Recap: Sabally, Wings dominate boards in win over Delle Donne-less Mystics

Satou Sabally had arguably the best game of her All-Star starter season Sunday afternoon and her Dallas Wings outrebounded an Elena Delle Donne- and Shakira Austin-less Washington Mystics team 54-24 en route to an 89-72 win at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.

Sabally finished with 27 points, 15 rebounds and four assists. She was 2-of-2 from three and 9-of-14 from the field.

After being held scoreless in the first half, Arike Ogunbowale scored 15 points for Dallas (8-8) in a third quarter that saw the Wings increase their lead from four to 18. She finished with 17 points and five helpers. Teaira McCowan added 10 points, 11 boards, four assists and two steals to the winning cause while Natasha Howard was good for 13 points and six rebounds.

Delle Donne was injured in Washington’s Friday loss to the Atlanta Dream.

The Mystics (9-7) were also without Austin (hip), Kristi Toliver (foot) and Li Meng (overseas commitment) so it’s really not that surprising that they lost this game. They were truly at a disadvantage, missing four great players. The Wings were without Diamond DeShields (knee) and Lou Lopez Sénéchal (knee), but weren’t missing quite as much talent as the Mystics.

Dallas closed the third on a 16-4 run, which started with a Sabally 3-point play. Kalani Brown then made a layup, which was followed by an Ogunbowale fadeaway three from the left corner. A Sabally left-wing three and an Ogunbowale 3-point play closed the run.

A 12-4 Wings run in the second brought the score from 20-16 Mystics to 28-24 Dallas. Washington would tie it at 31 on a Brittney Sykes transition layup, but the Wings would score the next four points and lead the rest of the way.

The first was defined by a 7-0 Mystics run, an 8-0 Wings run and finally, a 5-0 Mystics run that put the visitors up 18-14 entering the second.

With the game tied at 6, Washington went on its 7-0 run. Ariel Atkins made a right-corner three and a deep two and then Shatori Walker-Kimbrough made a mid-range fade from the left baseline. Dallas answered with the 8-0 run, which made it 14-13 in its favor. Sabally highlighted the run with a reverse layup and added two free throws. Walker-Kimbrough was responsible for all but one point of the 5-0 run.

With frontcourt players in Delle Donne and Austin out, Tianna Hawkins played a season-high 36:35 for the Mystics, finishing with eight points, 11 rebounds and four assists. Atkins paced Washington with 20 points, adding three steals. Sykes chipped in with 15 points, five boards, three helpers and three swipes.

Dallas won field goal percentage 44.6 to 34.3. The Mystics shot just 4-of-25 from beyond the arc. The Wings won despite losing the turnover margin by nine.