ARLINGTON, TX — The Dallas Wings were defeated by the Connecticut Sun 109-91 on Friday night in their first game after the Olympic break. There were some positives to take away from the contest, though, as Jaelyn Brown and Satou Sabally returned to the rotation. Brown had previously only played in one game this season as she has battled an injury and an illness, while Sabally had not played at all in the 2024 season after undergoing offseason shoulder surgery.
Arike Ogunbowale led the Wings with 21 points in the defeat. Sabally added 20 points in her 2024 WNBA debut. She added eight rebounds and seven assists. After the game, Sabally, who played at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris for Germany, addressed making the transition back to WNBA basketball.
“I can tell you I feel prepared,” Sabally said. “I mean, the Olympics are really the highest level of sports that you can reach. I could feel that… Jumping into that level was like jumping into a shark tank. But I knew that if I could persevere that, then I'll be fine here.”
Satou Sabally credits Wings teammates
Sabally finished fifth in WNBA MVP voting a season ago. She is one of the best players in the league when healthy. Sabally and Ogunbowale feature the potential to be one of the best duos in the entire WNBA.
Although they were defeated on Friday, Dallas should play better during the second half as they continue to get healthy. Sabally was quick to credit her teammates while discussing her return to the Wings.
“I mean, I have great teammates around me here. I was excited, I was looking forward all year long to play with them,” Sabally continued. “It just feels free. I'm just happy to be here and happy to have great, amazing shooters like Natasha Howard (who was also at the press conference). Like, I don't even know how many All-Stars she has. It's just an honor to play alongside such people. Being a leader for the national team and then coming here having to translate that, it just makes me grow as a person and as a player.”
So how can the Wings start finding ways to win on a consistent basis? After all, Dallas entered the season with high expectations before all of the injuries. Now with injured players returning, the Wings will have an opportunity to end the season on a positive note.
“I would say just taking it game by game… Setting the standard high for ourselves,” Sabally said. “And playing for ourselves more than whoever is in front of us. I think we need to find our identity and play to that because we're so talented and so good that we can win all the next games that are ahead of us.”
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