Paige Bueckers’ big second half leads Wings over Tempo

Paige Bueckers scored all 22 of her points in the second half and had a key steal and basket late in the game to help the Dallas Wings to a 94-88 win over the struggling Toronto Tempo on Wednesday in Arlington, Texas.

The Wings (20-14) snapped a three-game losing streak and got back on track despite playing without star center Jessica Shepard and top draft pick Azzi Fudd, who are nursing ankle and knee injuries, respectively.

Dallas led by eight points at halftime and by 18 six minutes into the third quarter. The Tempo refused to go away, trimming their deficit to 80-77 on Marina Mabrey's 3-pointer with 4:28 to play. But the Wings responded, building the margin to 10 points on a three-point play by Arike Ogunbowale and steal and layup by Bueckers and were never seriously challenged down the stretch.

Ogunbowale added 21 points for Dallas, with Awak Kuier hitting for 14 and Alanna Smith amassing 13 points and 11 rebounds. The Wings lost reserve guard Aziaha James to a left leg injury 13 seconds into the fourth quarter.

Mabrey scored a game-high 23 points while Laura Juskaite had 18, Kia Nurse tallied 16 and Kiki Rice contributed 13 points for Toronto (10-23), which dropped its 10th straight game.

The Wings led for the majority of the first quarter, taking charge with a 9-2 run midway through the period that turned a one-point deficit into a 14-8 lead after Smith's running layup at the 5:25 mark. Dallas expanded its advantage to 27-17 at quarter's end thanks to a late layup by James.

Dallas opened the second period with buckets from Maddy Siegrist and Smith to push its lead to 15 points. But the Tempo swung back, drawing to within 36-35 on Nurse's 3-pointer with 4:51 to play in the first half. The Wings closed the period on a 9-2 run capped by Kuler's layup and carried a 44-37 lead into the break.

Smith led all scorers with 12 points before halftime and it was needed as Bueckers was scoreless in the half while missing all seven of her shots. Mabrey and Nurse paced the Tempo with nine points each.

The Wings stoked their lead to 18 points when Bueckers hit a pullup jumper with 4:04 to play in the third quarter.