ARLINGTON, Texas — Arike Ogunbowale put together one of the biggest playoff performances in Dallas Wings history Wednesday night, pouring in 45 points to lead Dallas to a 108-100 victory over the Golden State Valkyries.
The win keeps the Wings’ season alive and ties the best-of-three first-round playoff series at 1-1.
Ogunbowale took over when Dallas needed her most.
With the Wings trailing 93-90 and just 4.1 seconds left in regulation, Ogunbowale knocked down a clutch 3-pointer to send the game into overtime.
Then she went right back to work.
Ogunbowale opened overtime with another 3-pointer and continued to attack as Dallas built control of the extra period. She hit another big shot with 1:46 remaining to give the Wings a 103-100 lead before Dallas closed out the Valkyries at the free-throw line.
Her 45-point performance set a WNBA playoff scoring record and marked a career postseason high.
Alysha Clark added 21 points for Dallas, while Aziaha James finished with 13. Golden State received a huge performance from Gabby Williams, who scored 36 points.
Paige Bueckers had a difficult shooting night, finishing with 10 points on 3-of-13 shooting, but the Wings received enough production from the rest of the roster to force a deciding Game 3.
Now the series heads back to the Bay Area.
Game 3 is Friday in San Francisco, with the winner advancing to the next round of the WNBA playoffs.
For the Wings, Wednesday night was about one thing: finding a way to survive.
And Ogunbowale made sure they did.
