The Dallas Wings just played their best game of the WNBA season, knocking off one of the league's top teams on Thursday night. Dallas took down the Phoenix Mercury 98-89, and they did so without two of their best players, DiJonai Carrington and Arike Ogunbowale.
Carrington has missed time already this season, but this was the first game Ogunbowale has been sidelined for, as she missed Thursday's contest with an X injury. The team started J.J. Quinerly and Aziaha James in place of their two injured starters, and both rookies stepped up.
I'm not saying the Wings need to bench Arike. But I am saying that it's notable that with her off the floor, the offense looked as good as it had all year. (Aside from when the team scored 109 points against Connecticut, but 98 points against the Mercury defense impresses me more than 109 against a team that ranks last in the WNBA in defensive rating.)
The Wings rookies stepped up without Ogunbowale in win over Mercury
Paige Bueckers is the frontrunner for Rookie of the Year, but on Thursday night, she wasn't the most impressive rookie on her own team. (Note: Bueckers was still really, really good in this game, scoring 23 points and dishing out five assists.)
Aziaha James had her breakout moment against the Mercury. The rookie out of NC State scored 28 points on 10-for-20 shooting, plus added six rebounds and six assists. She essentially took on the Arike role, and she played it better than Arike had for most of the season.
What was especially notable was the way James got Teaira McCowan involved, with three of her assists going to her way. McCowan has seen a major drop in minutes this season as head coach Chris Koclanes is bringing her off the bench, but that could be a good thing if McCowan can be aggressive in her limited playing time. An engaged McCowan is a tough player to stop, and James worked to get her involved.
Meanwhile, fellow rookie J.J. Quinerly made her second consecutive start for the Wings. She also scored in double figures for the second time in a row while adding seven assists. She gives Dallas another skilled ball-handler, plus is a tenacious defender despite being undersized at 5-foot-8.
Dallas needs to get these three rookies on the floor together more. They've played just 32 minutes together this year, but the Wings have a +6.88 net rating in those minutes, fueled by the fact that the offense has been unstoppable. The defense has struggled in the limited sample size, which is definitely a concern, but Dallas should lean into what's working on the offensive end. This team ranks in the middle of the pack offensively in 2025 despite having the talent to rank better.
It's still a bit too early to make any grand statement about Arike Ogunbowale
Look: Dallas was better without Ogunbowale than it had been all year with her. That's undeniable. However, that doesn't necessarily mean it's time to trade her away. It just means that the team has to take the lessons it learned on Thursday and apply them once she returns to the floor.
The main lesson? Unselfishness. The team had 20 assists in the game and is now 4-5 on the season when recording 20 or more assists. Meanwhile, Dallas is 2-8 when recording under 20 assists. Ogunbowale is averaging her fewest assists since 2022 and Dallas as a team is averaging its fewest assists since that season as well.
Once Arike is back, Dallas has to work on moving the ball better, because we saw on Thursday night what ball movement and unselfish play can do for this Wings team.