M.A. Voepel, ESPN.comJun 7, 2023, 05:44 PM ET
CloseM.A. Voepel covers the WNBA, women’s college basketball, and other college sports for espnW. Voepel began covering women’s basketball in 1984, and has been with ESPN since 1996.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Guard Odyssey Sims has signed a rest-of-season contract with the Dallas Wings, the team announced Wednesday. Dallas was granted a salary cap hardship by the WNBA because the Wings currently have just nine available players.
Sims is expected to be in action Wednesday as the Wings are host to the Phoenix Mercury and center Brittney Griner on her return to her home state of Texas. Griner, a native of Houston, missed last season when she was detained in Russia.
Sims and Griner were teammates on the Baylor Bears’ 40-0 NCAA championship team in 2012. Griner was then the No. 1 pick in the 2013 WNBA draft by Phoenix, while Sims was the No. 2 pick in the 2014 draft, by the Tulsa Shock. The Shock in 2016 moved to Dallas to become the Wings, and this is Sims’ second stint with the Wings, playing with Tulsa in 2014 and 2015 and then Dallas in 2016.
Since then, Sims has played for Los Angeles, Minnesota, Atlanta and Connecticut. She appeared in seven games last season between Minnesota and Connecticut.
Wings guard Crystal Dangerfield was injured in Sunday’s game at Connecticut on Sunday. She is currently with guards Diamond DeShields and Lou Lopez Senechal on the Wings’ injured list. Center Teaira McCowan is on the Wings’ temporarily suspended list, as she is competing for Turkey in the EuroBasket competition.
Before Sims’ signing Wednesday, Dallas signed another former Baylor player, center Kalani Brown, on a hardship contract May 30. One of those hardship contracts must be terminated when the team returns to having 10 available players. The other hardship contract must be terminated in the event of either DeShields or Lopez Senechal returning to action.