2016 Dallas Wings season

2016 Dallas Wings season
Coach	Fred Williams
Arena	College Park Center
Attendance	5,298 per game
Results
Record	11–23 (.324)
Place	5th (Western)
Playoff finish	Did Not Qualify
Team Leaders
Points	Odyssey Sims – 14.0 ppg
Rebounds	Glory Johnson – 8.9 rpg
Assists	Odyssey Sims – 3.9 apg
← 2015 season 2017 season →

The 2016 WNBA season was the 19th season for the Dallas Wings franchise in the Women's National Basketball Association. It was their first in Dallas, Texas after relocating from Tulsa, Oklahoma. ^[1] It was the third season under head coach Fred Williams.

The Wings began the season with three games on the road, and they won two, defeating Indiana and Washington but losing to New York. Their first game in their new home came against in-state rivals San Antonio on May 21. Dallas won 82–77 to mark their first win in their new home in front of a sell-out crowd. However, they would go on to lose their next two home games to finish May 3–3. Their losing streak extended into June, where they lost their first four games. Two of those losses were against eventual WNBA Finalists Minnesota and Los Angeles. The team extended its streaky performance by winning their next four games, including two wins, one in overtime, over Phoenix. The Wings lost two and won one game to finish June 5–6. Continuing to over around .500, Dallas lost its opening game of July and defeated Phoenix again in the second game. The team then hit a rough spot, losing its next six games to close out July. The streak did include an overtime loss to Minnesota and two five-point losses to Atlanta. The team's fortunes did not turn around after the Olympic break where they lost all three games in August and the first two games in September. They ended the losing streak at eleven by defeating San Antonio. They would only win one of their last three games, against New York. The Wings finished 11–23 overall and in 5th place in the Western Conference.

Transactions

WNBA draft

Main article: 2016 WNBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
1	5	Aerial Powers	United States	Michigan State
2	18	Ruth Hamblin	Canada	Oregon State Beaver
3	30	Shakena Richardson	United States	Seton Hall

Trades and roster changes

Date	Details
February 22	Signed Glory Johnson
March 1	Signed Riquna Williams
	Acquired Erin Phillips, the 5th pick in the 2016 WNBA draft, and the 11th pick in the 2017 WNBA draft from Los Angeles in exchange for Riquna Williams and the 6th pick in the 2016 WNBA draft. [2]
May 11	Acquired the 10th overall pick in the 2017 WNBA draft from New York in exchange for Amanda Zahui B. and the 14th overall pick in the 2017 WNBA draft. [3]

Roster

2016 Dallas Wings roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs G 8 Bias, Tiffany 5' 7" (1.7m) 135 lb (61kg) 1992-05-22 Oklahoma State 2 G/F 13 Christmas-Kelly, Karima 6' 0" (1.83m) 209 lb (95kg) 1989-09-11 Duke 5 G 4 Diggins-Smith, Skylar 5' 9" (1.75m) 140 lb (64kg) 1990-08-02 Notre Dame 3 C 44 Hamblin, Ruth 6' 6" (1.98m) 227 lb (103kg) 1994-06-24 Oregon State R F 35 Hooper, Jordan 6' 2" (1.88m) 185 lb (84kg) 1992-02-20 Nebraska 2 F 25 Johnson, Glory   6' 3" (1.91m) 170 lb (77kg) 1990-07-27 Tennessee 3 C 3 Paris, Courtney 6' 4" (1.93m) 250 lb (113kg) 1987-09-21 Oklahoma 6 G 31 Phillips, Erin 5' 8" (1.73m) 165 lb (75kg) 1985-05-19 8 F 22 Pierson, Plenette 6' 2" (1.88m) 195 lb (88kg) 1981-08-31 Texas Tech 13 F 55 Plaisance, Theresa 6' 5" (1.96m) 200 lb (91kg) 1992-05-18 LSU 2 F 23 Powers, Aerial 5' 11" (1.8m) 170 lb (77kg) 1994-01-17 Michigan State R G 0 Sims, Odyssey 5' 8" (1.73m) 155 lb (70kg) 1992-07-13 Baylor 2	Head coach Fred Williams (Boise State) Assistant coaches Bridget Pettis (Florida) Ed Baldwin (North Carolina Central) Athletic trainer Allison Russell (Tulsa) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Game log

Preseason

2016 game log Total: 0–2 (Home: 0–1; Road: 0–1)
May: 0–2 (Home: 0–1; Road: 0–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 May 1 12:00 pm @ Indiana L 90–108 Aerial Powers (17) Aerial Powers (6) Powers, Schimmel (4) Bankers Life Fieldhouse 6,214 0–1 2 May 8 1:30 pm Connecticut L 74–82 Glory Johnson (13) Johnson, Powers (9) Erin Phillips (6) College Park Center 2,326 0–2
2016 season schedule

Regular Season

2016 game log Total: 11–23 (Home: 6–11; Road: 5–12)
May: 3–3 (Home: 1–2; Road: 2–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 May 14 @ Indiana W 90–79 Plenette Pierson (17) Courtney Paris (9) Odyssey Sims (4) Bankers Life Fieldhouse 8,569 1–0 2 May 15 @ New York L 71–79 Plaisance, Sims (14) Courtney Paris (12) Erin Phillips (5) Madison Square Garden 10,120 1–1 3 May 18 @ Washington W 87–77 Odyssey Sims (22) Karima Christmas-Kelly (10) Courtney Paris (4) Verizon Center 5,618 2–1 4 May 21 San Antonio W 82–77 Odyssey Sims (23) Courtney Paris (15) Erin Phillips (4) College Park Center 7,275 3–1 5 May 27 Atlanta L 93–102 Christmas-Kelly, Powers (16) Courtney Paris (14) Odyssey Sims (5) College Park Center 4,712 3–2 6 May 29 Chicago L 87–92 Odyssey Sims (23) Courtney Paris (9) Karima Christmas-Kelly (6) College Park Center 5,297 3–3
June : 5–6 (Home: 3–3; Road: 2–3) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 7 June 4 @ Minnesota L 63–80 Aerial Powers (20) Courtney Paris (8) Kiesel, Sims (4) Target Center 7,634 3–4 8 June 8 Washington L 79–87 Aerial Powers (17) Karima Christmas-Kelly (10) Odyssey Sims (9) College Park Center 4,177 3–5 9 June 11 Los Angeles L 73–97 Odyssey Sims (18) Glory Johnson (6) Odyssey Sims (3) College Park Center 5,061 3–6 10 June 14 @ New York L 88–91 Karima Christmas-Kelly (21) Courtney Paris (10) Odyssey Sims (5) Madison Square Garden 7,939 3–7 11 June 16 Seattle W 88–79 Christmas-Kelly, Sims (17) Courtney Paris (10) Skylar Diggins-Smith (5) College Park Center 4,622 4–7 12 June 18 @ Phoenix W 117–111 (OT) Skylar Diggins-Smith (27) Courtney Paris (12) Odyssey Sims (6) Talking Stick Resort Arena 10,235 5–7 13 June 21 Phoenix W 100–90 Skylar Diggins-Smith (20) Glory Johnson (10) Odyssey Sims (9) College Park Center 6,819 6–7 14 June 23 San Antonio W 97–90 Plenette Pierson (21) Glory Johnson (11) Diggins-Smith, Sims (5) College Park Center 4,027 7–7 15 June 25 Indiana L 92–87 Karima Christmas-Kelly (21) Karima Christmas-Kelly (12) Christmas-Kelly, Diggins-Smith (4) College Park Center 5,206 7–8 16 June 28 @ Los Angeles L 84–89 Skylar Diggins-Smith (29) Christmas-Kelly, Paris (7) Skylar Diggins-Smith (7) Staples Center 7,823 7–9 17 June 30 @ Seattle W 83–78 Aerial Powers (19) Courtney Paris (12) Karima Christmas-Kelly (5) KeyArena 5,365 8–9
July : 1–7 (Home: 1–3; Road: 0–4) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 18 July 2 Connecticut L 83–86 Glory Johnson (16) Glory Johnson (12) Christmas-Kelly, Diggins-Smith, Sims (2) College Park Center 5,108 8–10 19 July 5 Phoenix W 77–74 Glory Johnson (23) Glory Johnson (22) Skylar Diggins-Smith (4) College Park Center 5,480 9–10 20 July 8 @ Atlanta L 90–95 Karima Christmas-Kelly (18) Christmas-Kelly, Johnson (15) Odyssey Sims (5) Philips Arena 6,745 9–11 21 July 9 @ Minnesota L 56–93 Phillips, Powers (9) Courtney Paris (6) Kiesel, Phillips, Sims (2) Target Center 7,613 9–12 22 July 15 @ Chicago L 77–84 Plenette Pierson (20) Courtney Paris (8) Odyssey Sims (6) Allstate Arena 6,012 9–13 23 July 17 Minnesota L 97–98 (OT) Plenette Pierson (21) Plenette Pierson (11) Skylar Diggins-Smith (9) College Park Center 5,752 9–14 24 July 20 Connecticut L 78–89 Odyssey Sims (20) Courtney Paris (11) Odyssey Sims (8) College Park Center 4,873 9–15 25 July 22 @ Atlanta L 88–93 Skylar Diggins-Smith (29) Courtney Paris (10) Plenette Pierson (7) McCamish Pavilion 4,749 9–16
August : 0–3 (Home: 0–1; Road: 0–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 26 August 26 @ Phoenix L 72–98 Plenette Pierson (23) Plenette Pierson (8) Bias, Diggins-Smith, Sims (3) Talking Stick Resort Arena 11,396 9–17 27 August 28 Chicago L 85–92 Odyssey Sims (22) Aerial Powers (8) Plenette Pierson (6) College Park Center 5,651 9–18 28 August 31 @ Seattle L 66–78 Plenette Pierson (19) Glory Johnson (9) Skylar Diggins-Smith (5) KeyArena 6,771 9–19
September : 2–4 (Home: 1–2; Road: 1–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 29 September 2 Los Angeles L 79–87 Odyssey Sims (26) Glory Johnson (15) Christmas-Kelly, Diggins-Smith, Powers, Sims (2) College Park Center 5,176 9–20 30 September 4 Washington L 83–88 Skylar Diggins-Smith (25) Plenette Pierson (11) Skylar Diggins-Smith (4) College Park Center 5,162 9–21 31 September 9 @ San Antonio W 92–84 Odyssey Sims (20) Courtney Paris (11) Odyssey Sims (7) AT&T Center 7,425 10–21 32 September 11 New York W 84–81 Karima Christmas-Kelly (23) Courtney Paris (12) Christmas-Kelly, Phillips, Sims (2) College Park Center 5,662 11–21 33 September 16 @ Connecticut L 74–107 Theresa Plaisance (22) Courtney Paris (7) Skylar Diggins-Smith (5) Mohegan Sun Arena 6,228 11–22 34 September 18 @ Indiana L 60–83 Karima Christmas-Kelly (12) Christmas-Kelly, Paris, Plaisance (5) Diggins-Smith, Sims (4) Bankers Life Fieldhouse 17,704 11–23
2016 season schedule

Standings

Western Conference v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
1 - Minnesota Lynx	28	6	.824	—	15–2	13–4	15–1
2 - Los Angeles Sparks	26	8	.765	2	14–3	12–5	11–5
7 - Seattle Storm	16	18	.471	12	10–7	6–11	7–9
8 - Phoenix Mercury	16	18	.471	12	11–6	5–12	6–10
e - Dallas Wings	11	23	.324	17	6–11	5–12	8–8
e - San Antonio Stars	7	27	.206	21	4–13	3–14	1–15

Notes

# – Playoff seed

e – Eliminated from playoffs

Awards and honors

Recipient	Award	Date awarded	Ref.
Aerial Powers	WNBA All-Rookie Team	September 29, 2016	[4]

Statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage	TO	Turnovers per game
PF	Fouls per game		Team leader		League leader

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Odyssey Sims	34	30	31.6	35.3%	28.0%	88.3%	2.5	3.9	1.1	0.2	14.0
Skylar Diggins-Smith	27	25	28.3	39.0%	29.9%	78.8%	1.9	3.4	1.1	0.3	13.1
Karima Christmas-Kelly	34	34	31.6	40.0%	31.7%	79.6%	5.9	2.1	1.2	0.7	12.4
Plenette Pierson	27	27	26.6	38.7%	33.7%	82.9%	4.6	2.0	0.8	0.4	11.9
Glory Johnson	18	6	27.9	44.2%	28.6%	75.3%	8.9	1.3	0.9	0.6	11.3
Aerial Powers	32	2	19.2	39.4%	36.8%	83.5%	2.7	1.1	1.0	0.2	10.4
Courtney Paris	34	32	24.3	54.8%	0.0%	55.6%	8.0	1.1	0.4	0.9	7.7
Erin Phillips	32	12	14.6	43.8%	38.3%	90.6%	1.2	1.2	0.2	0.1	4.7
Theresa Plaisance	27	1	11.9	39.8%	33.3%	63.6%	2.5	0.3	0.3	0.4	4.0
Jordan Hooper	32	1	9.1	37.5%	34.1%	87.5%	1.2	0.2	0.2	0.1	3.7
Tiffany Bias	10	0	6.4	34.8%	27.3%	83.3%	0.5	0.6	0.2	0.0	2.9
Ruth Hamblin	20	0	6.5	25.0%	—	71.4%	1.5	0.2	0.1	0.5	1.1
Brianna Kiesel	14	0	7.4	17.4%	16.7%	75.0%	0.4	1.3	0.4	0.0	0.9

References

1. Michael Voepel (July 21, 2015). "Hard To Argue With Relocating Shock From Tulsa To Dallas". espn.com. ESPN . Retrieved June 5, 2024.
2. "Sparks acquire Riquna Williams in swap of high picks with Wings". espn.com. Associated Press. March 1, 2016. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
3. "Liberty acquire Amanda Zahui B, send 2017 1st-round pick to Wings". espn.com. Associated Press. May 11, 2016. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
4. "Storm's Breanna Stewart Headlines 2016 WNBA All-Rookie Team". wnba.com (Press release). WNBA. September 29, 2016. Retrieved June 5, 2024.