Arlington, TX (June 19, 2024) – Dallas Wings second-year forward Maddy Siegrist, who's on a roll for the Most Improved Player of the Year award, suffered a broken finger on her left hand during the first quarter of Monday night’s game against the Minnesota Lynx. A date for her return has not yet been determined.
As mentioned before, Siegrist has been having a breakout year, averaging 14.6 points and 4.2 rebounds over 13 contests this season. Her scoring has skyrocketed, with an increase of 10.9 points per game, moving her from 89th to 23rd in the WNBA rankings. Despite her injury, she still managed to record a gritty performance, scoring a team-high 17 points and grabbing seven rebounds against the Lynx.
With Siegrist’s injury, the Wings are down to eight healthy players. This now allows them to sign free agent Morgan Bertsch to a salary cap hardship contract.
The Wings had previously signed Monique Billings to a hardship contract following the injury to veteran forward Natasha Howard. One hardship contract must be terminated when the Wings have nine standard players able to play, and the other must be terminated when they have ten standard players able to play.
Bertsch began her career with the Wings when Dallas selected her in the third round of the 2019 WNBA Draft after finishing her five-year career at UC Davis, which included a redshirt season. She was a prolific scorer, finishing fourth in the nation in scoring during her final season with the Aggies in 2018-19.
Bertsch also previously spent training camp with the Wings (2019, 2022), along with the Connecticut Sun, and most recently had a stint with the Phoenix Mercury. Over eight games with the Mercury this season, Bertsch has averaged 2.6 points and 1.5 rebounds in just under 10 minutes per game.
Siegrist’s injury is the latest in a string of injuries for the Wings this season.
Dallas lost All-WNBA First Team member and All-Star Satou Sabally to a shoulder injury during the offseason, and she is expected to be out until the Olympic break. Dallas' other rookie perimeter player, Jaelyn Brown, suffered a nose injury in the preseason after scoring a 20-point game. Brown then had it repaired following the season opener, and has since been out due to illness. Meanwhile, two-time WNBA All-Star Natasha Howard broke her foot in the season-opening win against the Chicago Sky and remains sidelined, while the WNBA’s No. 2 scorer, Arike Ogunbowale, was sidelined on Monday at Minnesota due to Achilles soreness.
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