ARLINGTON, TX — Arike Ogunbowale had a plan for the night.
She didn’t quite foresee the extent of what she’d do in Game 2 of the Dallas Wings’ playoff series against the Golden State Valkyries. Not many plan on breaking records. But the veteran guard wasn’t happy with a Game 1 in which they lost by 24 and trailed by as much as 36.
Most of the playoff rotation struggled in that game, so much so that Ogunbowale’s 10 points on 2-for-7 shooting and four assists appeared fine by comparison. But she too left San Francisco looking inward and feeling like the team got “pushed around.”
“I don’t feel like I was aggressive. I don’t feel like I was trying to get to the hole. I just was being really passive and wasn’t playing my game,” Ogunbowale told reporters after Wednesday night’s Game 2. “I knew I wanted to come out and just be really, really aggressive.
“I didn’t know what I would score,” she continued. “I was gonna shoot regardless because I just feel like seven shots isn’t enough to win [in the] playoffs.”
Those shots ended up keeping the Wings’ season alive. Ogunbowale scored 45 points — a WNBA single-game playoff record — and repeatedly came up clutch late to lead Dallas to a 108-100 overtime win at home.
“We’ve had such a fun season together. Like we truly, truly, truly enjoy being around each other, and we definitely didn’t want it to end today,” Ogunbowale said. “It was fun playing. Like we had a good time. It was a dogfight. They’re a really, really, really tough team to play.”
Against the league’s best defense, Ogunbowale shot 12-for-23 from the field, 5-for-8 from three and got to the line for 18 free throw attempts. She scored the team’s final five points of regulation, including a high-difficulty game-tying stepback three in the corner. She added 11 more points in overtime, including two go-ahead triples.
The second gave Dallas the lead for good at 103-100 with 1:46 to play. Ogunbowale and the Wings forced a Game 3 in Golden State on Friday with a semifinals berth on the line.
“It showed the type of players we have in this organization, right? Going on the road, not playing well, coming back, short turnaround, and how they responded, and how hard they competed, and how hard they played, made plays down the stretch,” Wings head coach Jose Fernandez said. “I told them how proud I am of them as their coach.”
The Valkyries hadn’t given up more than 92 points in a game this season — Dallas had 93 in regulation — and were the only team in the league not to allow any player to score 30 points. Head coach Natalie Nakase wasn’t happy with her team’s defensive identity not showing up, expressing frustration with Ogunbowale’s ability to get to her stepback cleanly.
“What was really frustrating is we knew she likes to step back left and we didn’t get into it,” Nakase said postgame. “We didn’t force her to the right, so that’s why I’m like, ‘Are we unclear?’ So again, it comes down to me as a coach. I have to be very clear with what they like at that end.”
Ogunbowale wasn’t the only one to show up with a big performance in the win. Veteran forward Alysha Clark scored 21 points off the bench, her highest scoring night since she played in the 2020 WNBA Finals with the Seattle Storm. Aziaha James contributed another 13 points and came through defensively, blowing up Golden State’s final play of regulation.
All this came as star guard Paige Bueckers was held to 10 points on 3-for-13 shooting. She faced intense pressure throughout — “They’re throwing everything at her,” Ogunbowale said — and missed open looks when she got them down the stretch. It was a stark contrast from Game 1, where the second-year guard was the only Wing to impress with 21 points on 9-for-10 shooting.
Fernandez was happy to see the rest of the team step up, saying Bueckers “virtually carried” the team in the series opener.
“For us to do what we did today without Paige having the type of game that she always has offensively for us, and to come out with a win, it’s huge,” he said. We had other people step up, and that’s what we needed in Game 1. So there was growth from Game 1 to Game 2.”
Winning Game 3 on the road Friday remains a tall task. The Valkyries hold the best home-court advantage in the league, and it took herculean effort just for Dallas to extend its season a few more days. Awak Kuier’s status is unclear after an apparent wrist injury late in the game. But Fernandez feels the team “grew a lot” from Game 1, and was encouraged by the response.
“A lot of different teams would have laid down and planned some vacations and some flyouts in the next couple days,” he said. “This team didn’t. It’s good to see.”
A win Friday would also give Dallas at least one more game at College Park Center before the team changes venues next season. Asked where this game ranked among her performances in the building, Ogunbowale placed it at the top.
“It meant something,” Ogunbowale said. “It’s a do-or-die game, and we wanted to keep playing.”
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