Dallas Wings vs. Indiana Fever WNBA Preview and Prediction
The last four WNBA No. 1 overall picks, as well as the last three Rookies of the Year, meet up in Indianapolis when the Indiana Fever kick off the 2026 season hosting the Dallas Wings Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.
Despite a plethora of injuries last season, the Fever finished 24-20 under first-year coach Stephanie White and reached the WNBA semifinals, taking eventual champion Las Vegas to overtime in the fifth and final game. Indiana’s heralded trio of Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston is expected to go even further this season.
Meanwhile, the Wings finished tied for the worst record in the league at 10-34 and are now on their third coach in three years with Jose Fernandez.
Paige Bueckers was phenomenal in her debut, but veteran Arike Ogunbowale had perhaps her worst season as a pro. Top draft pick Azzi Fudd arrives from Connecticut to boost the team’s prospects moving forward.
Dallas Wings vs. Indiana Fever WNBA Odds and Betting Trends
Indiana currently sits as -6.5 favourites on the WNBA odds with a -290 moneyline. Dallas is at +235.
The over/under for this contest is 176.5. The Fever took three of four games from Dallas last season, totalling more than 176.5 points in two of those meetings.
Dallas Wings
Bueckers (19.2 PPG, 5.4 APG.) was as good as advertised last season, finishing fifth in the league in scoring.
Fudd, an All-American at UConn, will be expected to similarly replicate that success and maintain the string of No. 1 overall picks becoming Rookies of the Year – as Dallas looks to get back to the postseason after a two-year hiatus.
Ogunbowale, who averaged 15.5 points, had by far her least productive campaign in terms of scoring.
The team added two veterans from Minnesota to bolster the foundation in Alanna Smith (9.6 PPG, 5.1 RPG) and Jessica Shephard (8 PPG, 7.3 RPG).
Smith (nasal fracture) and first-round pick Aziaha James (sprained ankle) were unable to practice on Wednesday and may not be ready for Saturday’s opener.
Indiana Fever
Clark only played 13 games last season. She averaged 16.5 points and 8.8 assists, but it was Mitchell (20.2 PPG) and Boston (15 PPG, 8.2 RPG) that did the bulk of the heavy lifting. In fact, Mitchell set a career-high while finishing third in the league in scoring. Indiana may have gotten past the Aces if she hadn’t been forced to leave late in that deciding fifth game with numbness in her legs. She finished fifth in the league’s MVP voting. Meanwhile, Boston finished tied for sixth, as the all-league defender joined Mitchell at the All-Star Game.
Raven Johnson brings a championship pedigree and toughness from South Carolina, and the team added veterans Monique Billings and Shatori Kimbrough-Walker to bolster the roster.
WNBA Prediction: Who will win Wings vs. Fever?
Both teams surrendered points at a high level last season. Indiana finished eighth in the league with 81.5 points per game allowed, while Dallas was 12th out of 13 teams with 88 points per game allowed.
The Wings were also an atrocious 4-18 on the road. They will be a better team this season, but so will the Fever – who were 13-9 at home a year ago.
Look for Indiana to start the season off on a high note and knock off the Wings, 88-77.