Wings vs. Sun: Dallas Closes Third Quarter on 20-2 Run in 83-63 Rout as Shepard, Ogunbowale Score 15

Three bus loads of fans came up from Houston on Sunday night for an early look at the franchise moving to their city next season. What they got was an eight-point third quarter and a long ride home to think about it.

The Dallas Wings closed that third quarter on a 20-2 run and rolled past the Connecticut Sun 83-63 at a sold-out College Park Center, ending a two-game skid. Jessica Shepard and Arike Ogunbowale scored 15 apiece, rookie Azzi Fudd added 12, and Dallas led by as many as 31 in a game that stopped being competitive long before the reserves took over.

Twenty-Five Competitive Minutes

Connecticut actually started well, jumping out 5-0 before Dallas answered with a 9-0 run of its own. The Wings debuted a new starting five, according to the team, with Paige Bueckers, Ogunbowale, Fudd, Shepard and Alanna Smith, and that group found its feet quickly enough to lead 22-16 after one.

The Sun hung around in the second, getting as close as 28-25 before a 14-6 push gave Dallas a 42-31 lead. A late flurry of threes from both sides made it 48-37 at halftime, which by Connecticut's recent standards was a manageable spot. Dallas shot 55.6 percent in the half, and the team says it's now 6-0 this season when it hits 55 percent or better before the break.

The third quarter started ugly for everybody. Dallas wasn't exactly humming, and the Sun still went the first 4:06 of the half without a field goal. Connecticut then found a 5-0 run to get within 52-43, the kind of moment that makes a road team think it has a chance. It did not have a chance. The final 4:27 of the quarter is the reason you're reading this.

Nobody Had to Be the Star

Ogunbowale made 7 of her 9 shots and chipped in five rebounds and five assists in 23 minutes. Shepard was just as tidy, going 7 of 12 with nine rebounds and finishing plus-17. Neither of them needed to do anything spectacular, because the Wings had a bench that outscored Connecticut's by 20 and a rookie who kept punishing every defensive lapse.

That rookie was Fudd, who went 4 of 5 from three with two steals and a team-best plus-22. The team says it was her fourth game this season with at least four threes and that she leads all rookies with 11 games of three or more. Odyssey Sims gave Dallas nine off the bench and didn't miss any of her five free throws.

The strangest line belonged to Bueckers, who scored six points on 3 of 9 shooting, the fewest of her two-year career according to the AP, and still finished plus-21 with four assists. If that's what her off night looks like in a 20-point win, the Wings can live with it.

For Connecticut, Diamond Miller was the bright spot with a season-high 22 points and four threes, matching her career high from deep. Kennedy Burke added 14 points, seven rebounds and three blocks, and Olivia Nelson-Ododa had eight points and 11 boards.

Then there's who wasn't out there. Leading scorer Brittney Griner sat for a fourth straight game because of a left knee issue, her 14th missed game overall, and Connecticut is 1-13 when she doesn't play. Aneesah Morrow, another top scorer, was traded to Toronto on Friday. What's left is a roster asking Charlisse Leger-Walker (0 for 3) and Saniya Rivers (0 for 6) to find offense that isn't there.

Twenty-to-Two

Here's the whole run. Dallas came out of a timeout and scored eight straight, with a Fudd three and a three-point play from Shepard pushing it to 60-43 and sending Connecticut to its own bench for a timeout. Connecticut got two points back, and then the Wings ripped off the last 12 points of the period. Ogunbowale and Awak Kuier scored six apiece in the quarter, and six different Dallas players scored in all.

The final tally: a nine-point game became 72-45 in less than four and a half minutes. Connecticut finished the quarter 3 of 15 from the field. When a team shoots like that with its leading scorer out, a timeout is mostly a chance to get a drink of water.

The fourth quarter was for the reserves, and Connecticut won it 18-11, including an 8-0 run built on two Miller threes and a Burke layup. That's the kind of moral victory that fits nicely in a press release and nowhere else.

The Damage Report

• 8: Connecticut's third-quarter points, a new low for any Wings opponent in a third quarter this season, per the team.
• 46-24: The paint, where Griner's absence was impossible to miss.
• 14 of 44: The Sun inside the arc, against a respectable 9 of 23 from three.
• 32-12: Dallas in bench points.
• 4-0: The Wings' record this season when holding an opponent under 70.

A Season Series and a House-Hunting Trip

Dallas moves to 19-11 and 9-5 at home with its first double-digit win since July 10 and its first home win over Connecticut since Aug. 12, 2023. The Wings lead the season series 2-0 and can finish their first regular-season sweep of the Sun in franchise history on Aug. 30. First comes a trip to Washington on Wednesday.

Connecticut falls to 7-23 and 3-13 on the road. That's five straight losses, all on a six-game road trip that started with a win in Phoenix and ended here. The Sun are finally home Friday against the Mercury.

The Final Walkthrough

For those Houston fans, this was the final walkthrough on a house they're about to move into. You tour the place, you notice the foundation has a few issues, some of the good stuff has already been shipped to Toronto, and you tell yourself it has great bones because you're moving in either way. Dallas, meanwhile, got exactly what a team wants after two straight losses: a third quarter so lopsided that the fourth could be played by whoever felt like it.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Team notes from the Dallas Wings. Game context as reported by the Associated Press.