ARLINGTON — Wings coach Vickie Johnson said she didn’t talk to her players before Monday’s game against the New York Liberty about what a win would mean to the team.
But the Wings came out playing like they knew that a victory would clinch their spot in the playoffs.
Thanks to a great start and a stellar performance from guard Marina Mabrey, the Wings held off Sabrina Ionescu and New York to win 86-77 and locked in their place in the 2022 WNBA playoffs.
FIrst-round playoff games will take place Aug. 17-18. The Wings still have three regular-season games left.
Mabrey, who always plays with a marked aggression and confidence, was on another level Monday at the College Park Center. She pulled the springs of the offense like fellow Jersey native Bruce Springsteen strumming away on “Thunder Road.”
And when Dallas needed someone to step up, Mabrey put the team on her back and pulled the Wings out of a deficit to victory.
The Wings’ first quarter was one of their best opening periods of the season. They shot 10 of 16 from the field with Gray and McCowan — who earlier Monday won WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week award — each scoring six points while Dallas held the Liberty to only 26.3% shooting.
Down 24-13 after one quarter, New York started hacking away at the deficit early in the second period, but Dallas managed to maintain control the rest of the half.
The third quarter got shaky for the Wings. Both McCowan and Gray picked up technical fouls as the game started getting chippy.
But what really changed the game was the play of Ionescu, who popped off for 18 points in the quarter. The third-year pro was making stuff happen from all over the court, and Dallas couldn’t find any way to stop her productivity.
While the Wings couldn’t stop Ionescu, New York didn’t have any answers for Mabrey. She scored seven straight points at the end of the third and early fourth quarter to swing momentum back in Dallas’ favor.
But then she really took over. She scored 13 points in the final frame, directing the Wings’ offense from the point guard spot.
The final brushstroke to her masterpiece came with two minutes to go. The Liberty sent a double team, and Mabrey swung a pass to Gray deep in the corner for Dallas to go up 15. As Mabrey walked back down the court, she put her head to her clasped hands to wish New York good night.
Dallas had clinched its playoff berth last season against New York as well.
The victory was also Dallas’ fifth straight, which ties the longest streak in the history of the Wings.
Dallas has spent most of the past five games without All-Star guard Arike Ogunbowale and forward Satou Sabally. Sabally has been absent since July 12 due to an ankle injury.
Ogunbowale injured her ankle against Atlanta in the first game of the win streak. She finished the game, missed the next two games and returned against the Fever.
However, Ogunbowale injured her right hip in the fourth quarter Saturday and did not return to the game. Johnson said pregame that she has an abdominal strain, and she will not play the rest of the homestand. Her status after that is unknown.
“She’s feeling better,” Johnson said. “She’s walking, so that’s a great sign. She’s a warrior.”
Monday’s win not only clinched Dallas’ playoff spot, but also put the Wings in position to potentially finish with a winning record.
Dallas has never finished with a winning record since the franchise moved to North Texas ahead of the 2016 season. The closest the team ever got was the 2017 season when they finished with a 16-18 record.
Dating back to the franchise’s history in Tulsa and Detroit, there has been only one winning record since 2009, which was the team’s last year in the Motor City. That was the 2015 campaign in Tulsa when the team finished 18-16.
The last time Dallas had a five-game winning streak was over four years ago in July 2018. Allisha Gray and Kayla Thornton, like they have been for this year’s streak, were in the starting lineup for all five wins in 2018.
Nobody has played more minutes wearing a Wings uniform than Gray, who was the team’s first-round pick in 2017. She has seen the ups, the downs and everything in between. But she has never seen this.
“I’ve been here since the start of my rookie season and to finally see the light, it is good to feel like a winner and have a winning record rather than having a losing record,” Gray said pregame. “It finally feels good to feel like a winner.”
+++
Find more WNBA coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism