The Dallas Wings’ prayer was answered.
Arike Ogunbowale was the deliverer.
Ogunbowale scored a WNBA playoff-record 45 points to lead the Wings to the 108-100 overtime victory over the Golden State Valkyries, forcing a decisive Game 3 between the No. 7-seed Wings and No. 2-seed Valkyries on Friday night in San Francisco.
Only Arike, famous for, arguably, two of the most incredible shots in women’s college basketball history, can become immune to the top-ranked Golden State defense.
The corner 3-pointer that sent the game into overtime was illustrative of an “only Arike” shot.
Then, she opened OT with another one, banking in triple before yet another 3, her fifth of the night, gave the Wings the lead for good. Overall, Ogunbowale scored 11 of Dallas’ 15 points in the extra period; Golden State totaled seven points in overtime.
As Paige Bueckers said after the game, “Arike is definitely different.”
She, certainly, was the difference Dallas needed after a Game 1 that suggested the Wings’ stay in the 2026 WNBA Playoffs would be short-lived. In that one, Bueckers was the only Wing who found success against the Valkyrie defense, resulting in even more attention being directed to the second-year superstar in her second-ever playoff game. After scoring 21 points on 90 percent shooting in Game 1, she was held to 10 points as she shot 3-for-10 from the field. Newly-minted Most Improved Player Jessica Shepard also again failed to find her top form against Golden State, limited to four points on five shot attempts.
Ogunbowale, understanding the stakes of this win-or-go-home game, committed herself to going down swinging, insisting:
I didn’t know what I would score. I was going to shoot regardless because I just feel like seven shots isn’t enough to win playoffs and I have to be aggressive whether it’s going in or not.
She shot. She scored. And now the Wings are soaring back to San Francisco with opportunity to do what seemed improbable in Game 3.
Under the exacting direction of defensive-minded head coach Natalie Nakase, expect Golden State to be ready to issue a forceful response after one of their worst defensive performances of the season. The 93 points they allowed in regulation was the most they had sacrificed all season.
After the game, Nakase expressed her irritation at her team for failing to embody their defensive identity, specifically calling them out for not guarding against Ogunbowale’s tendencies.
The loss also overshadowed a brilliant offensive showing from Gabby Williams, who threatened to match Ogunbowale with 36 points.
Together, Ogunbowale and Williams, who was on the UConn team victimized by the first of Ogunbowale’s 2018 NCAA Tournament heroics, became the first opponents to score 35 points or more in a WNBA playoff game since 2011.
Williams, however, echoed her head coach in emphasizing her team’s defensive failings, “We’re not here to trade baskets with people. We’re a defensive team. We need to get stops.”
