Although the Wings lost 77-72 to the Atlanta Dream on Tuesday night
, Arike Ogunbowale continued her strong start to the season in new Wings coach Jose Fernandez’s system.“Everybody can eat,” Ogunbowale said. “We have some pretty dynamic guards. When we move the ball around and share it, it’s pretty, but I think in this system, you can drive, you can shoot. There’s just a lot of good looks to be had.”
She finished the game with 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting, marking the second straight occasion that
Ogunbowale reached the 20 point mark. She scored 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting in the Wings 107-104 win over the Indiana Fever on Saturday.
Most of her points came in the third quarter as Ogunbowale kept Dallas in the game with her 11 points in the quarter.
Dallas entered the third quarter with a 41-38 lead, but the Dream regained the lead early in the quarter.
Alisha Gray hit a 3-pointer to make the score 45-43 with 8:20 remaining in the third quarter. The Dream lead grew to 49-43 before Ogunbowale started scoring.
“She had to take a couple tough ones as it was getting late in the clock,” Fernandez said. “I think she’s getting to the rim more.”
She scored a layup on a fast break and hit the free-throw to make the score 49-46. Ogunbowale kept scoring for Dallas as Atlanta tried to extend its lead.
Near the end of the third quarter, Ogunbowale was fouled on a shot under the basket. She went to the free-throw line with Dallas trailing 58-57.
Ogunbowale hit both free throws to give Dallas a 59-58 lead heading into the fourth quarter. The pair of free throws gave Ogunbowale 11 points. She accounted for all but seven points as the Wings scored 18 points in the quarter.
As Dallas faced a 66-61 deficit in the fourth quarter, Ogunbowale hit a pull-up jump shot to cut the deficit to 66-63. From there the Wings offense struggled. The team finished shooting 38.4% from the field and 15.4% from beyond the arc, leading to the Wing first loss of the season.
Scoring at least 20 points serves as a good indicator that Ogunbowale is returning to her usual form with the Dallas Wings. Last season, Ogunbowale averaged career-lows in points per game (15.5) and field-goal percentage (36.4%), marking a difference from her previous six seasons with the Wings.
Following her first two seasons in the WNBA, Ogunbowale had four straight WNBA All-Star selections with two straight seasons of averaging 20 points or more.
Because of her scoring in the past, Dallas re-signed Ogunbowale in the off-season. The two-year contract between the Wings and Ogunbowale appears to be the right move with Ogunbowale’s first two games of the season, leading Dallas in scoring for both games.
