Arike Ogunbowale heeds coach’s advice, dominates second half to earn WNBA All-Star Game MVP

PHOENIX (AP) — Arike Ogunbowale sat in the locker room with the rest of her Team WNBA teammates, waiting for coach Cheryl Miller to break down the first half.

Miller instead pointed a finger — at Ogunbowale.

Scoreless in the first half, Ogunbowale scored 21 of her record 34 points in the third quarter to earn MVP honors at the WNBA All-Star Game on Saturday night.

“I wasn’t expecting her to say my name — she was talking to the team, but pointing at me,” Ogunbowale said. “She just told me to take a deep breath and play my game.”

Ogunbowale certainly did that.

Playing against the U.S. Olympic team, Ogunwobale spent the first half deferring to teammates, missing the two shots she took.

After the halftime talking to by her Hall of Fame coach, the 5-foot-8 guard turned into the biggest player on the court, scoring on step-back 3-pointers and runners in the lane.

Ogunbowale hit 6 of 10 shots in the third quarter, including 5 of 7 from 3-point range. She kept scoring and Team WNBA turned Team USA’s last domestic warm-up before the Paris Olympics into a 117-109 loss. She hit eight 3-pointers and finished 10 for 20 from the floor with six assists to become the third two-time MVP in WNBA All-Star Game history.

“She was just in the zone and they played really good defense multiple times,” said Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark, a player known for going on heaters during her career at Iowa. “There’s just nothing you can do in those situations where she’s making step back 3s, one-legged floaters, things like that. You, you literally can’t guard her.”

Ogunbowale has shown a knack for scoring in bunches throughout her career, starting with her college days, when she hit game-winning shots in the Final Four and national championship game during Notre Dame’s 2018 title run.

Ogunbowale has been one of the WNBA’s best scorers during five seasons with the Dallas Wings, averaging 22.3 points per game this season. She was the All-Star Game MVP the last time Team USA played Team WNBA in an Olympic warm-up, scoring 26 points.

“It’s just a testimony to my hard work,” Ogunbowale said. “Regardless of win, lose or draw, I’m just going to play my game and that’s what I’ve been doing for Dallas. This is good to get a win, even though it doesn’t count.”

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball