Coming into play today, the Dallas Wings had a record of just 3-12 on the season, and none of those three wins had come against a team as quality as the Atlanta Dream.

Having won two of their last three games, the Wings had a chance to prove their recent success against a very quality opponent.

That’s exactly what they did as the Wings took down the Dream 68-55 in a great defensive effort at the College Park Center in Arlington.

Arike Ogunbowale led the way with 21 points, including scoring the final six Dallas points. Li Yueru, who got her first start as a Wing, put up a double-double with ten points and 15 rebounds, and Paige Bueckers added 12 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists.

In the win, Dallas played what was their best defensive game of the season, holding the Dream to 55 points, nearly 30 points below their season average.

If you like offense, the beginning of this game was not for you. With 3:52 remaining in the first quarter, the two teams had combined for just 14 points, resulting in an 8-6 Dallas lead.

Later in the quarter, however, the Wings got going, closing the opening stanza on a 9-0 run to finish the frame with a 19-10 lead.

Bueckers had the highlight of the run and the quarter as she spun in and hit a nice floater as part of the run. It was Yueru, however, who led Dallas with eight points after her best quarter as a Wing thus far in four games.

With 5:33 to go in the second, Bueckers and Ogunbowale nailed back-to-back mid-range jumpers to give the Wings a 25-15 lead and force an Atlanta timeout.

After that, it was a 14-6 Atlanta run to cut the Dallas lead to just two as the Wings took a 31-29 lead into the locker room at the half.

The Wings’ strong defensive effort continued into the second half as in the 3rd quarter’s opening 2:55, Dallas allowed just one point, and their lead swelled back to ten at 40-30.

By the end of the frame, the lead would be the same as Dallas took a 50-40 lead into the final quarter after a pretty back-and-forth end to the frame.

Having scored just eight points in the 4th quarter with 6:16 to go, the Wings called a timeout, looking to spark something to hold onto their lead.

With 2:07 to go in the game, Ogunbowale dropped in a mid-range to make it 64-54 and put the Wings a small push away from closing the game out.

Ogunbowale would sink a floater and then two free throws to help the Wings close this one out.