Jessica Shepard Identifies Wings’ Priorities Entering WNBA Playoffs

SEATTLE — Jessica Shepard said the Dallas Wings were flying around for each other on defense as the Seattle Storm made a late push Wednesday night. She spoke in a postgame interview with USA Sports after Dallas held on for a 103-91 win at Climate Pledge Arena.

She had 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists for her sixth triple-double of the season, the most in the WNBA. Dallas finished the regular season 27-17 and locked in the No. 7 seed after the Atlanta Dream beat the New York Liberty earlier in the night.

Shepard shot 9-of-12 from the field. In the first quarter alone, she had 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. According to the team, no player in WNBA history had reached all three marks in a single quarter.

Jessica Shepard Credits Dallas Wings’ Late Defense And Awak Kuier

Dallas led 90-71 with 6:55 left before Seattle scored 20 of the next 27 points. Natisha Hiedeman stole a pass and scored to cut the lead to 94-88 with 2:01 remaining, and her three-point play made it 97-91 with 1:14 left.

Two nights earlier, the Wings gave up an 11-point lead over the final 8:48 of an 87-86 loss at the Phoenix Mercury. Kahleah Copper scored the winning layup with 2.4 seconds left.

Seattle outscored Dallas 18-9 in second-chance points Wednesday. Shepard said the Wings did not finish possessions with box outs, but did at the end.

“I think it was a great response,” Shepard said. “I mean, just flying around for each other, covering, and then obviously we didn’t do a great job finishing with box outs, but at the end when it mattered, we did.”

With 57.8 seconds left, Shepard found Paige Bueckers for a 3-pointer that put Dallas ahead 100-91. Awak Kuier blocked Hiedeman’s drive on Seattle’s next trip. After a Storm timeout, Kuier stole Hiedeman’s pass and found Maddy Siegrist, who scored through a foul with 27.9 seconds left and made the free throw for the final margin. Those were the two Seattle possessions Shepard pointed to.

“Huge. Even those last two offensive possessions that Seattle had, she came up with a huge block for us, and then she covered down and got the steal there at the end,” Shepard said. “So Awak covers a lot of mistakes for us.”

Kuier finished with 14 points and made 4 of 6 from 3-point range, a career high for made 3-pointers. She added 4 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 2 steals.

Jessica Shepard Points To Ball Security Before The WNBA Playoffs

Dallas committed 7 turnovers in the second quarter, and Seattle scored 6 points off them while shooting 13-of-16 in the period. The Wings’ lead went from 29-12 after one quarter to 49-42 at halftime. Getting stops will matter in the playoffs along with taking care of the ball, according to Shepard.

“I think just making sure that we value every possession,” Shepard explained. “In the first half, we didn’t do a great job of taking care of the basketball. We know come playoffs, that’s going to be a key for us as well as getting stops when we need to.”

Shepard is in her first season with Dallas. Entering Wednesday, she had 24 double-doubles, the second-most in the WNBA, and 13 games with at least 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists, the most in the league. She came into the season with one career triple-double.

The Wings open a best-of-three first-round series Sunday on the road against the No. 2 seed, either the Golden State Valkyries or the Las Vegas Aces. Golden State plays at the Los Angeles Sparks and Las Vegas plays at Phoenix on Thursday night, with tip-off for both games set for 9 p.m. CT.