Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale scored a WNBA playoff-record 45 points in Game 2 of the first-round series against the Las Vegas Aces, keeping Dallas's season alive and forcing a decisive Game 3.
The previous playoff scoring record of 42 points was shared by Breanna Stewart and Brittney Griner. Ogunbowale broke it while carrying an offense that had no margin for error — the Wings faced elimination after dropping Game 1 to the two-time defending champions.
The 45-point outburst is the highest single-game total in WNBA playoff history and came from a player who went undrafted out of Notre Dame in 2019 before becoming Dallas's franchise cornerstone. She averaged 22.2 points per game during the 2024 regular season, meaning her playoff performance doubled her typical output.
Game 3 will be played Friday, with the winner advancing to the semifinals. The Aces, seeded second, entered the postseason as heavy favorites to three-peat, but now face a winner-take-all scenario against a No. 7 seed that finished the regular season below .500.
On the other side of the bracket, the Atlanta Dream swept their first-round series and secured a semifinal berth Wednesday. The No. 4 Dream will face the No. 8 New York Liberty, who eliminated the top-seeded team in their opening matchup.
Ogunbowale's performance ranks among the greatest in WNBA postseason history. Only a handful of players have scored 40 or more in a playoff game, and none had done so when their team's season hung in the balance the way Dallas's did Wednesday night.
The Wings have never won a WNBA championship since joining the league in 1998 as the Detroit Shock before relocating to Tulsa and then Dallas. Ogunbowale has been the face of the franchise since 2019, earning four All-Star selections and leading the league in scoring in 2020 and 2022.
Friday's Game 3 tips off with Dallas seeking its first semifinal appearance since 2021. The winner will face either the Minnesota Lynx or the Connecticut Sun in the next round.
