Odyssey Sims
The Dallas Wings, the area’s new WNBA franchise, pulled ahead of the San Antonio Stars in the first minute of the game and maintained their lead throughout the team’s sold-out home opener.
Odyssey Sims is quickly becoming a team favorite. Not only did she grow up in Irving, but she scored 10 of the team’s 21 points in the first quarter, continued scoring throughout the game and intercepted the ball in every quarter.
Although the Wings kept their lead throughout the game and were winning by more than 10 points through much of the third quarter, the game wasn’t without excitement. San Antonio finally seemed to wake up during the middle of the fourth quarter and narrowed their deficit to just two points. At four seconds before the final buzzer, the whistle blew calling a foul.
Sims scored two points. The score was 82-77.
The whistle again at 3 seconds. San Antonio had the ball. Final buzzer the Wings won their home opener.
The Wings opened their season out-of-town and are 3-1 on the season so far. If they keep playing like this, they’ll be a championship team soon.
Some notes about the game:
WNBA games are a whole lot of fun. Although the games are played on the UT Arlington campus, lots of people from the community made the drive from Dallas.
The Dallas Wings transferred from Tulsa, where they were known as the Tulsa Shock. Judging by the T-shirts people wore, lots of people made the drive from Oklahoma are are remaining loyal to their team.
Most of the team is new. Plenette Pierson is the team’s elder statesman. When I spoke team members several weeks ago at their College Park Arena home, the rookies look up to her for advice. She along with Coach Fred Williams, who’s from Oak Cliff, by the way, have done a great job of bringing this group of women together to work well as a team. Each time Sims signaled one of her teammates, that person was clear to catch her passing the ball. Watching such team work, especially among a group of women working together for the first time in their new home, was a pleasure.
I should note that the team played with just 11 players. Glory Johnson, one of the team’s stars, is on a seven-game suspension. She’ll be back in a few weeks and so will I. Can’t wait to see her on the court.
One thing I’ve noted before is I’m not a sports reporter, but I played one on TV. You know something I love about reporting sports? When I write anything else, I have to maintain some objectivity. When it comes to sports reporting, I can throw my objectivity out the window. You never heard a Dallas reporter talking about how great the Yankees are after they’ve blown out the Rangers. Or, hey, wasn’t that a great Giants win against the Cowboys.
So I can say it. San Antonio pretty much sucked throughout the game, and I love our Dallas Wings. The next game is Friday, May 27 against Atlanta. Do yourself a favor, have some fun and go.
Dallas Wings play at College Park Arena. Exit I-30 at Center Street and go south several miles. You’ll see the parking garages on your right. Parking is just $10.
