INDIANAPOLIS – Arike Ogunbowale scored 16 of her 22 points in the second-half as the Dallas Wings handed the Indiana Fever a club-record 12th straight loss, 96-86 in a WNBA basketball game.
Teaira McCowan finished with 17 points for Dallas (12-15), while Allisha Gray scored 16 with three steals. Kayla Thornton pitched in with 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
Gray scored 10 of her 11 first-half points in the second quarter to help Dallas rally from a 23-17 first-period deficit to a 45-39 lead at half-time.
Gray hit a 3-pointer to push the lead to 10 just 1:11 into the third quarter and the Wings stayed in front from there. Dallas improved to .500 on the road with its seventh win.
Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana (5-25) with a season-high 34 points. She added six assists, five rebounds and three steals.
Nalyssa Smith added 16 points, while Queen Egbo scored 14. Indiana fell to 3-12 at home, AP reported.
Mitchell made the second, but leaving points at the line, and the resulting exasperation, were emblematic of the afternoon for Indiana.
There’s no shortage of reasons for what is now a 12-game losing streak after their 96-86 defeat to Dallas, but they showed a particular propensity for shooting themselves in the collective foot with unforced errors, 17 turnovers and missed open looks.
In the final two minutes of the game, the Fever closed the gap with a 10-0 run to get within five points of the Wings. But the hole they had dug for themselves was too deep.
“We had five or six live ball turnovers,” interim coach Carlos Knox said. “That just kills us. It kills us not only with the points, but it kills us with momentum, the momentum of the game.”
After their loss to Las Vegas Thursday, Mitchell attributed the Fever’s 17 turnovers to the team not being on the same page.
Indiana gave the ball away twice in the third quarter when first Mitchell, then NaLyssa Smith, thought they had a teammate cutting to the basket and threw the ball out of bounds. At one point,
Smith grabbed a rebound and turned to make an outlet pass to Destanni Henderson, not looking for or noticing Veronica Burton standing in the way. The pass hit Burton in the chest.
