Johnson, Diggins-Smith lift Wings past winless Stars

Glory Johnson totaled 25 points and 10 rebounds and Skylar Diggins-Smith scored 16 as the Dallas Wings held off the in-state rival San Antonio Stars 81-78 on Wednesday afternoon at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.

Karima Christmas-Kelly also added 16 points and Kayla Thornton had nine for Dallas (6-8), which has won back-to-back games after dropping three in a row and six of seven.

Monique Currie finished two points shy of her career high with a game-leading 29 points as San Antonio (0-12) came up just short of its first win of the season.

Moriah Jefferson scored 16 and Kayla McBridge was held to 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting for the Stars.

The Stars led 61-57 heading into the fourth quarter.

Currie’s 3-pointer with 5:09 remaining put San Antonio up 74-67, but Dallas closed the gap and took an 80-78 lead on Diggins-Smith’s three-point play with 1:27 to play.

Dearica Hamby missed two free throws with 4.2 seconds left. Christmas-Kelly made one of two free throws on the other end, giving the Stars one last chance with 3.5 ticks to go.

A San Antonio turnover 1.3 seconds later sealed the game.

San Antonio was up 43-38 at halftime but expanded its lead to 57-47 at the 2:40 mark of the third after a 12-2 run. The Wings were within four at the end of the period.

The Wings opened the second quarter on a 6-0 run to expand their 24-19 lead. Dallas scored five straight points in the final 53 seconds of the first half to pull within five at the break.

The Stars and Wings complete their home-and-home series on Friday night at the AT&T Center in San Antonio. Dallas won the first meeting between the teams this season 94-82 on May 25.