Ogunbowale, Dallas Down Ionescu, Liberty in Return to Action

BROOKLYN-Nearly a week removed from the WNBA 3-Point Contest, Arike Ogunbowale challenged Sabrina Ionescu to a rematch.

With a little help from her friends, Ogunbowale was able to prevail this time around.

Ionescu and Ogunbowale staged a long-distance shootout in the New York Liberty's return to Barclays Center on Wednesday afternoon, but the latter's Dallas Wings came out on top with a 98-88 win in each side's first game back from the WNBA All-Star break. Ionescu, fresh off a historic showing in the 3-Point Contest, had 22 points, most of it coming from a 5-of-11 tally from three-point range. That, however, wasn't enough to save the Liberty's winning streak from moving beyond four games.

With four triples of her own, Ogunbowale paced the Wings (12-9) with 25 points. Dallas extended its own winning streak to five with a well-rounded effort that efficiently handled mistakes from the Liberty (14-5), turning 12 turnovers into 18 points while only losing two of their own.

Granted another chance to make a statement immediately after the break, Dallas also pulled in 12 offensive rebounds, four alone going into the arms of Teaira McCowan, who tied her season-best with a dozen overall. The Liberty's interior threats, still missing Stefanie Dolson (ankle), dealt with foul trouble all afternoon: Jonquel Jones (11 points, 9 rebounds) had three in the first half while Nyara Sabally fouled out in only nine minutes.

Breanna Stewart had 25 points for New York to lead its scorers. Ionescu's outside tally had to primarily sustain the Liberty: beyond three from Marine Johannés, the Liberty sank only five triples throughout the rest of the roster. New York and Dallas will do battle one more time in September.

The Liberty will now embark on a brief road trip before returning to Brooklyn for a four-game homestand, as they face the Washington Mystics in the nation's capital (7 p.m. ET, Ion).

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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