Arike Ogunbowale drops WNBA playoff record 45 points to power Wings past Valkyries in wild OT win and force deciding Game 3

The Dallas Wings aren't done just yet, all thanks to Arike Ogunbowale.Ogunbowale went off on Wednesday night to lead the Wings to a 108-100 overtime win over the Golden State Valkyries in Game 2 of their opening-round playoff matchup. Ogunbowale dropped a WNBA postseason record 45 points in the win for Dallas, and hit a clutch off-balance 3-pointer in the final seconds of regulation to help send the game to OT. The victory avenged a blowout loss in Game 1 of the series, and forced a deciding Game 3 on Friday night in San Francisco. The Valkyries, who entered the league last season, were looking for their first playoff series win.Ogunbowale's 45 points surpassed a three-way tie for the WNBA postseason single-game scoring record. Napheesa Collier, Breanna Stewart and Angel McCoughtry had previously each scored 42 in a playoff game.Arike Ogunbowale forces OTGolden State picked up a pretty easy 104-80 win over the Wings in Game 1 of the series on Sunday night. The Valkyries outscored Dallas 37-11 in the second quarter alone, and had no issue closing out the victory. That was the team's first true home playoff game after last season's matchup with the Minnesota Lynx was moved out of San Francisco to the SAP Center. Wednesday, however, was anything but a repeat of Game 1 — and Ogunbowale did everything to try to keep the Wings in it. They kept pace with Golden State this time, and even outscored the Valkyries 27-19 in the second quarter to take a 50-45 lead into halftime. The third quarter was a similar battle, though the Valkyries ended up with a two-point lead headed into the fourth thanks to a buzzer-beating layup from Kaila Charles. After Golden State hung onto that lead for most of the final period, Ogunbowale caught a pass from Paige Bueckers in the corner and sank a wild, contested 3-pointer with just seconds left on the clock to tie the game at 93. Ogunbowale took one dribble and fired, and was spot on.ARIKE OGUNBOWALE BIG TIME pic.twitter.com/U0DKJ7FhUF— Nekias (Nuh-KAI-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) October 1, 2026 Once things had settled at College Park Center, the Valkyries tried to pass the ball in on the other end for a look at a game-winner. But the pass intended for Gabby Williams was deflected and went out of bounds, and Williams was actually called for a foul after charging into Aziaha James. A Golden State challenge overturned that foul, and sent the two teams into a jump ball with just three seconds left on the clock. That wasn't enough time to get a real shot up, and the game went to overtime. Ogunbowale picked up right where she left off and hit another 3-pointer to open the extra period as the shot clock expired. Somehow, this shot was even more off-balanced than the last one.Arike come on lol pic.twitter.com/YJqaeMbAMt— Nekias (Nuh-KAI-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) October 1, 2026 Ogunbowale and Tiffany Hayes got into it later in overtime after Hayes threw Ogunbowale down as they were fighting for a rebound. Ogunbowale jumped up and confronted Hayes after the incident, and got a shove in that hit Hayes in the throat before she was pulled back. That led to a lengthy review. Both players were assessed flagrant fouls, and play continued. The game remained tied after all four free throws were made.But not even a minute later, Ogunbowale hit yet another 3-pointer. That one was enough to put the Wings in front for good and lift them to the eight-point win. Dallas' 108 points were the most scored on Golden State all season. Ogunbowale shot 12 of 23 from the field and had five 3-pointers in the victoy for the Wings. Bueckers was limited to 10 points and shot just 3 of 13 from the field, and was the only other Dallas starter to hit double figures. Williams led the Valkyries with 36 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds. Charles had 14 points off the bench and Kayla Thornton added 13 points. The winner of this series will advance to take on either the Las Vegas Aces or Indiana Fever. Those two franchises will play a winner-take-all Game 3 on Thursday night. Though the Valkyries have been a dominant force all season, and are the highest-seeded team left in the playoffs after the Minnesota Lynx were swept by the New York Liberty, the Wings aren't going to be an easy team to beat — especially if Ogunbowale plays the way she did on Wednesday night.