WNBA playoffs: How Ogunbowale's historic 45 points saved the Wings' season — SkimNews
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- Arike Ogunbowale scored 45 points — a WNBA single-game playoff record — to power the No. 7 Dallas Wings past the No. 2 Golden State Valkyries 108-100 in overtime, forcing a decisive Game 3 on Friday in the Bay Area.
- The rally came after Dallas fell behind by 36 points in Game 1, with Alysha Clark adding 21 points off the bench on 6-of-7 shooting while Paige Bueckers was held to 10 points on 3-of-13 shooting.
- Gabby Williams matched the offensive fireworks with a career-high 36 points for Golden State, and she and Ogunbowale became the first opponents to each score at least 35 points in the same WNBA playoff game.
- With the score tied at 93 and three seconds left in regulation, a foul on Aziaha James was overturned after a Golden State challenge, sending the game to overtime — which Ogunbowale opened with a banked-in 3-pointer.
- The Atlanta Dream completed a first-round sweep of the Washington Mystics with a 93-75 victory, led by Allisha Gray's team-high 22 points and Jordin Canada's 19 points and 11 assists.
- Atlanta advances to its first WNBA semifinal since 2018 and will face the No. 8 New York Liberty, who upset top-seeded Minnesota to become just the second No. 8 seed to reach the semifinals.
Why it matters: The Wings' overtime win salvages a series after a 36-point Game 1 loss, with Ogunbowale's record 45 points including 13 of Dallas's 21 clutch-time points. Game 3 in Golden State on Friday decides whether the No. 7 seed can finish the upset, while Atlanta's sweep sets up a semifinal against defending champion New York.
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