‘Flying Around And Covering’: Rebuilt Defense Sparks Dallas Wings’ 92-69 Blowout Of Washington Mystics

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Dallas Wings held the Washington Mystics to 9 points in the first quarter Monday night, and the game was effectively over from there. Dallas dismantled Washington 92-69 at College Park Center, closing a three-game homestand with its most complete performance of the young season and evening its record at 2-2. The Wings limited the Mystics to 2 offensive rebounds, forced 19 turnovers and dished out a season-high 30 assists on 33 made baskets in front of a sellout crowd of 6,251.

The Wings had spent the weekend on it. Dallas got two practice days, its first real stretch of them all season, and used the time to fix a defense that had slipped through a 1-2 start. Every problem from those three games showed up on Monday as a strength. The Wings had dropped two straight at home, including a 90-86 loss to the Minnesota Lynx on Thursday in which they surrendered an 18-9 edge in second-chance points, watched their ball movement thin out after halftime, and let a lead slip in the fourth quarter.

“This game was won because of how we defended and how we rebounded,” Wings coach Jose Fernandez said. “It was won because of the commitment to us the last two days practicing and shootaround. That’s where it was won.”

A Defense Rebuilt Over Two Days

Following the Minnesota loss, the Wings had been candid about a defense that had drifted. Veteran Alysha Clark said over the weekend that players had been reverting to the habits of their previous teams, and that the purpose of the two practices was to re-establish a shared baseline the group could return to under pressure. Arike Ogunbowale said the team had been going back and forth on coverages and needed a standardized response. Fernandez pinpointed post defense, the glass, and dribble penetration as areas for correction.

The fixes held against Washington. Dallas out-rebounded the Mystics 31-24, held them to 2 offensive rebounds and surrendered just 5 second-chance points, a near-complete reversal of the rebounding lapses that cost the Wings against Minnesota.

For Fernandez, the most telling number from the opening quarter was not the 19-9 lead but how few offensive rebounds Washington generated against a frontcourt the Wings had spent days preparing for.

“The two offensive rebounds were the biggest thing, that we held them to,” Fernandez said. “First quarter, I thought those first five got out to a good start, and when we went to our bench, there wasn’t any drop off, which was great.”

The early defensive cohesion stood out to Jessica Shepard in part because of how little time the roster had spent together before the weekend. With the full team only recently intact, Dallas had been forced to prepare game-to-game rather than build its defensive habits in practice.

“It was huge,” Shepard said. “Since we’ve had our whole team together, we really haven’t had time to practice just because we were preparing for our first game and then the next game. But just the connection in all of the pieces on defense, it’s not necessarily just the two in the ball screen but also the backside. I think we just did a great job of flying around and covering for each other today.”

Paige Bueckers traced the defensive performance directly to the two practice days, framing the connectivity as something the team built by holding one another accountable away from the game.

“We were connected. We were moving on a string,” Bueckers told Dallas Hoops Journal. “I think it started with two very good days at practice of us holding each other accountable and us wanting to be better for each other. We just stayed connected. Learned a lot on film, learned a lot through practice, and just tried to apply it to the game.”

Fernandez said the defensive connectivity, more than the shooting or ball movement, was the takeaway. He has maintained throughout the season that the offense was never the issue and that the team’s ceiling would be set by its commitment on the other end.

“I thought how connected they were defensively. That was big,” Fernandez said. “Like I said, the offensive end hasn’t been a problem. But if we’re not playing well offensively, you gotta be more connected on the defensive end and get stuff off the glass.”

How It Happened

Dallas set the tone from the opening minutes. Ogunbowale picked the pocket of Kiki Iriafen and scored the game’s first basket in transition, and the Wings opened on an 8-3 run. Azzi Fudd checked in at the 4:20 mark and hit her first attempt, igniting a 7-0 run out of the media timeout that pushed the lead to 16-5 and forced a Washington timeout.

Dallas held the Mystics to 2-of-10 shooting in the period and turned eight Washington turnovers into 12 points, taking a 19-9 lead. Washington’s 9 points tied for the fewest allowed in any quarter by any team this season.

Washington edged the second quarter 20-19, but Dallas carried a 38-29 lead into halftime behind balanced scoring, with nine players contributing points and Maddy Siegrist leading the way with eight.

The Wings broke the game open in the third, outscoring the Mystics 28-17 and closing the period on a 9-1 run to build a 20-point lead. Ogunbowale scored seven of the Wings’ first nine points in the quarter. Dallas led by as many as 25 and never let Washington within 19 in the fourth.

Ball Movement Returns for a Full 40

The other weekend’s focus was on an offense that had stalled late. Dallas recorded 16 assists in the first half against Minnesota and just 6 after the break, a drop-off Fernandez said the film confirmed. Ogunbowale had said the ball was sticking and that she settled for too many difficult shots. The answer on Monday was a season-high 30 assists on 33 made baskets, the fifth-highest assist total in a regular-season game in franchise history, with 10 players scoring, and the off-ball movement sustained the full game rather than fading after halftime.

Asked what the group could carry forward from a night in which nearly every made basket was assisted, Ogunbowale framed the ball movement as a sustainable identity rather than a single hot shooting performance.

“That we can just score from every position,” Ogunbowale said. “I think we can have a lot of those games where the assists to how many buckets we have is really high because if you don’t have a shot, your next player has a shot and they’re more than likely gonna knock it down. So just moving the basketball. I think the last couple games we kinda didn’t do that as much. But definitely here, moving the basketball and making the other teams guard. With the type of offensive players we have, it’s gonna be really tough for people to guard us every night.”

Fernandez pointed to a stretch bridging the third and fourth quarters, with a lineup of Fudd, Ogunbowale, Bueckers, Siegrist and Shepard, as a turning point that worked at both ends.

“It was a really good lineup,” Fernandez said. “Especially proud of Maddy because she had to play so much bigger against Kiki and Austin. Shepard was amazing on the glass. I think everybody was excited to see Azzi and how well she played.”

Fernandez said the offensive freedom the players have spoken about is built on structure rather than on its absence. He described going into games with packages and groupings the team can reach for, particularly out of timeouts.

“I think when you go into the game, you go in with certain packages that you wanna run,” Fernandez said. “It gives us a good opportunity when you come out of timeouts and there’s three or four things that we wanna go to, and they know that’s the direction I wanna go. They feel comfortable getting us into those things.”

Bueckers led all scorers with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including a season-high 4-of-5 from 3-point range, and added 7 assists and 3 rebounds in 33 minutes. The performance extended her streak of games with at least 15 points and two assists to nine, the longest active streak in the WNBA. Arike Ogunbowale matched her in floor time with 16 points, 3 assists and a season-high 3 steals, going 6-of-6 at the free-throw line. The Wings shot 47.1% from the field, connected on 11-of-24 from 3-point range and converted 15-of-17 free throws while committing just 9 turnovers. The margin behind the arc was decisive, with Dallas hitting 11 threes to Washington’s 5.

Shepard, who said the post group had identified screening as a weakness on film, tied the free-flowing offense back to working away from the ball.

“We’ve kinda watched video after the last couple games, and we know screening is an area we need to be better in as post players,” Shepard said. “So just putting an emphasis on it, holding the screen a second longer to get the guards open and also get yourself open too.”

Jessica Shepard Dominates the Glass

Jessica Shepard recorded her first double-double of the season with 12 points, 16 rebounds and 6 assists. The 16 rebounds tied her season high and matched Angel Reese for the most in a single game by any player this season. It was the 20th double-double of Shepard’s career, and her line placed her among just six players in WNBA history to post at least 12 points, 16 rebounds, six assists and zero turnovers in a game.

Shepard treated rebounding as a personal accountability measure, viewing it as one of the few outcomes in a game she could directly control, regardless of how her shot was falling.

“For myself, I know that’s one of my biggest controllables in the basketball game,” Shepard said. “So knowing that they have two really elite offensive rebounders on that team, I knew that we had to control the glass, and I just wanted to do my part.”

Fernandez pointed to Shepard’s all-around production as a continuation of what she had shown days earlier on the road, where she came within reach of a triple-double.

“She had a double-double, almost a triple-double in Indiana,” Fernandez said. “But 16 rebounds, 30 assists, there was a lot of really, really good things on both ends of the floor.”

Shepard’s arrival has resonated with teammates beyond the production. Ogunbowale, who played alongside Shepard in college at Notre Dame, said the two had talked for years about reuniting as pros.

“I played with Jess in college, and she was obviously amazing. And we’ve been talking our whole career about kind of linking up and playing,” Ogunbowale said. “So I’m just happy and blessed that we were able to do it here. I’m glad I didn’t have to leave to play with her. I’m glad she could come play here. She’s definitely one of the most underrated posts in the game. And I think her getting a bigger role is gonna show just how lethal and versatile she is.”

Fudd said playing alongside a two-way big has been one of the early rewards of her rookie season.

“It’s been a lot of fun getting to play with a player like Jess that can just do a lot both offensively and defensively,” Fudd said. “I can’t believe it’s only been four games, and I’ve really enjoyed each game, getting more comfortable, learning how she likes to play, her learning my game. But playing with Jess has been incredible.”

Azzi Fudd Continues Efficient Start

Fudd continued her strong start with 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting in 24 minutes. The No. 1 overall pick has scored effectively early in the season without relying on the 3-point shot, attempting just one from beyond the arc Monday.

“I’m just reading what the defense and what the game gives me,” Fudd said. “I know I’m a good 3-point shooter. People like to limit me to that, but I’m more than just that, so it’s been nice to just read what’s in our offense with how the defense is playing, and I have incredible teammates that get me open.”

Bueckers said Fudd played without hesitation and got to her pull-up efficiently, the kind of aggressive showing the Wings have looked for from her.

“She was aggressive. She didn’t really hesitate much, and then when she did hesitate one time, we all got on her just to be aggressive and look for her shot,” Bueckers told Dallas Hoops Journal. “But she got to her pull-ups very efficiently, and she was aggressive, and I think that’s what we need from her.”

Kuier said Fudd’s production has tracked her growing comfort, and that scoring was never the question.

“I think you can tell she’s getting more comfortable, and I think the more games she plays, the more comfortable she’s gonna get,” Kuier told Dallas Hoops Journal. “She’s very talented. I don’t think any of us is worried about her scoring. It’s just more about her being confident in the team.”

Fudd said her approach off the bench was to carry over the energy set by the starters.

“My goal was just to be aggressive when I got in the game, contribute any way I could,” Fudd said. “Watch what the starters were doing. They started the game off pushing the pace, being aggressive, getting stops, so I wanted to continue that.”

Fernandez said he expects to continue increasing Fudd’s minutes as her comfort level grows.

“I think everybody was excited to see Azzi and how well she played and how she shot it and how she defended and how she created off the bounce,” Fernandez said. “So I’m glad that now we can continue to increase the minutes. She felt good, and it was good to see her with the comfort level that she played and how her teammates also moved it and found her.”

Fudd said the night was made more meaningful by the presence of familiar faces courtside.

“Every second I could hear her,” Fudd said of the support she received during the game. “But it was amazing to have them. They don’t get too much time off, so the fact that they came down here, showed some support and some love means a lot.”

Awak Kuier Provides a Spark off the Bench

Awak Kuier added 9 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals in 20 minutes off the bench, providing a lift Fernandez attributed to her increasing comfort with the playbook.

“I think now with Awa getting more practice time and her learning the playbook and getting a much bigger feel, you saw the impact that she made,” Fernandez said.

Kuier said the practices were what made the difference, giving her a feel for how her teammates like to operate.

“I think practice for sure helps a lot. Having good practices and practicing with all the players, I think that really made a difference going into the game,” Kuier told Dallas Hoops Journal. “Just knowing what every player likes to do, how Paige likes to play, how Arike likes to play. So I think that helped me a lot.”

Bueckers said Kuier’s length and feel disrupted Washington at both ends.

“She was amazing on both sides of the floor. Just her length disrupts things a lot defensively, and she has a great IQ for the game,” Bueckers told Dallas Hoops Journal. “And then her cutting, her screening — she’s learning really fast, and she just wreaked havoc on both sides of the floor tonight.”

Kuier credited her familiarity with Shepard, with whom she played overseas for multiple seasons, as a factor in their minutes together.

“We played together overseas, so I’ve played with her. I know how to play with her,” Kuier told Dallas Hoops Journal. “So it’s always having that familiar player with you who knows what you like to do and vice versa. I think it also helps me.”

Ogunbowale, who has been with the franchise since 2019, praised Kuier’s development since Dallas drafted her in 2021.

“I think that time overseas for her where she was a big piece on her team really helped her,” Ogunbowale said. “She came back confident. Her shot looks good. She can get to the basket. She’s long. She’s just more confident. She got a little bit of muscle on her, and she just looks so good from the time she was drafted to now, so I’m really proud of her.”

Maddy Siegrist chipped in 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting and 2-of-4 from 3-point range. Fernandez leaned on Siegrist to play a larger role defensively after Alanna Smith picked up early foul trouble and finished with 7 minutes and 4 fouls.

Aziaha James added 8 points, and Alysha Clark contributed 3 in reserve minutes as Dallas saw production carry over from its starters to its bench.

Dallas Wings Defense Smothers Washington Mystics

Defensively, Dallas neutralized Washington’s perimeter threats. Sonia Citron was held to 7 points on 3-of-6 shooting with 5 turnovers, an outing Fernandez attributed to the Wings prioritizing rotations over individual matchups.

“The ball’s the most important thing, and we weren’t concerned about our man scoring,” Fernandez said. “It was us rotating and making the ball move.”

Fernandez also credited the off-ball movement on the other end for keeping Washington’s help defense occupied, pointing to the cutting and split action from the whole unit.

“I thought whenever you have weak-side movement, ball gets entered with a 45 cut or split action up top, it takes away help-side defense,” Fernandez said. “But once we got into the side pick and roll and there was action on the backside, that opened some things up, especially in the second half.”

Shakira Austin led the Mystics with 12 points, four rebounds, an assist and a steal. Rookie center Lauren Betts added 11 points in 14 minutes off the bench, and Kiki Iriafen posted 9 points and 10 rebounds. Washington shot 49% from the field but committed 19 turnovers that Dallas converted into 23 points. The Wings also won the fast-break battle 13-3 and the points-in-the-paint margin 36-34.

Fernandez said the game plan centered on Washington’s frontcourt-heavy core, an emphasis the Wings had drilled across both weekend practices, and that containing it required the kind of multiple-effort defense the Wings had not consistently shown earlier in the homestand.

“We knew we had to do a great job on their big three,” Fernandez said. “I thought our posts did a good job in coverage. I thought you saw multiple efforts tonight that you guys haven’t seen in the previous two games.”

Dallas Wings Bounce Back From 1-2 Start

The performance answered a stretch in which the Wings dropped their first two home games by a combined nine points and absorbed scrutiny that built through a 1-2 start. Ogunbowale pointed to a practical explanation: a roster that simply had not yet had time to install the details of how it wants to play.

“I know there was a lot of chitter chatter about everything that happened in the first three games,” Ogunbowale said. “Unfortunately, a couple of us missed training camp, but big pieces. So just having the practice that we were able to have these last couple days and honing in on the things that we need to do on communication, on defensive rotations, on offensive plays, late clock, just all little things that you really do in training camp that we didn’t have much time to do with our whole team, that really helped us.”

Ogunbowale said the team extracted more from its loss to Minnesota than it might have from a win, using the film session to identify and correct breakdowns that surfaced Monday as strengths.

“Even though that loss to the Lynx was unfortunate, I think with that film session, we learned so much that we might not have learned if we would’ve ended up winning that game,” Ogunbowale said. “So just seeing what we did wrong and correcting that, I think we really corrected that today.”

Now playing for her fifth coaching staff in Dallas, Ogunbowale placed the current group in context against the many rosters she has seen come through the franchise, crediting the organization’s investment from ownership through the front office.

“Yeah, for sure. This is one of the deepest,” Ogunbowale said. “And I’ve said this earlier, it’s a lot of people who wanna be here. We just have a group that wants to be here, wants to win, wants to get in line with what Jose has. So I think Dallas is in a really good position, and we just gotta keep getting better from the bottom to the top.”

First Home Win for Jose Fernandez

The victory marked Fernandez’s first regular-season home win as a WNBA head coach. The Wings’ 92 points were their most against Washington since the 2023 season, and Dallas improved to 22-20 all-time against the Mystics at College Park Center, winning four of the last six home meetings between the teams. Asked to reflect on the milestone, Fernandez set the personal achievement aside and returned the focus to the relief of rewarding a home crowd after two narrow defeats.

“It was great after two close, tough losses at home to win a game in front of our fans,” Fernandez said. “Again, every game in this league is as important as the last one and the next one.”

Fernandez said the way to sustain the result is to keep the team’s attention on the collective rather than on individual production, particularly as minutes and roles shift by matchup.

“The most important thing is playing for the guy next to you,” Fernandez said. “That’s the biggest thing. Minutes could be different night in and night out. Who’s got the hot hand, who we’re going to because of matchups. So that was good to see.”

Three-Game Road Trip Looms

The Wings now begin a three-game road trip, opening Wednesday against the Chicago Sky at 8 p.m. CT before stops in Atlanta and New York and a return home to face Las Vegas. The compressed schedule removes the practice runway that fueled Monday’s performance, a trade-off Clark had flagged over the weekend, noting the value of building habits before the calendar tightened.

Fernandez said the trip would force a leaner preparation shaped by Chicago’s defensive reputation and the uncertainty around the Sky’s available roster.

“We gotta see who’s available for them from a health standpoint and from a roster standpoint,” Fernandez said. “They do a very, very good job defensively, so the actions and the things that we do — on a short prep because tomorrow we travel.”

Fernandez said the team would lean on film and a shootaround in place of practice.

“We’ve had two very hard practices and the shootaround. We won’t practice tomorrow,” Fernandez said. “We’ll watch film when we get up to Chicago. We’ll just have a shootaround to prepare. So it’s gonna be a little different type of preparation that we haven’t had all year.”

Ogunbowale, mindful that one strong night means little if it is not repeated, said the standard set Monday now has to become the baseline.

“We can’t take a step back now. We gotta keep that going,” Ogunbowale said. “But this is what we envisioned us looking like and we just gotta keep that up.”

More Wings Coverage on Dallas Hoops Journal

• 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
• Dallas Wings Use Rare Practice Days To Reset Defense, Game-Plan For Washington Mystics
• Dallas Wings Practice Interviews: Azzi Fudd, Alysha Clark And Jose Fernandez (May 17, 2026)
• Paige Bueckers Says Wings’ Mistakes Are ‘Fixable’ As Dallas Cleans Up Before Washington Mystics
• Arike Ogunbowale Sees ‘A Lot To Learn’ From Dallas Wings’ 1-2 Start
• Dallas Wings Target Pick & Roll Defense, Ball Movement And Late-Game Execution In ‘Very Spirited’ Practice Before Washington Mystics
• ‘Dallas Has Been Incredible’: Azzi Fudd Shines In Home Debut Despite Wings’ Loss