(Photo credit: Chris Jones)

Paige Bueckers scored 19 points and Jessica Shepard added her fifth triple-double of the season as the Dallas Wings surged in a pivotal stretch of the third quarter and cruised to a 97-77 win over the Los Angeles Sparks on Thursday in Arlington, Texas.

The Wings (25-16) won for their fifth straight game and tied a franchise record for wins in season set when the team played in Detroit as the Shock in 2003. Dallas already had clinched a spot in the playoffs for the first time since 2023.

The game was tied after the first quarter and at halftime before the Wings grabbed the lead with a dominant third quarter when they outscored the Sparks 25-14. That 12-0 run continued into the first minute of the fourth quarter as Los Angeles went scoreless for 2:35 of the clock bridging the periods.

The Wings stoked their advantage to as many as 25 points in the fourth quarter.

Shepard finished with 13 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds. Maddy Siegrist had 12 points, Arike Ogunbowale added 11 points and Aziaha James and Kitija Lukas scored 10 points each for Dallas.

Nneka Ogwumike led Los Angeles (15-26) with 18 points. Dearica Hamby tallied 14 and Rae Burrell hit for 12 points as the Sparks had a two-game win streak snapped.

The teams were playing in their first game since the league break at the end of August for the FIBA Women's World Cup.

The first quarter went back and forth and was tied at 25 after the first 10 minutes.

Neither team led by more than three points in the second period with Dallas up 42-39 after two free throws by Ogunbowale with 1:54 to play until halftime. Los Angeles got the best of the final two minutes as Cameron Brink's putback layup knotted the score at 44 at the break.

Bueckers' 15 points before halftime led all scorers while the Sparks got 11 from Ogwumike and 10 each from Hamby and Burrell in the half.

Shepard canned a running layup off the break to make it 62-56 with 2:07 to play in the third quarter. Awak Kuier's 3-pointer with 32 seconds left, followed by an Odyssey Sims layup stoked the advantage to 69-58 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Wings finished with a 46-27 advantage on the boards.

--Field Level Media