Kamilla Cardoso knew exactly what Chicago needed to change coming into Saturday night’s rematch against the Dallas Wings.

After the Sky lost a late lead in the first meeting between the two teams this season, Cardoso said Chicago had to play a complete game.

“I think we had a great 35-minute game and for the last five minutes we kind of took a step back,” Cardoso said before Saturday’s matchup. “We just gotta stay aggressive and play hard for 40 minutes.”

For three quarters, it looked like Chicago did just that.

Then the Wings orchestrated one of their best comebacks of the season.

Dallas erased a 17-point second-half deficit to rally for a 93-92 victory over Chicago at College Park Center, improving to 10-6 on the season.

The comeback came despite the Wings losing Alanna Smith to a facial injury in the first quarter and trailing 71-57 heading into the fourth quarter.

“I told them I was very proud of how we kept battling,” Wings head coach Jose Fernandez said. “Good teams find a way to win.”

Chicago controlled most of the night thanks to a dominant performance from Cardoso.

Cardoso finished with 26 points and nine rebounds. Sydney Taylor added 18 points, while Skylar Diggins-Smith contributed 14 points and six assists.

The Sky appeared poised to leave Arlington with a victory.

Instead, Dallas started chipping away.

The Wings locked things down defensively, began forcing tougher shots and attacked the basket with more aggression. The aggressive mindset slowly put Chicago in foul trouble and allowed Dallas to continually stop the clock.

“We started to get some stops and string together some stops,” Paige Bueckers said. “We got out in transition a little bit more. We got them in foul trouble. We were just trying to attack that way and chip away — not hit any home runs, but one possession at a time.”

Every Dallas player who entered the game scored.

Jessica Shepard led the Wings with 21 points and eight rebounds. Bueckers added 19 points, eight assists and seven rebounds despite struggling from the field early in the game. She also scored 10 of Dallas’ final 12 points over the final 2:27.

When shots weren’t falling, the rookie star tried to impact the game in other ways.

“Try to affect the game in other ways,” Bueckers said. “Try to be better defensively, maybe rebound more, get my teammates open a little bit more and just have positive self-talk.

“We work so hard in this sport, and some nights it’s not your night shooting the ball. But until the buzzer sounds, things can always change.”

Azzi Fudd finished with 13 points, five rebounds, four blocks and a steal. Arike Ogunbowale added 12 points and Maddy Siegrist chipped in nine points off the bench.

But no Dallas player may have played a bigger role than Li Yueru.

Called upon to play an expanded role after Smith’s injury and Awak Kuier fouling out, Li stepped up against Cardoso and delivered the two free throws that gave Dallas its first lead of the night.

With 12.5 seconds remaining, Li stepped to the free-throw line and knocked down two pressure-packed free throws that gave Dallas a 93-92 lead.

“We needed her to play big, right?” Fernandez said. “And she stepped up. It was her moment.”

Li’s impact on the game didn’t stop with those free throws.

After Cardoso routinely established deep position in the paint during the first half, Dallas found more defensive success with Li battling her inside.

“Li did a great job of making her catches hard and kind of wearing her down,” Shepard said. “So that was a huge lift for the team.”

Despite being thrust into a high-pressure situation late in the game, Li said previous international experience helped her relax and play her game.

“I’ve been in that situation before with the national team so I did not really feel like it was big pressure,” Li said. “But I still felt my heart beating really fast.

“I just tried to win for our team. I appreciate that my teammates trust me.”

Li putting the team first is nothing new to her Dallas teammates.

“She’s just a light in the locker room,” Bueckers said. “Everybody loves being around her.

“We’re going to need her on nights like this, and for her to stick with it says a lot about who she is.”

Fernandez said there are still areas his team can clean up after stumbling out of the gates against Chicago, but he’s still excited about who his team is showing itself to be during the most difficult situations.

“You learn a lot from a win like this,” Fernandez said. “About the fight, about battling back.”

The Wings battled back from a 17-point deficit, played without a starter for a majority of the game and got contributions from every player who suited up.

Now Dallas leaves College Park Center with another reason to believe.

“It’s belief,” Fernandez said. “I have a great, great group to coach.

“There’s a lot more coming.”

Dallas will look to carry the momentum from Saturday’s comeback into a quick turnaround Monday night against the Storm.

The Wings travel to Seattle for a 9 p.m. CT tipoff looking to build on their sixth win in the last eight games.