By Dorothy J. Gentry
Sports Editor
In one of the most anticipated events in the Metroplex, the WNBA’s Dallas Wings will open a two-game homestand this week aagainst the Phoenix Mercury and star Brittney Griner.
The Houston native will have family from everywhere in the stands when the Wings face the Mercury 7 p.m. Wednesday at College Park Center on the campus of the University of Texas at Arlington. A second game – “Pride Night” in honor of National Pride Month – is scheduled for Friday, June 9 at 7 p.m.
It will be Griner’s first game in Arlington in more than two years. She last played at College Park Center May 29, 2021.
“I got all my family in Houston coming. I have all my family from Little Rock, Arkansas, driving down. So it’s going to be a good time,” Griner said Monday during a media zoom. “Sorry if you can’t find tickets. I may have taken them all,” she said with a laugh.
The Texas ties run deep for Griner. In addition to growing up in Houston, she went to college at Baylor University in Waco where she helped them win a national championship in 2012. She has also won multiple Gold Medals for the Team USA women’s basketball.
Griner was freed in December in a prisoner swap with the U.S. releasing Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. She had been detained in Russia for 294 days since her after being arrested in February 2022 after authorities found hash oil in her luggage.
Her imprisonment cost her the entire 2022 season and it appears the whole world has been waiting for her return. They’ve not been disappointed; she is averaging 22 points per game (fourth in the league); 3.3 blocks per game (1st in the league); and is shooting 68.2% for first place in field goal percentage.
“It’s actually been going really well. I’m really happy,” she said of her return to the game she loves.
Fans coming to the game are encouraged to bring new or gently used shoes to donate to BG’s Heart and Soul Shoe Drive. Doors open at 6 p.m.
