Sixteen threes? That's all well and good, but what really gets Dallas Wings coach Fred Williams excited is balance.
Dallas tied a WNBA record with its 16 made 3-pointers in Friday's 93-80 home win against the Seattle Storm, but what really impressed Williams was the Wings' thoroughly dominant performance.
"I think this was one of the best-balanced performances this year," Williams told SwishAppeal.com. "Especially with the production on the offensive boards and defensively, and our fast-break points."
The Wings hope to put their balance on display again Sunday afternoon when they host the Los Angeles Sparks at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.
Dallas (12-14) dominated the boards 46-25, including a 16-5 advantage on the offensive end, and was paced by Skylar Diggins-Smith's 23 points and seven assists on Friday.
Glory Johnson recorded her ninth double-double of the season with 11 points and a season high-tying 16 boards. Karima Christmas-Kelly added 14 points for the Wings.
Diggins-Smith, the league's eighth-leading scorer (18.5 points per game), made 5-of-7 3s as Dallas also set a franchise record with its 16-of-26 shooting from downtown.
"We definitely felt like we had a good week of practice and maybe had a little something to prove to us," Diggins-Smith told SwishAppeal.com.
The Wings remained seventh in the league standings, with only the top eight teams qualifying for the postseason. That's something the Sparks don't have to worry much about.
Los Angeles (18-6) owns the second-best record in the league and has won four games in a row and seven of its last 10 contests.
A big third quarter helped push the Sparks past the visiting New York Liberty 87-74 on Friday. The game was tied at 44 entering halftime before Los Angeles outscored New York 25-11 in the third to take control.
Candace Parker led the way with 24 points and Odyssey Sims, a former Wing, added 20 points for Los Angeles.
It was the second time in Sims' last three games that she has scored 20 or more points.
"Especially in the second half, she attacked the rim, she finished well, she got to the free-throw line," Sparks coach Brian Agler told SwishAppeal.com about Sims, who was recently elevated to the starting lineup.
Los Angeles boasts the fourth-best scoring offense in the league with an average of 84 points per game. Dallas ranks third in the league in scoring, averaging 85.2 points.
The Sparks have won two of their first three meetings with the Wings this season, including a 95-74 rout of Dallas on July 30. Parker had 23 points and Nneka Ogwumike, the league's fifth-leading scorer who is averaging 19.5 points, added 22 to lead Los Angeles. Aerial Powers scored a career-high 23 to pace Dallas.
Wings reserve guard Saniya Chong left Friday's game to enter concussion protocol and her status for Sunday's game is uncertain.
