped down, surrendering just 12 points in the final frame to secure the win. A big question is, can they keep up this consistency?
So, what can we expect from the Dallas Wings in the second half?
After that 87–63 statement win, Dallas is now hunting for one thing: consistency. And help is on the way as DiJonai Carrington has officially been upgraded to available after missing nine straight games due to a rib injury. Though her contribution in the win was modest—four points and six rebounds—she’s expected to ramp up quickly.
But just consider that before her injury on June 20, Carrington was more than just a starter as she averaged 11.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. And that helped her get cemented as one of the Wings’ most reliable two-way threats.
Jul 19, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Team Collier guard Paige Bueckers (5) and Team Collier forward Angel Reese (5) celebrate after defeating Team Clark in the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images
So, you know how the team has been failing on defense in her absence, as Myisha Hines-Allen put it, “She’s the head of the snake when it comes to defense… you’re definitely going to notice it from the start.” But now that Carrington is back, the Wings’ sisterhood on the court is finally reuniting—just in time to support rookie sensation Paige Bueckers, who has tied Caitlin Clark’s record as the fastest player to reach 300 points and 100 assists.
So now, it’s Arike, the 2024 All-Star MVP whose record was broken this year, returning to her dominant form, Carrington locking down on defense, and Paige Bueckers rewriting rookie milestones. It feels like a new life has been breathed into the Dallas Wings. But the elephant in the room is: Can they keep the genie in the bottle?
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