2018 Dallas Wings season

The 2018 WNBA season will be the 21st season for the Dallas Wings franchise of the WNBA. This will be the franchise's 3rd season in Dallas. The season tips off on May 18.^[2]

2018 Dallas Wings season
Coach	Fred Williams (fired) Taj McWilliams-Franklin (interim)
Arena	College Park Center
Attendance	4,752 per game
Results
Record	15–19 (.441)
Place	5th (Western)
Playoff finish	8th seed, Lost in First Round to Phoenix 83–101
Team Leaders
Points	Liz Cambage – 23.0 ppg
Rebounds	Liz Cambage – 9.7 rpg
Assists	Skylar Diggins-Smith – 6.2 apg
Media
Television	Fox Sports Southwest[1]
← 2017 season 2019 season →

Dallas had an up and down start to the season, posting a 2–3 record in May followed by a 5–4 record in June. However all but one of these seven losses came to eventual playoff teams. The team posted an 8–5 record in July, including winning 7 of 8 games in the middle of the month. The three straight losses at the end of the month were the beginning of a nine-game losing streak.

In the midst of that losing streak, on August 12, 2018, the Wings fired their head coach Fred Williams. The team had a 14–17 record and was in the 8th and final playoff spot at the time of firing. Assistant Coach Taj McWilliams-Franklin was named the interim head coach for the remainder of the season.^[3]

McWilliams-Franklin posted a 1–2 record in her three games in charge. This saw the Wings finish 1–7 in August. However, the one win was an important one. The win was against the Las Vegas Aces, the Wing's playoff rivals. The Wings secured the 8th seed in the 2018 WNBA Playoffs by one game over the Aces. The team lost to the 5th seeded Phoenix Mercury 83–101 in the first round of the playoffs to end their season.

Transactions

WNBA draft

See also: 2018 WNBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
1	6	Azurá Stevens	United States	Connecticut
2	18	Loryn Goodwin	United States	Oklahoma State
3	30	Natalie Butler	United States	George Mason

Trades and roster changes

Date	Details
February 1, 2018	Re-signed F Kayla Thornton[4]
February 2, 2018	Re-signed F Theresa Plaisance[5]
February 5, 2018	Signed C Liz Cambage[6]
February 28, 2018	Re-signed F Karima Christmas–Kelly[7]
June 3, 2018	Signed C Cayla George[8]
July 23, 2018	Traded F Aerial Powers to Washington Mystics in exchange for G Tayler Hill and 2019 WNBA draft second round pick and the rights to swap first round picks.[9]
August 19, 2018	Signed Maggie Lucas.[10]

Roster

2018 Dallas Wings roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs C 8 Cambage, Liz 6' 8" (2.03m) 216 lb (98kg) 1991-08-18 Australia 2 F 13 Christmas-Kelly, Karima  6' 0" (1.83m) 180 lb (82kg) 1989-09-11 Duke 7 G 3 Davis, Kaela 6' 2" (1.88m) 170 lb (77kg) 1995-03-15 South Carolina 1 G 4 Diggins-Smith, Skylar 5' 9" (1.75m) 145 lb (66kg) 1990-08-02 Notre Dame 5 C 22 George, Cayla 6' 4" (1.93m) 192 lb (87kg) 1989-05-01 Australia 2 G 15 Gray, Allisha 6' 0" (1.83m) 167 lb (76kg) 1992-10-20 South Carolina 1 G 2 Hill, Tayler 5' 9" (1.75m) 145 lb (66kg) 1990-10-23 Ohio State 5 F 25 Johnson, Glory 6' 3" (1.91m) 170 lb (77kg) 1990-07-27 Tennessee 5 G 33 Lucas, Maggie 5' 10" (1.78m) 158 lb (72kg) 1991-11-29 Penn State 3 F 55 Plaisance, Theresa 6' 5" (1.96m) 200 lb (91kg) 1992-05-18 LSU 4 G 10 Romero, Leticia 5' 8" (1.73m) 143 lb (65kg) 1995-05-28 Spain R F/C 30 Stevens, Azurá 6' 6" (1.98m) 180 lb (82kg) 1996-02-01 Connecticut R F 6 Thornton, Kayla 6' 1" (1.85m) 190 lb (86kg) 1992-10-20 UTEP 2	Head coach Taj McWilliams-Franklin (St. Edward's) Assistant coaches Erin Phillips (Australia) Athletic trainer Allison Russell (Tulsa) Strength and conditioning coach Danny Wardell (Huddersfield) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Game log

Pre-season

2018 pre-season game log
May: 2–1 (Home: 1–0; Road: 1–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 May 7 vs. New York W 76–69 Stevens (19) Stevens (9) Chong (3) Mohegan Sun Arena N/A 1–0 2 May 8 @ Connecticut L 58–79 Tied (12) Cambage (9) Hamblin (2) Mohegan Sun Arena 3,695 1–1 3 May 13 Las Vegas W 68–55 Stevens (12) 4 Tied (6) Chong (4) College Park Center N/A 2–1
2018 pre-season schedule

Regular season

2018 game log Total: 15–19 (Home: 10–7; Road: 5–12)
May: 2–3 (Home: 1–0; Road: 1–3) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 May 18 @ Phoenix L 78–86 Tied (18) Cambage (9) Diggins–Smith (9) Talking Stick Resort Arena 11,210 0–1 2 May 20 Atlanta W 101–78 Diggins–Smith (25) Christmas–Kelly (10) Davis (5) College Park Center 5,907 1–1 3 May 23 @ Minnesota L 68–76 Cambage (14) Cambage (12) Diggins–Smith (7) Target Center 7,834 1–2 4 May 26 @ Atlanta W 87–80 Diggins–Smith (24) Cambage (14) Tied (4) McCamish Pavilion 4,749 2–2 5 May 29 @ New York L 89–94 Cambage (28) Cambage (16) Diggins–Smith (7) Westchester County Center 1,516 2–3
June : 5–4 (Home: 3–2; Road: 2–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 6 June 2 Seattle W 94–90 Diggins–Smith (27) Tied (7) Diggins–Smith (7) College Park Center 5,191 3–3 7 June 8 @ Indiana W 89–83 Diggins–Smith (35) Diggins–Smith (12) Diggins–Smith (6) Bankers Life Fieldhouse 5,675 4–3 8 June 12 Phoenix L 72–75 Diggins–Smith (16) Thornton (8) Diggins–Smith (4) College Park Center 4,026 4–4 9 June 15 Las Vegas W 77–67 Cambage (28) Cambage (18) Diggins–Smith (6) College Park Center 4,549 5–4 10 June 19 @ Minnesota L 83–91 Diggins–Smith (17) Cambage (9) Diggins–Smith (7) Target Center 8,023 5–5 11 June 22 Los Angeles W 101–72 Cambage (20) Powers (8) Diggins–Smith (11) College Park Center 5,672 6–5 12 June 24 Seattle L 76–97 Cambage (23) Cambage (9) Diggins–Smith (7) College Park Center 4,084 6–6 13 June 26 @ Los Angeles L 83–87 Cambage (25) Cambage (14) Diggins–Smith (5) Staples Center 10,002 6–7 14 June 27 @ Las Vegas W 97–91 Diggins–Smith (29) Cambage (11) Diggins–Smith (8) Mandalay Bay Events Center 5,246 7–7
July : 8–5 (Home: 6–3; Road: 2–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 15 July 1 Minnesota L 72–76 Diggins–Smith (16) Johnson (8) Diggins–Smith (7) College Park Center 4,448 7–8 16 July 3 Chicago W 108–85 Cambage (37) Cambage (10) Tied (5) College Park Center 4,012 8–8 17 July 5 Indiana W 90–63 Stevens (26) Johnson (11) Diggins–Smith (7) College Park Center 4,043 9–8 18 July 8 @ New York W 97–87 Diggins–Smith (32) Cambage (12) Gray (6) Westchester County Center 1,719 10–8 19 July 10 Phoenix W 101–72 Diggins–Smith (20) Johnson (9) Tied (4) College Park Center 4,034 11–8 20 July 12 @ Los Angeles W 92–77 Diggins–Smith (22) Johnson (7) Diggins–Smith (11) Staples Center 13,502 12–8 21 July 14 @ Seattle L 84–91 Cambage (23) Stevens (9) Diggins–Smith (7) KeyArena 9,686 12–9 22 July 17 New York W 104–87 Cambage (53) Cambage (10) Diggins–Smith (7) College Park Center 6,459 13–9 23 July 19 Washington W 90–81 Cambage (35) Cambage (17) Diggins–Smith (7) College Park Center 4,411 14–9 24 July 20 @ Chicago L 99–114 Cambage (23) Stevens (9) Tied (5) Wintrust Arena 4,962 14–10 25 July 22 Connecticut L 75–92 Cambage (25) Cambage (10) Tied (5) College Park Center 4,935 14–11 26 July 31 Chicago L 91–92 Cambage (33) Johnson (14) Gray (10) College Park Center 3,696 14–12
August : 1–7 (Home: 1–2; Road: 0–5) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 27 August 2 @ Indiana L 78–84 Cambage (37) Tied (9) 4 Tied (3) Bankers Life Fieldhouse 5,981 14–13 28 August 5 Washington L 74–76 Tied (16) Cambage (14) Tied (4) College Park Center 5,623 14–14 29 August 8 Connecticut L 92–101 Cambage (29) Tied (9) Cambage (4) College Park Center 3,483 14–15 30 August 11 @ Atlanta L 82–92 Diggins–Smith (26) Stevens (6) Diggins–Smith (10) McCamish Pavilion 4,937 14–16 31 August 12 @ Washington L 80–93 Diggins–Smith (17) Gray (12) Diggins–Smith (6) Capital One Arena 6,362 14–17 32 August 14 @ Connecticut L 76–96 Gray (18) Cambage (13) Diggins–Smith (8) Mohegan Sun Arena 6,365 14–18 33 August 17 Las Vegas W 107–102 Cambage (43) Cambage (13) Diggins–Smith (8) College Park Center 6,209 15–18 34 August 19 @ Seattle L 68–84 Johnson (16) Johnson (7) Diggins–Smith (4) KeyArena 12,574 15–19
2018 season schedule

Playoffs

2018 playoff game log
WNBA First Round: 0–1 (Home: 0–0; Road: 0–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 August 21 @ Phoenix L 83–101 Diggins–Smith (23) Cambage (12) Diggins–Smith (7) Wells Fargo Arena 4,976 0–1
2018 playoff schedule

Standings

#	Western Conference v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
1	Seattle Storm (1)	26	8	.765	–	13–4	13–4	11–5
2	Phoenix Mercury (5)	20	14	.588	6	9–8	11–6	8–8
3	Los Angeles Sparks (6)	19	15	.559	7	11–6	8–9	9–7
4	Minnesota Lynx (7)	18	16	.529	8	9–8	9–8	9–7
5	Dallas Wings (8)	15	19	.441	11	10–7	5–12	7–9
6	e –Las Vegas Aces	14	20	.412	12	8–9	6–11	4–12

Playoffs

Main article: 2018 WNBA Playoffs

	First round Single elimination (Aug. 21)					Second round Single elimination (Aug. 23)					Semifinals Best-of-5 (Aug. 26 – Sept. 4)					WNBA Finals Best-of-5 (Sept. 7 – Sept. 12)
											1	Seattle Storm	3
						4	Connecticut Sun	86			5	Phoenix Mercury	2
	5	Phoenix Mercury	101			5	Phoenix Mercury	96								1	Seattle Storm	3
	8	Dallas Wings	83													3	Washington Mystics	0
											2	Atlanta Dream	2
						3	Washington Mystics	96			3	Washington Mystics	3
	6	Los Angeles Sparks	75			6	Los Angeles Sparks	64
	7	Minnesota Lynx	68

Note: Teams re-seeded after second round and semi-finals.

• Bold – Game or series winner
• Italic – Team with home-court advantage

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
Liz Cambage	32	32	29.5	58.9	32.4	73.8	9.7	2.3	0.5	1.7	23.0
Skylar Diggins-Smith	32	32	34.1	40.3	29.7	83.9	3.3	6.2	1.4	0.5	17.9
Karima Christmas-Kelly	6	6	27.8	44.8	44.4	81.3	5.5	1.5	0.3	0.3	9.3
Kayla Thornton	34	32	28.6	44.7	35.5	86.0	4.0	1.8	1.0	0.4	9.2
Allisha Gray	34	34	26.7	40.3	27.0	86.3	3.4	2.4	1.3	0.2	9.2
Azurá Stevens	34	9	20.6	43.0	31.8	78.8	4.6	1.3	0.9	1.1	8.9
Glory Johnson	29	17	22.5	41.7	31.5	78.0	6.0	1.3	1.0	0.5	8.0
Theresa Plaisance	7	0	11.6	38.9	47.4	0.0	3.7	0.7	0.3	0.3	5.3
Tayler Hill	7	1	16.9	28.9	29.2	100.0	3.7	0.7	0.3	0.3	5.0
Kaela Davis	27	6	16.8	34.7	24.4	64.1	2.0	1.4	0.3	0.0	5.0
Cayla George	23	1	10.7	43.6	30.8	50.0	2.8	0.7	0.1	0.2	3.6
Leticia Romero	21	0	7.0	31.3	20.0	86.7	0.8	1.1	0.0	0.0	1.1
Maggie Lucas	1	0	20.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.0	0.0	0.0

Awards and honors

Recipient	Award	Date awarded	Ref.
Liz Cambage	WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week	June 4, 2018	[11]
Liz Cambage	WNBA All-Star Selection	July 17, 2018	[12]
Skylar Diggins-Smith
Liz Cambage	WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week	July 23, 2018	[13]
	WNBA Peak Performer – Points	August 19, 2018	[14]