Sparks look to fend off Arike Ogunbowale, Wings

Field Level Media|published: Sun 26th May, 10:27 2024

May 15, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale (24) reacts after scoring during the fourth quarter against the Chicago Sky at College Park Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Sparks will close out a three-game homestand on Sunday night when they welcome the Dallas Wings, who are coming in for the second leg of a weekend back-to-back.

Dallas pounced on Phoenix early then weathered the host Mercury's attempted comeback in the second half en route to a 107-92 win on Saturday,

Arike Ogunbowale knocked down 7-of-12 3-point attempts on the way to 40 points, one shy of her career high. Maddy Siegrist added 22 points and nine rebounds.

Ogunbowale's scoring output on Saturday continued a red-hot start to her campaign. She has recorded least 24 points in all four Wings contests.

"That was probably one of my favorite games of all-time, just because of the calm in the storm," Dallas coach Latricia Trammell said. "I'll go to battle with you any freaking day."

The Wings (2-2) will look to carry over the momentum from a dominant fourth quarter on Saturday into Sunday's matchup with a Sparks (1-3), who sputtered in the final period the last time out.

Sparks coach Curt Miller referred to turnovers as Los Angeles' "Achilles' heel" through the early stretch of the season. The Sparks committed 19 turnovers in a 78-73 loss on Friday to the Indiana Fever and more turnovers (28) than made field goals (26) in Tuesday's 70-68 win over the Washington Mystics.

Dearica Hamby collected 18 points and 12 rebounds against Indiana, marking her third double-double in four games so far this season. She said team offensive struggles bleed onto the other side of the floor.

"We showed our vulnerability (due) to our youth," Hamby said following Friday's loss. "We let the frustration of not being able to score the ball dictate our defense."

Los Angeles comes into Sunday's contest allowing 81.8 points per game, which is good enough to rank in the upper half of the WNBA. At 76.5 points per game, the Sparks are the league's second-lowest scoring team.

Dallas, meanwhile, improved its per-game scoring output on the young season to 86.5 after Saturday's offensive deluge in Phoenix.

--Field Level Media

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