With the help of 18 points from veteran guard Odyssey Sims -- making her season debut after signing with Dallas on Tuesday -- the Wings won for the first time in a month, ending an 11-game losing streak with a 94-88 victory over the Minnesota Lynx on Thursday.
The Wings signed Sims to a hardship contract earlier this week after starter Maddy Siegrist broke her finger on June 18. Siegrist is expected to be out until after the Olympic break.
Sims, who turns 32 in July, was hoping to be on the Wings roster at the start of this season. But she stayed ready just in case she was picked up.
"When the season started, I knew I wasn't done playing in the league," Sims said. "Obviously, I'm getting older, but I still have something left in my tank. Every day, I wake up and go to the gym. And I have a son. So even if I wanted to give up, days I feel like I'm defeated, I still have to push through because I have a son that's looking up to me to make him proud."
Sims said she was competing in Paris over the weekend when she got the call from the Wings.
"I was playing in a streetball tournament that they have every year, a sponsored Jordan Brand event," Sims said. "Combing back home, I was a little jet-lagged. Practiced Tuesday and yesterday. Just had to get my legs back under me and be prepared to play today."
Sims, who won the 2012 NCAA championship with Baylor, was the No. 2 pick in the 2014 draft by Tulsa. She stayed with the franchise when it moved to Dallas in 2016 and became the Wings.
From 2017 on, she's had stints with the Los Angeles Sparks, Lynx, Atlanta Dream and Connecticut Sun. She then came back to the Wings last year when she was signed during the season.
Sims played in 28 of the Wings' 40 regular-season games in 2023 and five playoff games.
A native of the greater Dallas areas (Irving, Texas), Sims attended Wings home games this season as a spectator up until Thursday afternoon, when she was playing for Dallas again.
"It helps a ton that we know her; she finished the season with us last year," said Dallas star guard Arike Ogunbowale, who led the Wings with 23 points and 9 assists Thursday. "So I know how she plays, she knows how I play. We communicate a lot when we're on the court.
"She also came to every home game this year and she supported us even though she wasn't on the team. That's a testament to who she is as a person -- she's not bitter even though we didn't pick her up. She was ready for any team to pick her up."
The Wings have had several significant injuries this season beyond Siegrist. Forward Satou Sabally, an all-WNBA first-team selection in 2023, has been rehabbing a shoulder injury and isn't expected to join the Wings until after the Olympics, where she will play for Germany. Forward Natasha Howard missed 12 games with a broken foot suffered in the season opener before returning June 20.
Before Thursday, the Wings' last win was on May 26 at Los Angeles. Dallas was facing a difficult foe in the Lynx, who just won the Commissioner's Cup trophy on Tuesday in New York. But Sims helped the Wings (4-13) get back in the win column.
"I told them after the game, 'Tough times don't last but tough people do,'" Dallas coach Latricia Trammell said. "[Odyssey] is a veteran, she's a baller. She can just go in and play the game. She gave us that energy, that spark, that pace that we're looking for. I love her coming in and being so confident."