ARLINGTON, Texas — Arike Ogunbowale said Friday that the Dallas Wings played the Golden State Valkyries well into the second half of their regular-season meetings. Golden State won all three games. Game 1 of their best-of-three first-round series tips off at 8 p.m. CT Sunday at Chase Center in San Francisco.
Dallas had stretches of good basketball in those games, and the Wings know they can compete with Golden State, according to Ogunbowale. The Valkyries held it longer.
“We played them well kind of until, like, I don’t know, maybe second half. We definitely had a lot of glimpses of, like, good basketball, and we know we can compete with them,” Ogunbowale said. “But I think they just had a lot of good basketball for a longer period of time than us. So if we can string together 40 minutes, I think it’s going to be a really competitive series.”
Golden State won 91-80 on June 17, 94-76 on Aug. 7, and 78-70 on Aug. 17. Ogunbowale scored 17 points in the last of those games. Across the three, she averaged 14.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists with 1.7 steals, and she made every free throw she attempted.
Arike Ogunbowale On Moving The Ball Against Golden State Valkyries
Golden State allowed a league-low 75.1 points per game this season. Dallas scored 75.3 per game against the Valkyries after averaging 89.4 across the full season. Ogunbowale said the Valkyries are really good on-ball and help defenders, and that Dallas has to keep them in rotation.
“Moving the ball, getting it side to side, making them have rotations because they’re really good on-ball defenders and they’re really good help defenders too,” Ogunbowale said. “So making them just have to stay on rotations, keep their head on a swivel.”
Golden State went 17-5 at Chase Center this season. Sunday will be the Valkyries’ first playoff game in the building. Dallas is still looking for its first road win at Chase Center.
Ogunbowale enjoys playing in San Francisco. She said the crowd comes out every game with energy.
“It’s great. They get a really, really, really good turnout every single game. I always enjoy playing there,” Ogunbowale explained. “The crowd comes out, they’re excited, they have a lot of energy. It’s gonna be loud, so it’s gonna be a fun environment to play in.”
Arike Ogunbowale Points To Dallas Wings’ Mix Of Young And Veteran Players
Dallas is in the postseason for the first time since 2023. That year, the Wings swept the Atlanta Dream 2-0 in the first round before the Las Vegas Aces swept them in the semifinals. The excitement of making it is gone for Ogunbowale, and the season review can wait.
“I think the excitement part is gone. Obviously, it’s a blessing to be in the playoffs. It’s not easy to be there,” Ogunbowale said. “It’s been a minute since we’ve been there, but we know it’s unfinished business, so we can look back on the season later, but we’re definitely just focused on Golden State right now.”
The current roster enters the postseason with a combined 137 playoff game appearances. Paige Bueckers and Aziaha James are among three Wings set to make their WNBA postseason debuts. Everyone from the coaches to the players is bought in, Ogunbowale said.
“We just have a lot of players. We have a good mixture of young players, older players, players with experience, hungry players,” Ogunbowale said. “We just have a competitive group that really wants to win and wants to compete. So I think just from the coaches to the players, we all have people who are bought in.”
Dallas drafted Ogunbowale fifth overall in 2019, and she re-signed with the Wings in April. She set the franchise single-season scoring record with 849 points in 2023. Bueckers broke it this season with 878. Ogunbowale and Shepard won the 2018 national championship together at Notre Dame.
Game 2 is Wednesday at College Park Center in Arlington on ESPN. A Game 3, if needed, would be played Friday, Oct. 2, at Chase Center.
