Bueckers scores 20 of her 26 in 1st half and the Wings beat the Mercury 87-82 for 6th straight win

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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Paige Bueckers scored 20 of her 26 points in the first half, Arike Ogunbowale had 22 points and six assists, and the Dallas Wings beat the Phoenix Mercury 87-82 on Saturday for their sixth straight victory.

Ogunbowale was fouled on a driving layup with 1:19 remaining and she completed the three-point play to extend the lead to 86-81.

Aziaha James made a key steal down the stretch and Bueckers was fouled with 9.7 seconds left before making 1 of 2 free throws to cap the scoring.

Dallas (26-16) passed New York and Washington for sixth place in the WNBA standings.

Awak Kuier added 11 points for Dallas and Jessica Shepard had 10 points, six rebounds and five assists. Bueckers reached the 20-point mark for the 24th time — the fourth-most in the WNBA this season.

Alyssa Thomas recorded her 23th career triple-double — and fourth of the season — with 19 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for Phoenix (15-27). Lexi Held scored 21 points and made four 3-pointers, and Natasha Mack added 16 points.

Bueckers banked in a 3-pointer while being fouled with 0.5 seconds left in the first half to give Dallas a 56-49 lead. She missed the free throw to finish the half with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting. She was 4 of 5 from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes before finishing 5 of 9.

The teams play each other again on Monday in Phoenix.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball