‘It Feels Like Ages Ago Now’: Dallas Wings Eye Fifth Straight Win In Minnesota Lynx Rematch At Target Center

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Dallas Wings (7-3) hit the road again Tuesday to face the Minnesota Lynx (9-2) at Target Center, with tip-off set for 7 p.m. CT.

Dallas arrives on a four-game winning streak after a 104-96 road win over the Los Angeles Sparks on Friday. Minnesota enters off an 88-68 home win over the Seattle Storm on Saturday and sits atop the Western Conference in Commissioner’s Cup play at 3-0, while the Wings are 2-0 in Cup games.

Dallas Wings Look To Extend Win Streak To Five

A win Tuesday would push the Wings’ streak to five, their longest since the 2023 regular season. It would also be hard-earned history. Minnesota took the first meeting 90-86 on May 14 in Arlington and leads the all-time series 58-21.

Dallas has not beaten the Lynx since August 30, 2024, and has not won at Target Center since July 12, 2023. The teams meet again June 28 in Arlington and August 9 in Minneapolis, but Tuesday offers the first chance to flip the script.

The Wings have handled the road well, earning their fourth road win of the season in Friday’s victory at Los Angeles. Head coach Jose Fernandez pointed to the mindset it takes.

“There’s got to be an internal toughness to go on the road and win games. You have to get through adversity,” Fernandez said.

League-Best Offense Meets League-Best Defense

The matchup pits two of the WNBA’s best units against each other. Dallas enters with the league’s top offensive rating at 112.7 and the highest assist percentage at 72.0, while Minnesota owns the league’s best defensive rating at 97.1 and its best net rating at plus-13.9. The Lynx have held opponents to a league-low 44.2 effective field goal percentage.

Ball security will be central. The Wings turn the ball over on just 14.8% of their possessions and pair that with a league-best 2.02 assist-to-turnover ratio, which matters against a Minnesota team that averages 18.4 points off turnovers. If Dallas protects the ball, it takes away one of the Lynx’s biggest sources of easy offense.

“I just think the execution, and when we get stops, you just can’t turn it over,” Fernandez said.

The bigger concern for Dallas is inside. The Wings have allowed a league-high 44.4 points in the paint per game, and Minnesota scores 41.3 in the paint behind its frontcourt. The Lynx also out-rebound Dallas 37.7 to 33.4 and crash the offensive glass at a 36.0% clip, so controlling the interior and the boards will be the Wings’ tallest task.

“Minnesota came in here and imposed their will, and they were tough,” Fernandez said. “They made plays, and they got stuff off the glass.”

Record-Setting Ball Movement

The Wings have built their turnaround on sharing the ball. Dallas leads the WNBA with a 2.02 assist-to-turnover ratio and became the first team in league history to average more than two assists per turnover through its first 10 games.

The Sparks win showcased it. Dallas made a season-high 41 field goals, the ninth time in franchise history it has hit at least 41 in a game. Four players made at least seven field goals, the first time that has happened in franchise history and just the 19th occurrence in WNBA history.

Much of it runs through Paige Bueckers, who dished out a career-high 14 assists against Los Angeles to tie Arike Ogunbowale for the most in a single game in Wings history. Bueckers also eclipsed 250 career assists in the win, becoming the fastest player in WNBA history to reach 250 with fewer than 100 turnovers.

Nine of those 14 assists came in the first half, the most in a half in her career. For Bueckers, the night was a picture of how the offense is supposed to work.

“My teammates did a really good job of getting people open, setting screens, cutting, moving without the ball, and making the game easy for me,” Bueckers said. “Assists are really about giving to your teammates, so that’s probably the best accomplishment you can get.”

That ball movement will be tested against a Minnesota defense that doubled Bueckers throughout the first meeting. She still produced eight assists by playing out of the traps, and said the Wings trust their depth to make defenses pay for that coverage.

“We have full confidence in our team to be able to playmake out of those double teams and to play to those advantages,” Bueckers said. “We’re gonna continue to get better at that with more reps.”

Arike Ogunbowale and Jessica Shepard In Elite Company

Ogunbowale’s season-high 30 points came with six rebounds, six assists, and six made 3-pointers. It was the second game of her career with at least 30 points, five rebounds, five assists, and five made 3s, moving her into a tie for third all-time in such games alongside Caitlin Clark and Candace Parker, trailing only Diana Taurasi and Sabrina Ionescu.

The breakout followed a slow shooting stretch that Fernandez said Ogunbowale worked through in the gym and the film room.

“It was great to see the ball go in today,” Fernandez said.

Jessica Shepard has been just as historic. She is averaging 13.5 points, 11.4 rebounds, and 5.8 assists, making her the second player in WNBA history to average at least 10 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists through a season’s first 10 games, joining Alyssa Thomas. Shepard is the only player at those marks anywhere in the league this season.

Ogunbowale has pointed to Shepard as a hub of the offense, describing a Dallas attack that is “playing through Shep” throughout games, particulary when she grabs a defensive rebound.

What The First Meeting Showed

Minnesota erased a double-digit Dallas lead and won the first meeting 90-86 in Arlington on May 14, closing on a 50-38 run over the final 20 minutes. The Lynx did it without Napheesa Collier, who has been sidelined with an ankle injury and is out again Tuesday.

Natasha Howard led the way with 26 points on 11-of-14 shooting and scored the go-ahead basket in the final minute. Minnesota piled up 48 points in the paint and an 18-9 edge in second-chance points while shooting 60.3% from the field.

Pick-And-Roll Defense Is The Key

The Wings pinned the loss on their pick-and-roll defense, the area they have spent the most time trying to fix. Minnesota attacked ball screens relentlessly after halftime, and the Lynx hit consecutive 3-pointers out of pick-and-roll coverage early in the third quarter to turn a 54-46 deficit into a lead.

Courtney Williams was the biggest problem. She finished with 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range, and her second-quarter 3-pointer sparked a 16-6 Minnesota run. Olivia Miles, who added 15 points and six assists, gave Dallas a pick-and-roll maestro that repeatedly put defenders in rotation.

Fernandez did not hide his frustration afterward.

“We went up to touch, we went over ball screens, we switched, we trapped,” he said after the first game against Minnesota. “I think the back row and rotations hurt us.”

Bueckers identified the same breakdown.

“It was pick-and-roll defense, and we just weren’t on the string collectively,” Bueckers said.

Dallas made it the centerpiece of its film and practice work, drilling its tags and rotations against a filled corner, an isolated corner, and step-up screens. Minnesota also gave the Wings their first look at the Spain pick-and-roll, an action Bueckers said the team now has “in our back pocket.” Fernandez stressed that the coverage only holds together with early communication and a low man ready to help.

“You gotta talk early,” Fernandez said, “but we gotta react, especially whoever’s guarding the furthest guy away from the basket to help outside the lane.”

Containing Natasha Howard

Fernandez said the team has grown since, having drilled the coverages that gave Minnesota easy looks.

“It feels like ages ago now,” Fernandez said.

With Collier out, Howard remains the focus inside. Maddy Siegrist, who spent two seasons as Howard’s teammate, said the veteran forward is “putting on a clinic” and praised her footwork. Fernandez kept the game plan simple.

“We just have to throw bodies at her. We have to make sure we tag her, and when the shot goes up, we have to put a body on her,” Fernandez said.

Rookie guard Azzi Fudd said the Wings have a firmer grip on their identity than they did in May. “Now we have a much better understanding of our defensive identity and what we want to do,” she said.

Injury Report

The Wings will be without Awak Kuier (right wrist) and Odyssey Sims (left ankle). Li Yueru (left ankle) was upgraded to available before tip-off. Aziaha James, who exited the Sparks game with a leg injury, was not listed and is in line to play after returning to full practice Sunday.

Milestone Watch

Several Wings are closing in on round numbers. Shepard enters Tuesday nine points shy of 1,000 for her career and four assists from 400. Bueckers is 25 points from 900, and Siegrist is four rebounds from 300.

Dallas opens a stretch of five games in nine days at Minnesota. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. CT on KFAA.

More Wings Coverage on Dallas Hoops Journal

• ‘It’s Nostalgic In The Best Ways’: Jessica Shepard, Alanna Smith Return To Minnesota For First Time Since Joining Dallas Wings
• ‘She Was A No-Go Today’: Odyssey Sims Held Out Of Dallas Wings Practice With Ankle Injury
• Aziaha James Avoids Injury, Returns To Dallas Wings Practice After Los Angeles Sparks Scare
• ‘Total Team Effort’: Paige Bueckers Ties Franchise Assist Record, Arike Ogunbowale Scores 30 As Dallas Wings Beat Los Angeles Sparks 104-96
• Dallas Wings’ Jessica Shepard Named WNBA Western Conference Player Of The Week
• ‘She Was Aggressive’: Aziaha James Scores Season-High 18 Points In Dallas Wings’ Rout Of Seattle Storm
• ‘Not A Pretty Basketball Game’: Dallas Wings Grind Out 79-56 Win Over Seattle Storm For Best Start Since 2016 Move To Texas
• ‘Communication Solves A Lot Of Problems’: Elite On Offense, The Dallas Wings’ Next Step Is Defense