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Rookie Jacy Sheldon scores career-high, leads Dallas Wings to victory over Atlanta Dream

The Dallas Wings sneaked away with an 85-82 win over the Atlanta Dream on Friday.

ARLINGTON — With 1:11 left on the clock, Dallas Wings guard Odyssey Sims snagged the ball from Allisha Gray and sank a running layup — and with a three-point lead, the rest was history.

The Wings defeated the Atlanta Dream 85-82 on Friday at College Park Center.

“They just kept being positive, giving great sticky notes to one another,” Dallas coach Latricia Trammell said. “You could just see the determination in every player, even from the bench players as well. ... They’re just continuing to compete at a high level.”

The Wings (5-16) faced the Dream (7-12) for the first time since they lost 83-78 on May 21. Trammell said she knew the dynamic of the matchup this time would be different, especially because the Wings had home-court advantage.

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“We had a really great shootaround, great prep time,” Trammell said in a pregame interview. “Going into this game, we know it’s a little bit different from our last. They’re not just great overall 3-point shooters as a team. ... Our approach is a little bit different, but we also want to stay true to ourselves too and what we’re good at. So obviously, we are going to establish our inside game, look to push the pace and hopefully we’ll come up with a few more rebounds than they do and get more stops.”

The last time the teams faced one another, Arike Ogunbowale led the Wings with 24 points. On Friday, Ogunbowale recorded a team-high 19 points.

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Dallas came off of a loss on Wednesday to the Phoenix Mercury. Despite Natasha Howard’s career-best 36 points, the Wings fell short vs. Phoenix and recorded their 14th loss in their last 15 games. Trammell said she was expecting a similar competitive spirit from her team before entering Friday’s game.

“I thought we did a really good job this last game even though we came out short,” Trammell said. “Passion and energy was there. I’m expecting that again, especially here at home … we’ve got to make these moments count.”

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The Wings took an early 5-0 lead at the start of the jump, but the Dream quickly picked up the pace and led Dallas by two points. However, Atlanta’s eight turnovers in the first period proved costly, and the Wings ended the first quarter ahead 20-16.

With 6:30 left on the clock in the second quarter, the Wings were forced to take a timeout after a 4-0 run by the Dream, tying the score at 25 apiece. After that, Dallas executed a 7-0 run, widening its lead, but Atlanta did not hesitate to respond. The Wings entered the locker room with a 42-41 edge.

Dallas amped up its competitive spirit at the beginning of the third period, and it all started with a 3-pointer by rookie guard Jacy Sheldon, leading to a 7-0 run by the Wings.

Sheldon tallied a career-high 17 points on Friday and knocked down five of the Wings’ seven 3-pointers.

“They made it easy for me,” Sheldon said. “They’re the ones who got me open and made the pass. The least I could do was make it.”

“I’m watching a lot of film with [Jacy Sheldon], but also just getting her accustomed to just the physicality and the pace of the game,” Trammell said. “She’s such a competitor. She doesn’t like when she doesn’t do well, so she’s really focusing more on making sure that she values basketball, that she embraces the pressure. She’s an incredible shooter, let’s knock that down when she’s wide open and not look to pass first. We always want to shoot first, pass second.”

However, Atlanta showed its physicality in the third quarter and led 61-60 before entering the final period.

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The game slipped away from the Dream with a minute left in the game. Desperate fouling to stop the clock led to easy points for the Wings, and ultimately, their fifth victory.

The Wings will take on the Las Vegas Aces on Sunday.

“This whole team builds that confidence more than anything,” Sheldon said. “I think that’s the most helpful thing and this is a good one for us. I think just confidence moving forward and taking that over to Vegas. Continuing to play together and confidently is our focus right now.”

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