Surging Wings extend win streak to five, show they're due for a bigger stage vs. Sky

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Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale celebrates after a Wings basket during the first half of a WNBA basketball game against the Chicago Sky at the American Airlines Center on Sunday, July 12, 2026, in Dallas, Texas. (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News)


As the Dallas Wings beat the Chicago Sky 96-91 on Sunday night at American Airlines Center, they improved their win streak to five and showed they’re due for a bigger stage.

The Wings (16–8), who typically host home games at UT-Arlington’s College Park Center, played their first of three contests slated for AAC this summer and didn’t disappoint the Dallas crowd.

Three players — Paige Bueckers, Jessica Shepard and Li Yueru — recorded double-doubles against the Sky (7–16), a team Dallas beat for the third time this season.

Bueckers, who scored eight points in the fourth quarter, finished with a game-high 22 points, 11 assists and six rebounds. Arike Ogunbowale and Azzi Fudd also scored in double figures for the surging Wings, sitting at fourth place in the Western Conference.

Dallas, which played two games at AAC last season, has two contests at the venue remaining against the Golden State Valkyries and the Indiana Fever.

But AAC could be the Wings’ gameday home for the 2027 season, as the team awaits a renovated Memorial Auditorium in downtown that was supposed to open for 2026.

The city’s bid to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup’s International Broadcast Center caused construction delays, and city officials have pushed the team’s move-in date to 2028. Wings CEO and managing partner Greg Bibb told The Dallas Morning News earlier this summer that the organization has engaged in conversations about playing next season at AAC, but a deal has not been finalized.

Sunday’s raucous crowd at AAC indicated an appetite is certainly growing for the Wings, who finished 10–34 last season and rebuilt for 2026.

Dallas had won four straight games entering Sunday’s contest, its first home game after a two-week trip out east that included stops in Connecticut, Toronto, New York and Montreal.

At Montreal’s Bell Centre on Friday, the Wings beat the Toronto Tempo in front of a sold out crowd of 20,996 that set the all-time WNBA regular season single-game attendance record. Bueckers recorded 34 points in the 108-95 win, marking her second 30-point game of the season.

The 2025 No. 1 overall pick and WNBA Rookie of the Year, averaging 20.6 points, 6.0 assists and 4.1 rebounds ahead of Sunday, was named an All-Star game starter for a second consecutive season.

Shepard, a 2026 free agency pickup who has recorded three triple doubles this season, earned her first bid to the All-Star game and was also named a starter. Shepard is the only WNBA player this season to record a triple-double.

With three games left before the All-Star break, the Wings look to continue their winning ways and build toward a future that could include many more home games at AAC.

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