The 2016 WNBA season was the 19th season for the Dallas Wings franchise in the Women's National Basketball Association. It was their first in Dallas, Texas after relocating from Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was the third season under head coach Fred Williams.

The Wings began the season with three games on the road, and they won two, defeating Indiana and Washington but losing to New York. Their first game in their new home came against in-state rivals San Antonio on May 21. Dallas won 82–77 to mark their first win in their new home in front of a sell-out crowd. However, they would go on to lose their next two home games to finish May 3–3. Their losing streak extended into June, where they lost their first four games. Two of those losses were against eventual WNBA Finalists Minnesota and Los Angeles. The team extended its streaky performance by winning their next four games, including two wins, one in overtime, over Phoenix. The Wings lost two and won one game to finish June 5–6. Continuing to over around .500, Dallas lost its opening game of July and defeated Phoenix again in the second game. The team then hit a rough spot, losing its next six games to close out July. The streak did include an overtime loss to Minnesota and two five-point losses to Atlanta. The team's fortunes did not turn around after the Olympic break where they lost all three games in August and the first two games in September. They ended the losing streak at eleven by defeating San Antonio. They would only win one of their last three games, against New York. The Wings finished 11–23 overall and in 5th place in the Western Conference.

Transactions WNBA draft

Round Pick Player Nationality School/Team/Country15Aerial PowersMichigan State218Ruth HamblinOregon State Beaver330Shakena RichardsonSeton Hall

Trades and roster changes DateDetails February 22 Signed Glory Johnson March 1 Signed Riquna Williams Acquired Erin Phillips, the 5th pick in the 2016 WNBA draft, and the 11th pick in the 2017 WNBA draft from Los Angeles in exchange for Riquna Williams and the 6th pick in the 2016 WNBA draft. May 11 Acquired the 10th overall pick in the 2017 WNBA draft from New York in exchange for Amanda Zahui B. and the 14th overall pick in the 2017 WNBA draft.

Roster

Game log

Preseason

|- style="background:#fcc;" | 1 | May 112:00 pm | @ Indiana | L 90–108 | Aerial Powers (17) | Aerial Powers (6) | Powers, Schimmel (4) | Bankers Life Fieldhouse6,214 | 0–1 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 2 | May 81:30 pm | Connecticut | L 74–82 | Glory Johnson (13) | Johnson, Powers (9) | Erin Phillips (6) | College Park Center2,326 | 0–2

Regular season

|- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 1 || May 14 || @ Indiana || W 90–79 || Plenette Pierson (17) || Courtney Paris (9) || Odyssey Sims (4) || Bankers Life Fieldhouse8,569 || 1–0 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 2 || May 15 || @ New York || L 71–79 || Plaisance, Sims (14) || Courtney Paris (12) || Erin Phillips (5) || Madison Square Garden10,120 || 1–1 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 3 || May 18 || @ Washington || W 87–77 || Odyssey Sims (22) || Karima Christmas-Kelly (10) || Courtney Paris (4) || Verizon Center5,618 || 2–1 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 4 || May 21 || San Antonio || W 82–77 || Odyssey Sims (23) || Courtney Paris (15) || Erin Phillips (4) || College Park Center7,275 || 3–1 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 5 || May 27 || Atlanta || L 93–102 || Christmas-Kelly, Powers (16) || Courtney Paris (14) || Odyssey Sims (5) || College Park Center4,712 || 3–2 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 6 || May 29 || Chicago || L 87–92 || Odyssey Sims (23) || Courtney Paris (9) || Karima Christmas-Kelly (6) || College Park Center5,297 || 3–3

|- style="background:#fcc;" | 7 || June 4 || @ Minnesota || L 63–80 || Aerial Powers (20) || Courtney Paris (8) || Kiesel, Sims (4) || Target Center7,634 || 3–4 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 8 || June 8 || Washington || L 79–87 || Aerial Powers (17) || Karima Christmas-Kelly (10) || Odyssey Sims (9) || College Park Center4,177 || 3–5 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 9 || June 11 || Los Angeles || L 73–97 || Odyssey Sims (18) || Glory Johnson (6) || Odyssey Sims (3) || College Park Center5,061 || 3–6 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 10 || June 14 || @ New York || L 88–91 || Karima Christmas-Kelly (21) || Courtney Paris (10) || Odyssey Sims (5) || Madison Square Garden7,939 || 3–7 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 11 || June 16 || Seattle || W 88–79 || Christmas-Kelly, Sims (17) || Courtney Paris (10) || Skylar Diggins-Smith (5) || College Park Center4,622 || 4–7 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 12 || June 18 || @ Phoenix || W 117–111 (OT) || Skylar Diggins-Smith (27) || Courtney Paris (12) || Odyssey Sims (6) || Talking Stick Resort Arena10,235 || 5–7 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 13 || June 21 || Phoenix || W 100–90 || Skylar Diggins-Smith (20) || Glory Johnson (10) || Odyssey Sims (9) || College Park Center6,819 || 6–7 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 14 || June 23 || San Antonio || W 97–90 || Plenette Pierson (21) || Glory Johnson (11) || Diggins-Smith, Sims (5) || College Park Center4,027 || 7–7 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 15 || June 25 || Indiana || L 92–87 || Karima Christmas-Kelly (21) || Karima Christmas-Kelly (12) || Christmas-Kelly, Diggins-Smith (4) || College Park Center5,206 || 7–8 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 16 || June 28 || @ Los Angeles || L 84–89 || Skylar Diggins-Smith (29) || Christmas-Kelly, Paris (7) || Skylar Diggins-Smith (7) || Staples Center7,823 || 7–9 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 17 || June 30 || @ Seattle || W 83–78 || Aerial Powers (19) || Courtney Paris (12) || Karima Christmas-Kelly (5) || KeyArena5,365 || 8–9

|- style="background:#fcc;" | 18 || July 2 || Connecticut || L 83–86 || Glory Johnson (16) || Glory Johnson (12) || Christmas-Kelly, Diggins-Smith, Sims (2) || College Park Center5,108 || 8–10 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 19 || July 5 || Phoenix || W 77–74 || Glory Johnson (23) || Glory Johnson (22) || Skylar Diggins-Smith (4) || College Park Center5,480 || 9–10 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 20 || July 8 || @ Atlanta || L 90–95 || Karima Christmas-Kelly (18) || Christmas-Kelly, Johnson (15) || Odyssey Sims (5) || Philips Arena6,745 || 9–11 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 21 || July 9 || @ Minnesota || L 56–93 || Phillips, Powers (9) || Courtney Paris (6) || Kiesel, Phillips, Sims (2) || Target Center7,613 || 9–12 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 22 || July 15 || @ Chicago || L 77–84 || Plenette Pierson (20) || Courtney Paris (8) || Odyssey Sims (6) || Allstate Arena6,012 || 9–13 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 23 || July 17 || Minnesota || L 97–98 (OT) || Plenette Pierson (21) || Plenette Pierson (11) || Skylar Diggins-Smith (9) || College Park Center5,752 || 9–14 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 24 || July 20 || Connecticut || L 78–89 || Odyssey Sims (20) || Courtney Paris (11) || Odyssey Sims (8) || College Park Center4,873 || 9–15 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 25 || July 22 || @ Atlanta || L 88–93 || Skylar Diggins-Smith (29) || Courtney Paris (10) || Plenette Pierson (7) || McCamish Pavilion4,749 || 9–16

|- style="background:#fcc;" | 26 || August 26 || @ Phoenix || L 72–98 || Plenette Pierson (23) || Plenette Pierson (8) || Bias, Diggins-Smith, Sims (3) || Talking Stick Resort Arena11,396 || 9–17 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 27 || August 28 || Chicago || L 85–92 || Odyssey Sims (22) || Aerial Powers (8) || Plenette Pierson (6) || College Park Center5,651 || 9–18 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 28 || August 31 || @ Seattle || L 66–78 || Plenette Pierson (19) || Glory Johnson (9) || Skylar Diggins-Smith (5) || KeyArena6,771 || 9–19

|- style="background:#fcc;" | 29 || September 2 || Los Angeles || L 79–87 || Odyssey Sims (26) || Glory Johnson (15) || Christmas-Kelly, Diggins-Smith, Powers, Sims (2) || College Park Center5,176 || 9–20 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 30 || September 4 || Washington || L 83–88 || Skylar Diggins-Smith (25) || Plenette Pierson (11) || Skylar Diggins-Smith (4) || College Park Center5,162 || 9–21 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 31 || September 9 || @ San Antonio || W 92–84 || Odyssey Sims (20) || Courtney Paris (11) || Odyssey Sims (7) || AT&T Center7,425 || 10–21 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 32 || September 11 || New York || W 84–81 || Karima Christmas-Kelly (23) || Courtney Paris (12) || Christmas-Kelly, Phillips, Sims (2) || College Park Center5,662 || 11–21 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 33 || September 16 || @ Connecticut || L 74–107 || Theresa Plaisance (22) || Courtney Paris (7) || Skylar Diggins-Smith (5) || Mohegan Sun Arena6,228 || 11–22 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 34 || September 18 || @ Indiana || L 60–83 || Karima Christmas-Kelly (12) || Christmas-Kelly, Paris, Plaisance (5) || Diggins-Smith, Sims (4) || Bankers Life Fieldhouse17,704 || 11–23

Standings

Awards and honors Recipient Award Date awarded Ref. Aerial Powers WNBA All-Rookie Team September 29, 2016

Statistics

Regular season Player GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG Odyssey Sims 34 30 31.6 35.3% 28.0% 88.3% 2.5 3.9 1.1 0.2 14.0 Skylar Diggins-Smith 27 25 28.3 39.0% 29.9% 78.8% 1.9 3.4 1.1 0.3 13.1 Karima Christmas-Kelly 34 34 31.6 40.0% 31.7% 79.6% 5.9 2.1 1.2 0.7 12.4 Plenette Pierson 27 27 26.6 38.7% 33.7% 82.9% 4.6 2.0 0.8 0.4 11.9 Glory Johnson 18 6 27.9 44.2% 28.6% 75.3% 8.9 1.3 0.9 0.6 11.3 Aerial Powers 32 2 19.2 39.4% 36.8% 83.5% 2.7 1.1 1.0 0.2 10.4 Courtney Paris 34 32 24.3 54.8% 0.0% 55.6% 8.0 1.1 0.4 0.9 7.7 Erin Phillips 32 12 14.6 43.8% 38.3% 90.6% 1.2 1.2 0.2 0.1 4.7 Theresa Plaisance 27 1 11.9 39.8% 33.3% 63.6% 2.5 0.3 0.3 0.4 4.0 Jordan Hooper 32 1 9.1 37.5% 34.1% 87.5% 1.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 3.7 Tiffany Bias 10 0 6.4 34.8% 27.3% 83.3% 0.5 0.6 0.2 0.0 2.9 Ruth Hamblin 20 0 6.5 25.0% — 71.4% 1.5 0.2 0.1 0.5 1.1 Brianna Kiesel 14 0 7.4 17.4% 16.7% 75.0% 0.4 1.3 0.4 0.0 0.9

References