Dallas (9-28) dropped its latest contest on Friday, a 95–60 defeat to the Seattle Storm. Maddy Siegrist finished with 12 points and five rebounds while Paige Bueckers added 11, but it was another reminder of how limited the group is without key contributors. The loss extended a season-long theme of attrition, with Dallas set to surpass 100 player-games lost to injury or EuroBasket commitments by the time Sunday’s game begins.
Friday’s contest marked the 27th time this season Dallas has played with 10 or fewer available players, and that trend will continue against Golden State with only nine players active. Nearly 80 percent of the Wings’ schedule has been played under such circumstances, often with hardship signings who had yet to practice with the team.
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Guard rotation shrinks
The Wings’ guard corps has been reduced to three healthy players: Paige Bueckers, Grace Berger and Aziaha James. With Tyasha Harris and Li Yueru sidelined for the season, Arike Ogunbowale out indefinitely with right knee tendinitis, and rookie JJ Quinerly recently injured, Dallas has been forced to lean heavily on its youngest perimeter group.
Quinerly’s status remains uncertain. She was evaluated after leaving the Aug. 21 game against Los Angeles with a left knee injury, but no further information has been provided. The early read has not been encouraging, with Quinerly recently spotted on crutches and wearing a brace while supporting teammates from the bench.
Even Bueckers, who has shouldered the heaviest burden, is not fully healthy. Though she is no longer on the official injury report, she continues to manage a back issue and is often seen wearing a back pad when resting during games. The injuries have made her workload even more taxing as defenses collapse on her touches.
Maddy Siegrist described the toll of playing through constant attrition after the Wings returned from a grueling stretch earlier this month. Dallas played five games in eight days, including a West Coast trip that required flying from San Francisco back to Texas with only a single day off before tipping at home on a Sunday afternoon.
“It’s a crazy schedule,” Siegrist said. “It feels like every day is a game, which is great — who doesn’t love game days — but at the same time you need your body to rest and recover. You’re on different time zones, and the games take a lot out of you, especially going wire to wire with them two nights ago.”
Head coach Chris Koclanes emphasized how the lack of depth wears on both body and mind. He pointed to the importance of recovery with such little turnaround between games.
“As soon as the game is over, the recovery process starts,” Koclanes said. “We have a tremendous staff that pours into them. Tomorrow we’ll do everything we can to get them ready for a three o’clock game. It’s about getting their bodies ready, but also the mind. Physical fatigue shows up mentally, and that leads to lapses in the scouting report and breakdowns in execution.”
Why Dallas struggled against Seattle
During Friday’s game, the Storm capitalized on Dallas’ lack of depth and dictated the game physically from the opening tip. Their defensive approach was built on crowding Bueckers, forcing the ball out of her hands, and challenging the Wings’ supporting cast to make shots.
Koclanes credited Seattle’s defensive game plan while stressing his own team’s shortcomings around the basket. He noted that the Storm made it difficult for Bueckers to find her rhythm by throwing multiple bodies at her, often led by guard Brittney Sykes, who was acquired from the Washington Mystics before the trade deadline and frequently took the assignment of defending Bueckers.
“They were extremely physical with her, threw a lot of bodies at her on ball screens,” Koclanes said. “They challenged her to make the right play over and over.”
Siegrist also pointed to Seattle’s physicality as a deciding factor in Dallas’ offensive struggles. She explained that the Storm disrupted the Wings from the start by pushing them out of rhythm and off their spots.
“I think they were a very physical team,” Siegrist said. “We let that push us off our mark a little bit. We obviously had a tough night shooting the ball. We got enough shots, we just weren’t able to put the ball in the basket as a whole, and sometimes that happens. Defensively, we just have to be a little better.”
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Diamond Miller emphasized that the Storm took advantage of breakdowns in Dallas’ coverages, particularly in closeouts and paint defense. She admitted that she and her teammates did not execute the scouting report with enough consistency.
“Definitely our defense and being able to stop people,” Miller said. “Our closeouts weren’t the best today, including me, so they were getting drives even though we knew they’re drivers. We have to know the scout better, who we’re closing out to, and we need to protect the paint. I don’t know how many points they had inside, but I think it was a good amount. We have to protect the paint.”
August skid
The grind of August has only magnified Dallas’ challenges. Entering Sunday, the Wings are 1-8 this month — the fewest wins of any WNBA team and tied for the second-most losses. Their 97.8 offensive rating ranks 12th, their 110.9 defensive rating ranks 12th, and their -13.1 net rating is also 12th out of 13 teams.
The numbers underscore how dependent the Wings have become on Bueckers. When she was on the floor in August, Dallas posted a 98.6 offensive rating, a 107.1 defensive rating, and a -8.5 net rating in 252 minutes. But when she was sitting, the results dropped off sharply: a 91.9 offensive rating, a 115.0 defensive rating, and a -23.0 net rating in 108 minutes.
Those team-wide struggles have come despite Bueckers producing at a consistently high level. In August, she averaged 22.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 31.5 minutes per game while shooting 52.4% overall, 32.0% from the perimeter and 95.2% from the free-throw line on 5.3 attempts per game.
Siegrist has emerged as a helpful secondary punch, averaging 15.3 points and 3.9 rebounds this month while shooting 57.1% from the floor, 39.1% from three and 85.0% at the line. Her efficiency has provided balance alongside Bueckers, but the rest of the roster has struggled to keep pace.
Aside from Ogunbowale, who has appeared in four games in August while managing knee tendinitis, no other player has averaged in double figures. The need for a reliable third scorer to emerge has been evident throughout the month as defenses continue to overload Bueckers’ touches and force Dallas into difficult shots.
Offensive flashes of encouragement
Despite the setbacks, Dallas has managed stretches of encouraging offense this month. In games against Los Angeles and Las Vegas, the Wings recorded consecutive outings with 38 made field goals — something only four teams in WNBA history have accomplished three times in a row. They also piled up 58 assists across those two contests, reflecting improved spacing and ball movement.
Head coach Chris Koclanes highlighted how that style is beginning to define Dallas’ identity. He said the group has grown more committed to attacking through movement, rather than relying on isolation scoring.
“The offense looked great,” Koclanes said on Aug. 19 before another game against Los Angeles. “We pushed pace, moved the ball side to side, and exploited mismatches. Our spacing and ball movement are encouraging. Now we just need a defensive identity.”
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Haley Jones explained how Ogunbowale’s absence reshaped the floor in the Aug. 12 win over Indiana. She said the team has leaned into spacing, collective aggression, and off-ball actions to create opportunities.
“Arike is an amazing scorer, playmaker, all the things,” Jones said. “When she does have the ball in her hands, she still brings so much help towards her. She’s still such an area of impact for the other team to focus on. So we have to really work on our off actions, keeping the floor spaced, being more aggressive. The rest of us are going to need to step up. I know that we all will.”
Bueckers added after the Aces game on Aug. 17 that the Wings were generating the right kinds of looks. She pointed out that the quality of their shots reflected progress, even if results were uneven.
“The way we’re moving the ball and sharing the ball — our assist percentage on made field goals has been really good,” Bueckers said. “We could get to the line more and get more paint touches, and we also want to shoot the three a little bit better by being more aggressive.”
Siegrist has provided balance as a consistent scoring option since her return from injury. She scored a career-high 23 points in the Aug. 17 loss to Las Vegas, giving Dallas efficiency and versatility from multiple spots on the floor.
“I love that she’s being aggressive,” Koclanes said after that game. “With our spacing, she finds mismatches whether she’s at the three or the four. She’s extremely efficient with that turnaround shot — it’s tough to guard. She gives us an inside presence and a scoring punch.”
Bueckers delivered her signature performance against Los Angeles on Aug. 21, scoring 44 points to set a WNBA rookie record. Her efficiency — 17-of-21 shooting, including a perfect 4-of-4 from three — was historic.
“She’s so efficient, it’s unbelievable,” Siegrist said after the game. “For a rookie, I don’t even have words. Just unreal. I’m so happy I get to play with her.”
Undersized front court
The absence of Li Yueru has magnified Dallas’ lack of size. The 6’7 center was beginning to hit her stride before suffering a season-ending ACL sprain on Aug. 15 against Los Angeles. Just one game earlier, Yueru posted a career-high 20 points in a road win over Indiana while anchoring the defense against All-Star center Aliyah Boston. That stretch underscored the presence she had begun to establish before the injury left Dallas’ front court undersized.
Center Luisa Geiselsöder acknowledged that the team has to work differently without Yueru’s size. She explained that Dallas must adjust how it establishes a paint presence and secures rebounds without a natural interior anchor.
“Li was a big presence down there, so we have to try to find a different way to get that presence,” Geiselsöder said on Aug. 19. “We just have to work harder now. And then in offense, I think we just have to play a little bit differently, but not too much. We have enough players to play back-to-basket post-up. We have players that can knock down. She was fitting in really well, but we just have to find a way to step up now and kind of figure it out around it.”
Myisha Hines-Allen emphasized that attention to detail is more important than ever. She said that rebounding and defensive positioning have to become collective responsibilities.
“I think it’s the little things,” Hines-Allen said. “Going back to when we first pick up a ball, it’s about how to box out — checking before you just go and try to get the rebound. Also, just holding up. Like you said, they’re big in size, so it’s about making a dent. And again, I feel like across the board we’re all the same size when we do go big, or small, whatever you want to call it. So it’s about holding them up, second efforts, and focusing on those small little details.”
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Koclanes added that while Yueru’s injury cost Dallas a traditional rim protector, it also opened different lineup possibilities. He noted that the Wings can experiment with more versatile looks even as they lose a size advantage.
“Just a little less size now,” Koclanes said before the Sparks rematch on Aug. 19. “She was coming off that great game against Indy, and her and Myisha really found that high-low game inside-out that was working. So just a little less size. Maddie at the four some more. But we can still find mismatches and play inside-out. Defensively though, it maybe allows us to be a little more versatile, with some more switching lineups if we’re putting a lot of players out there of similar sizes.”
The coaching staff has emphasized establishing Geiselsöder as an interior target to balance the offense. Koclanes explained that her post touches are important for forcing defenses to collapse and creating kick-out opportunities.
“We’ve got to establish [Geiselsöder] inside,” Koclanes said. “She’s got good touch down there. And so it’s about finding the balance, right? We love when the court is spaced and there’s more room to attack the paint and see it. Then it’s about finding opportunities to get her posts down there — whether that’s in transition, running fast to create mismatches early, or after initial actions, creating mismatches and rolling down to put pressure on the paint.”
Searching for solutions
Dallas signed Amy Okonkwo to a seven-day hardship contract on Thursday. She scored eight points in nine minutes against Seattle, providing an immediate boost despite not practicing with the team. Her performance underscored the reality of a roster constantly pieced together on the fly.
Diamond Miller said the group is determined to keep pushing forward. She stressed that even with so many obstacles, the Wings remain focused on their goals.
“We have goals as a team that we still want to accomplish,” Miller said after the Storm game. “That’s all the motivation we need. We believe in one another. Today didn’t go our way, but we know we can get it the next game.”
Dallas and Golden State have split their two meetings this season, with the Valkyries winning the most recent game 86–76, in July. Sunday’s game will test whether the Wings’ small, depleted lineup can hold up once again against a deeper, more physical front line — and whether the offensive flashes that appeared earlier this month can resurface down the stretch.
