‘You Have To Own The Glass’: How Dallas Wings Plan To Rewrite The Script In Atlanta Dream Rematch

ATLANTA — The Dallas Wings (3-2) continue their three-game road swing Friday night against the Atlanta Dream (2-1) at Gateway Center Arena, with tip-off at 6:30 p.m. CT on ION.

Dallas arrives off a 99-89 statement win in Chicago that ended a six-game skid against the Sky and produced the franchise’s first road victory in the city since August 2, 2022. It was also the Wings’ first win over the Sky in any setting since May 15, 2024, and the first time Dallas had cleared 99 points against Chicago in the regular season since July 2, 2021. The offensive surge fits a broader trend — the Wings have hit 90 or more points in three of their first five games this season.

The Chicago win was authored by a triple-double from Jessica Shepard — 18 points, 10 rebounds, and a career-high 12 assists — the first triple-double of the 2026 WNBA season and just the third in Wings franchise history. Her 12 assists tied Veronica Burton for the most by any player in a single league game through May 20. Paige Bueckers added 24 points, Arike Ogunbowale matched her season high with 23, and reserve center Li Yueru swung the matchup with a plus-18 in 19 minutes against Kamilla Cardoso.

Ogunbowale also etched herself into the league record book that night. Her first assist of the game pushed her past 900 for her career, making her the fastest player in WNBA history to reach 4,500 points, 900 assists, and 300 steals — a 229-game climb that surpassed Diana Taurasi’s previous mark of 242.

The rematch with Atlanta carries weight. The Dream won the season’s first meeting 77-72 at College Park Center on May 12, controlling the glass 44-34, snaring 11 offensive rebounds, and getting 26 points and four 3-pointers from Allisha Gray. The Wings shot 4-of-26 from deep that night and managed just 13 points in the fourth quarter. Atlanta leads the all-time series 30-20 and holds an 18-7 edge in home meetings. The Wings haven’t won at Gateway Center Arena since September 10, 2023.

The Dream enter Friday on the back of an 85-84 home-opener loss to the Las Vegas Aces on Sunday at State Farm Arena. Gray paced Atlanta with 26, and Tehina Paopao chipped in 19. Head coach Karl Smesko is 32-15 in the regular season across parts of two seasons running the program.

Jose Fernandez Centers the Game Plan on Physicality and the Glass

Head coach Jose Fernandez boiled the rematch down to three priorities: limit Gray, fix transition defense, and dominate the rebounding margin.

“We gave up those two big threes. We’ve got to do a really, really good job on Allisha Gray. Transition defense, stopping the point of attack has been huge. And you have to own the glass,” Fernandez said.

The defensive fix, in his view, is primarily a toughness issue.

“We’ve just got to be more physical. Our guards have to get in there, hit guys and rebound collectively. That’s going to be the biggest thing,” Fernandez said.

Containing Angel Reese is the parallel front. Reese finished the first meeting with 16 rebounds, eight on the offensive end, and converted Dallas’ size disadvantage into 16 second-chance points for Atlanta. The Wings’ Wednesday response to Cardoso in Chicago — leaning on Yueru’s length to wall off the paint and stretch the floor on the other end — offered a possible template, though Atlanta’s frontcourt pairs Reese with reigning Sixth Player of the Year Naz Hillmon and brings a different look than the Sky.

Arike Ogunbowale Zeroes In on Paint and Late-Game Discipline

Ogunbowale logged 35 minutes and 20 points in the loss to Atlanta on May 12. She said the difference came down to two areas: Atlanta’s interior advantage and the Wings’ second-half breakdowns containing Dream guards.

“Yeah, I think they did really well on the boards, and then they got in the paint last game,” Ogunbowale said. “So trying to protect the paint a little bit more. First half we did decent on their guards. Second half they kind of got way more open shots. So just being solid on defense and running the floor.”

Ogunbowale also credited Fernandez’s offensive structure for the ball movement that has produced 58 combined assists across the Wings’ last two games and only 18 turnovers.

“Yeah, I think that’s just Jose’s offense,” Ogunbowale explained. “There’s always a better shot than getting a different shot, and we’re being really selfless sharing the ball, finding our teammates, getting it to the hot hand or just getting it to everybody. So it’s been really good sharing the ball.”

She has come to lean on Shepard as a frontcourt connector at the elbows and short roll.

“Yeah, she’s a bit of a glue for the team,” Ogunbowale said. “Having a four or five that can really pass the ball — she has a great eye. She can start the offense for us, she can find the open man, and she’s just been really, really solid for us. So hoping that keeps going with her knowing well.”

Jessica Shepard Treats Rebounding and Backcourt Containment as the Game’s Spine

Shepard, who leads the WNBA in assist-to-turnover ratio and ranks fourth in both rebounding (9.8) and assists (6.8) per game through May 20, framed Friday in similar terms.

“Yeah, I mean, obviously the last game, it was close, but there was a lot of things that we could have done better. I think for us today, rebounding is really important, as well as stopping their guards and getting straight downhill,” Shepard said.

She said the offensive blueprint hasn’t shifted — the formula is pace and depth, then stops to fuel it.

“I think when we play together and we push the pace, we’re a really hard team to guard, because you have five people on the court at all times that can score the ball. So I think just getting stops on the defensive end is the most important thing,” Shepard said.

Shepard pointed to defensive intensity as the carry-over from the Wings’ last two outings.

“Yeah, I mean, I think just our intensity, the pressure we put on the ball, as well as packing the paint, not letting teams score as much in the paint,” Shepard said.

Azzi Fudd’s Health and Rhythm Trending Up Ahead of First Atlanta Look

Azzi Fudd, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft, missed the first matchup with Atlanta due to a right knee injury. She has settled back in over the past two games and matched her career high of 12 points in Chicago, going 4-of-6 from the field, including 2-of-2 from 3. Fudd is tied for first among rookies leaguewide in field goal percentage (62.5%).

Fudd said the rhythm is coming from accumulated reps as much as anything physical.

“A little bit of everything. Just feel good. I think each game I’m going to get more comfortable with just everything that the W brings — the physicality, pace, speed — and then getting more comfortable with my teammates,” Fudd said. “I think that’s something you can’t force. Each practice, each game, I get a little more comfortable understanding each of my teammates a little better and how I can play better off of them.”

Bueckers attributed Fudd’s recent stretch to a mix of returning health and naturally increasing confidence.

“Yeah, I think it’s definitely health. She had some knee stuff going on at the beginning of the season,” Bueckers said of Fudd. “For her, it’s all about confidence and feeling good before she steps out on the court. So you can see that confidence in her eye now that she’s got a few games under her belt of just being aggressive and confident. She’s done a really good job for us off the bench.”

Fernandez echoed that read, pointing to Fudd’s strong close in Chicago as the kind of stretch he wants her hitting consistently. Fudd played a career-high 28 minutes and scored 12 points for a second straight game.

“Growth and her minutes increasing every night that she’s played. She feels good,” Fernandez said. “At the end of our win on the road in Chicago with 28 minutes, she was strong. That’s where we’d like her to get to. It’s still early in the season, but if she can continue to do what she’s doing, it’ll be really tough to defend, not only in transition but in the half court.”

Paige Bueckers and the Mid-Range Anchor Dallas Wings’ Offense

Bueckers enters Friday with 10 straight games of 15-plus points and two-plus assists — a personal best tying her run from late July to mid-August last summer, and the longest active streak in the WNBA. She is also the first player this season to clear 100 points and 25 assists, sits tied for eighth in scoring at 20.8 per game, and ranks fifth in 3-point percentage at 57.9%.

Fernandez said what separates Bueckers from other volume scorers is her efficiency at every level of the floor.

“A lot of guys score a lot of points, but they’re high volume. She’s been efficient at all three levels — creating for herself but also creating for others,” Fernandez said.

Shepard offered a more granular read on what’s been working.

“I think Paige knows her spots, and she knows how to get to them,” Shepard said. “I think everyone knows she’s an elite scorer, but she’s just doing a great job of getting to where she wants to be, not where the defense wants her to be.”

That precision shows up in the shot chart. Bueckers ranks second in the WNBA in mid-range attempts at 4.0 per game and converts those looks at a 50.0% clip — only Minnesota’s Courtney Williams (7.0 attempts) takes more, and few do it as efficiently. She is the second-leading mid-range scorer in the league.

She isn’t alone. The Wings rank third in the WNBA in mid-range attempts per game at 13.0, trailing only Minnesota’s 13.4 and tied with Connecticut. The bigger separator is efficiency. Dallas is converting 46.2% of those looks — the highest mark in the league among teams attempting 10 or more mid-range shots per game and trailing only New York’s 50.0% on a fraction of the volume. The Wings are also the only team with three players ranked in the top 16 leaguewide in mid-range attempts per game: Bueckers (2nd, 4.0), Ogunbowale (8th, 2.8 on 42.9%), and Fudd (16th, 2.3 on 55.6%). Fernandez has leaned into the area as a deliberate choice built around that trio.

“Well, you don’t want to take away what players do well. I think now when people crowd them at the line, they can go either way off and create off the dribble,” Fernandez said.

The contrast with Atlanta is sharp. The Dream attempt just 3.3 mid-range shots per game — fewer than any team in the WNBA — and convert only 20.0% of them. Atlanta’s offensive identity runs through the rim and the 3-point line. The Dream led the league in restricted-area attempts (31.7) and ranked near the top in above-the-break 3-point attempts (25.0). If Friday’s matchup mirrors a stylistic chess match, it pits the league’s most committed and most efficient mid-range team against the league’s most rim-and-3-dependent offense.

Bueckers framed the mid-range as a strategic asset rather than a relic of an earlier era of basketball.

“Yeah, I think for basketball in general, it’s starting to get away from the mid-range game. It’s a lot of threes and at the rim, so I think it’s the toughest shot to guard. Not many people know how to guard it, and teams know how to scheme against it,” Bueckers said. “If you see in the playoffs in the WNBA and the NBA, you’ve got to be able to score in the mid-range. It’s so tough to score in crunch time. So just to have a coach that embraces it and lets us play freely and get to our spots, it makes it easier for all of us.”

Ogunbowale highlighted Fudd’s release in particular as a counter when defenses try to take away the 3.

“Yeah, I think it’s mostly because of them. That’s their shot for real. Azzi’s is so pure, and obviously Paige’s is really pure too. If people are going to force Azzi off the line, she has that pull-up. So it’s been really good for us,” Ogunbowale said.

Li Yueru’s Bench Impact Becomes a Frontcourt Solution

Yueru’s plus-18 in Chicago — 7 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 assists — reshaped how the Wings could defend Cardoso, and Bueckers credited her postgame as the swing factor. Whether Fernandez leans on her again to neutralize Reese is one of the night’s quieter strategic questions.

Yueru said her approach hasn’t shifted with the minutes.

“In my opinion, I just be ready for every second to help the team. We are a team, and basketball is really about your team together. So I just wait there, and anytime coach needs me, team needs me, I’ll be ready for every moment,” Yueru said.

She has tried to internalize the parts of Fernandez’s system she can affect most directly.

“Under his system, he likes the extra pass and more great defense. So I try to do those two things in the game. And if I’m not on the court, I will be the loudest cheerleader and try to give my teammates my voice and try to do something for them,” Yueru said.

On the rematch with Atlanta, Yueru kept her read short.

“I believe they are really nice. We are a wonderful team, and if we just fix some simple things and do not make really easy mistakes, we can win. I believe we can have a really wonderful game tonight,” Yueru said.

More Wings Coverage on Dallas Hoops Journal

• ‘Taking What The Defense Gave Me’: How Jessica Shepard’s Triple-Double Unlocked The Dallas Wings In Chicago
• Arike Ogunbowale Reaches Historic WNBA Milestone In Dallas Wings’ Win Over Chicago Sky
• ‘Li Changed The Game Defensively’: How Li Yueru Powered A Dallas Wings Turning Point In Chicago
• ‘Controlling The Controllables’: Jessica Shepard Reflects On Dominant Double-Double For Dallas Wings vs. Washington Mystics
• Arike Ogunbowale Brushes Off ‘Chitter Chatter’ As Dallas Wings Show Standard vs. Washington Mystics
• ‘We Just Stayed Connected’: Paige Bueckers Breaks Down Dallas Wings’ Complete Two-Way Response vs. Washington Mystics
• ‘Flying Around And Covering’: Rebuilt Defense Sparks Dallas Wings’ 92-69 Blowout Of Washington Mystics
• Dallas Wings Prepare To ‘Match That Energy’ Against Washington Mystics In Duel Of Young Teams
• ‘He’s A Wonderful Coach’: Dallas Wings Players Back Jose Fernandez After His Accountability Comments
• Azzi Fudd Says UConn Play Calls Still ‘Ingrained’ As She Adjusts To Dallas Wings’ System