WNBA playoffs: Arike Ogunbowale saves Wings' season, Dream win big

Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

WNBA playoff takeaways: Arike Ogunbowale saves Wings' season with record performance, Atlanta livin' the Dream

By Adam Gretz | Last updated Oct 1, 2026 12:16 AM ET

The first round of the WNBA playoffs continued on Wednesday night with two more games.

Wednesday's action saw one team advance to the semifinals and set up the first semifinal matchup, and a record-setting performance to keep another series going to a winner-take-all Game 3.

Arike Ogunbowale forces Game 3 for Dallas Wings with record-setting performance

The Dallas Wings won their first playoff game since 2023 on Wednesday with a 108-100 win over the Golden State Valkyries.

The star of the game: Arike Ogunbowale.

She was not only the best player on the floor, but she put her team on her back and carried it across the finish line to force a winner-take-all Game 3 in the series.

Her 45 points were not only a game high, but they are a WNBA record for a single-game playoff performance.

She was 12-of-23 from the field, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range, and 16-of-18 from the free-throw line.

Her biggest 3-pointer of the night, and arguably her biggest shot of the season, came in the closing seconds when she drilled an off-balance shot from the corner to tie the game and send it to overtime.

ARIKE IS INSANELY CLUTCH https://t.co/hF8GUquCe1 pic.twitter.com/DOHA9sSVxm
— WNBA (@WNBA) October 1, 2026

Productive. Dominant. Clutch. Everything you want to see in a win-or-go-home game.

Along with 45 points, she also finished with seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Atlanta Dream are back in semifinals for first time since 2018

Thanks to their 93-75 win over the Washington Mystics in Game 2 of the series, the Dream were able to advance to the semifinals for the first time since the 2018 season. They lost that series in five games to the Mystics.

With Wednesday's win, it officially locks in at least one of the league's semifinal series as the Dream will take on the New York Liberty in a best-of-five series that will begin on Sunday.

The Dream won two of the three games against the Liberty during the regular season, including the two most recent games in September.

When Jordin Canada is distributing, the Dream are usually winning

The Dream had a lot of players shine in Wednesday's game, but guard Jordin Canada was at the top of the list with her second consecutive double-double in the series.

She finished the game with 19 points and 11 assists, which came after a Game 1 performance that saw her put up 10 points and 10 assists.

The 10-assist mark is something of a magic number for the Dream as they are now 9-2 this season when she has 10 or more assists in a game.

She was third in the league during the regular season with 7.3 assists per game.

Adam Gretz

Adam Gretz is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh. He covers the NHL, NFL, MLB and NBA. Baseball is his favorite sport -- he is nearly halfway through his goal of seeing a game in every MLB ballpark. Catch him on X @AGretz

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