Arike Ogunbowale Drops Playoff-Record 45 as Wings Force Winner-Take-All Game 3

Arike Ogunbowale just delivered one of the greatest elimination-game performances in WNBA history. The Dallas Wings star scored a WNBA playoff-record 45 points Wednesday night, carrying Dallas to a 108-100 overtime victory over the Golden State Valkyries and forcing a winner-take-all Game 3 Friday in San Francisco. AP News

Dallas was seconds from elimination when Ogunbowale hit an off-balance corner three with 4.1 seconds remaining to tie the game at 93. She wasn’t finished. Ogunbowale opened overtime with a banked three, later buried another three to give Dallas the lead for good and scored 11 of the Wings’ 15 overtime points. She finished 12-for-23 from the field, 5-for-8 from three and 16-for-18 at the free-throw line. Gabby Williams answered with a career-high 36 for Golden State, but the Valkyries went scoreless over the final 2:26 of overtime. AP News

The performance was even more important because Bueckers struggled, scoring only 10 points on 3-for-13 shooting. Dallas needed its veteran star, and Ogunbowale delivered precisely when the season was about to end. Game 1 belonged completely to Golden State. Game 2 belonged to Arike. Now one game decides who advances.