Arike Ogunbowale’s Historic Night Helps Wings Stave Off Playoff Elimination

Good morning! I’m Kristen Wong, and I’m filling in for Dan Gartland. Tip of the cap to my friend Andy Nesbitt, who took care of newsletter duties earlier this week. Let’s get to it, starting with the WNBA playoffs.

In today’s SI:AM:

🗽 Yankees bash Sox

🏟️ Inside Harvard Stadium

🏀 Chaos in college hoops

Arike Ogunbowale’s ridiculous 45-point night keeps Wings’ season alive

October is officially the best sports month. January and April might come close, but around these parts the WNBA reigns supreme. And what a game Valkyries-Wings was last night.

The first WNBA playoff game this year to go into overtime did not disappoint. One day after the top-seeded Lynx were knocked off their pedestal, the second-seeded Valkyries failed to complete the series sweep against the ever-resilient Wings, who were led by the one and only Arike Ogunbowale.

A snapshot of how Ogunbowale saved the Wings’ season: with Golden State up by three and roughly seven seconds remaining on the clock in regulation, Ogunbowale dribbled to the corner and heaved an off-balance three-pointer. She was closely guarded by Valkyries forward Gabby Williams, who was enjoying quite the night herself (36 points on 12-for-23 shooting), but not even Williams could rewrite the stars. Both Ogunbowale and Williams have been here before. Many years ago, Williams watched Ogunbowale hit a game-winning jumper for Notre Dame with a few seconds left in overtime to knock out her Huskies in the 2018 national semifinals. Ogunbowale scored the NCAA-title-winning three against Mississippi State in the championship game, too.

arike sends game 2 to overtime x ncaa title winning shot

almost identical shots from the corner pic.twitter.com/pQlQSfxKGT
— jack maloney (@jackmaloneycbs) October 1, 2026

Fate smiled on Ogunbowale again Wednesday night: the unlikeliest of shots went in, and the crowd at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas went wild. In a gotta-have-it matchup for the Wings, it was the veteran Ogunbowale, not Paige Bueckers, who had the hot hand yesterday: After sending the game to overtime, she helped lift Dallas to a 108-100 win to even the first-round series and set up an elimination Game 3 in the Bay.

Ogunbowale, a four-time All-Star, finished with a playoff-record 45 points, surpassing a three-way tie of 42 points by Napheesa Collier, Breanna Stewart and Angel McCoughtry. 22 of those 45 points came in the fourth quarter and overtime. Even the Valkyries, who boast perhaps the W’s most ferocious shot-stoppers and are stacked with all-defense players, couldn’t contain Ogunbowale’s bout of sheer, individual greatness.

“I can’t even put into words what she just did,” Bueckers said after the Wings stole Game 2. “I’m on the court in awe, like shaking my head … I got flashbacks from the Final Four when I was in high school, she hit two game-winners at Notre Dame. I got a terrible flashback to Unrivaled when she hit the game-winner in the same spot in the same corner to beat our team, the Breeze. An honor to be on the floor with her tonight, she really carried us.”

Since Ogunbowale arrived in Dallas in 2019, she’s only played in seven playoff games, and the Wings have won only one series. That could change Friday, with the Wings looking to reach the semifinals for the first time since 2023. Golden State, meanwhile, will be seeking its first-ever playoff series win in just its second season in the league.

Elsewhere in the WNBA, Angel Reese and the Dream completed their playoff sweep in their 93-75 victory against the Mystics. Finally shaking off its ugly trend of first-round losses, Atlanta won a multi-game playoff series for the first time since 2013, the same year the franchise reached the WNBA Finals. The Dream will face the Liberty, who have already proven that they’re not your grandmother’s No. 8 seed; Atlanta holds the slight edge in its 2-1 regular-season series record against New York.

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Dan Gartland: Stadium Wonders: How Harvard Stadium Changed Football Forever
Kevin Sweeney: Why the NCAA’s New Eligibility Guidelines Have Created Chaos for International Players
Zach Koons: Indiana Created a Blueprint for an Impossible Turnaround. Now, Northwestern Is Building Even Bigger.

The top five…

… things I saw online yesterday

5. Mike Tomlin very proudly showing off his Minecraft city. The ex-Steelers coach has been building his virtual empire for 12 years. That’s longer than Pittsburgh’s playoff win drought.

4. Dan Lanning revealing UCLA coach Bob Chesney’s classy gesture for Dante Moore in the wake of Moore suffering a violent hit in the Ducks’ win over USC. Go Bruins!

3. Jim Harbaugh telling a story about how he recommended his former Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy to his brother John. Who’s got it better than the Giants? Well, a lot of teams, to be honest.

2. God bless the White Sox. Chicago won a playoff series for the first time in over two decades, and this postgame celebration interview is well worth the watch.

1. Cristiano Ronaldo announcing he was leaving Portugal’s national team camp shortly after the coach said he would be benched again. I’m going to shamelessly plug one of Hayley Williams’s songs here: “Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party.”

📺 What we’re watching today …

NFL

Steelers at Browns, 8:15 p.m., ET, Prime Video

This will likely be Aaron Rodgers’s last-ever Thursday Night Football game. The Pittsburgh quarterback is just one win shy of tying Tom Brady for the most wins by a quarterback on Thursdays (14).

MLB
Phillies at Braves, 8 p.m., ET, NBC

The White Sox, Yankees and Padres are through. Who will join them in the promised land? Alec Bohm’s game-winning homer in the 10th inning ensured that the Phillies will have a chance to win tonight and make their fifth straight NLDS appearance.

WNBA

Fever at Aces, 9 p.m. ET, USA Network
Which star will be eliminated in the first round, Caitlin Clark or four-time MVP A’ja Wilson?

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