Wings vs. Sparks: Jessica Shepard Posts Her Fifth Triple-Double as Dallas Wins Fifth Straight, 97-77

For one half, nobody could separate. The Dallas Wings and Los Angeles Sparks were tied 25-25 after the first quarter and 44-44 at the break, and Jessica Shepard, the engine of the Dallas offense, had not scored a single point.

Then the Wings found another gear, and Shepard found her way into the record conversation anyway. Dallas outscored Los Angeles 53-33 after halftime and won 97-77 on Thursday night in Arlington, with Shepard finishing with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists for her fifth triple-double of the season. Paige Bueckers, fresh off helping the United States win the FIBA World Cup in Germany, led all scorers with 19 as Dallas won its fifth straight.

Deadlock, Then Daylight

The first half was a seesaw ride. Dallas rolled out a new starting five, with Bueckers, Ogunbowale, Kuier, Siegrist and Shepard opening together for the first time, according to the team. The Wings scored the first five points, the Sparks answered with an 8-0 burst to go up 10-7, and the lead changed hands 12 times on the night. Bueckers was flawless in the opening quarter, going 5-for-5 for 10 points, but Rae Burrell and Nneka Ogwumike kept Los Angeles level, and the teams went to the locker room tied at 44. Per the Wings, it was only the second time all season Dallas entered halftime even.

Los Angeles scored first out of the break, and the Sparks were still within 58-56 with under three minutes left in the third. Then the floor tilted. Dallas ripped off 12 unanswered points across the quarter break to turn a two-point game into a 74-58 lead early in the fourth. Awak Kuier was a big part of the surge, swatting three shots in the third quarter and hitting a 3-pointer that pushed the lead to nine late in the period.

The fourth quarter was a Dallas clinic. The Wings made eight of their first nine shots of the frame, according to the team, and led by 24 at 89-65 with 4:33 to go. Kitija Laksa, making her Dallas debut, scored seven of her 10 points in the final five minutes, and Haley Jones racked up four assists in garbage time as every available Wing got on the floor.

Shepard Does a Little of Everything

Shepard's line reads like a cheat code: 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting, 11 rebounds, 12 assists, a steal and a plus-18 in 28 minutes. She did all of her scoring after halftime, including nine of her 13 points in the fourth quarter. The AP noted that only Alyssa Thomas has posted more triple-doubles in a single season, with six in 2023 and eight in 2025, which puts Shepard's five third on that list. The Wings said it was the sixth triple-double of her career.

Bueckers handled the scoring load. She shot 8-of-13 for 19 points with six rebounds, three assists and two steals, and the team said it was the 23rd time this season she has led Dallas in scoring. Maddy Siegrist added 12, Arike Ogunbowale had 11, and Aziaha James and Laksa scored 10 apiece off the bench. Kuier finished with six blocks, the bulk of a season-high 11 rejections for Dallas, and Li Yueru grabbed six rebounds in 12 minutes.

The Sparks got 18 from Ogwumike on 8-of-12 shooting, 14 from Dearica Hamby and 12 from Burrell. Cameron Brink blocked four shots but went 4-for-16 from the field, and Monique Akoa Makani missed all six of her attempts. As a team, Los Angeles shot 37 percent and made only 7 of 25 from deep.

The Turning Point: The 12-0 Run

Everything about this game changed in about two minutes of game time around the end of the third quarter. Los Angeles had fought back to within two, and Dallas answered with a 12-point flurry that the Sparks never recovered from. Before the run, Los Angeles had led for stretches of the night and kept trading punches. After it, the Sparks spent the rest of the evening chasing a lead that only kept growing.

The other story was the glass. Dallas won the rebounding battle 46-27, grabbing 36 defensive boards, which meant the Sparks rarely got second chances to cut into the lead. That rebounding turned straight into transition, where Dallas outscored LA 20-11 on the fast break.

Stats That Matter

• 46-27: The Wings' rebounding edge, a 19-board gap.
• 31: Dallas assists, a season high per the team, with Shepard accounting for 12.
• 11: Blocks for the Wings, also a season high according to the team, with six from Kuier.
• 53-33: Dallas' scoring advantage over the final two quarters.
• 22-7: Points off turnovers in the Sparks' favor, the one loud column for Los Angeles in a 20-point loss.

What It Means

Dallas improved to 25-16, 15-6 at home, and has now won five in a row. Per the AP, the 25th win pulled Dallas even with the franchise record for wins in a season, held by the 2003 Detroit Shock, who went 25-9 and won the WNBA title, and the Wings still have three regular-season games to play. The Wings also finished a 3-0 sweep of the season series with Los Angeles, their first sweep of the Sparks since 2021, according to the team.

The one sour note: Odyssey Sims hurt her right knee late in the third quarter and did not return for the fourth, per the AP. Los Angeles fell to 15-26, snapping a two-game winning streak. The Sparks head to Portland on Sunday night, while the Wings host Phoenix on Saturday.

Closing Take

Shepard is the friend in the group chat who books the flights, plans the itinerary and still remembers to bring snacks. She did not score in the first half and still walked out with a triple-double, which tells you everything about how she impacts a game. With Bueckers carrying the scoring and the defense swatting everything in sight, Dallas is suddenly one win away from owning the franchise wins record outright, and nobody in Arlington is pretending this is a fluke anymore.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details as reported by the Associated Press and the Dallas Wings.