Dallas – Coming off their worst drubbing of the season, the Dallas Wings turned the tables Tuesday night and beat the Indiana Fever, 89-62, for their largest win of the year.
Karima Christmas-Kelly led Dallas with a career-high 27 points, while rookie Allisha Gray added 14.
Coming off a 42-point loss to Phoenix Saturday, the Wings were in attack mode against the Fever, scoring 44 of their points in the paint and out-rebounding the visitors, 42-30. There were times when Dallas players were battling each other for boards. Glory Johnson, who had eight rebounds on the night, crossed the 1,000-rebound career mark in the process.
Christmas-Kelly attributed the win to team play.
“I think we feed off each other,” she said. “I think we have that chemistry where we know where each other will be on the floor.”
Coach Fred Williams said the team was still able to take away some lessons from the weekend’s loss.
“You learn from those games. You build a lot of character in yourself as a team,” Williams said. “(They) paid attention to detail and to some of the things we were doing in the film session.”
Indiana was looking to split their road trip after losing to the Seattle Storm two days ago. Natalie Achonwa led the team with 13 points, while Marissa Coleman and Candice Dupree each added eight. Dupree said the Fever weren’t effective stopping their opponents from scoring inside.
“Dallas came out ready to play,” she said. “They play really hard. They’ve got a young group that likes to run up and down the floor.”
The two teams will face off again June 3. The Wings take on the New York Liberty at Madison Square Garden the night before. Williams said they will have to make changes before hitting the road.
“We plan on taking a look at what they did defensively against us early and move the ball,” he said. “The key thing will be moving the ball and playing hard.”
Dallas will be without Courtney Paris for up to eight weeks, as she injured her knee against the San Antonio Stars last week.
