A sold-out, star-studded crowd-packed Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas to watch the WNBA’s best compete in the skills challenge and the All-Star Game itself.
Not only was it an important weekend for the WNBA, but it was just as important to the Dallas Wings, who sent both Arike Ogunbowale and Satou Sabally to the event as the team’s representatives.
Things started on Friday afternoon with the WNBA’s version of All-Star Saturday night, which included the Skills Challenge and the 3-point contest.
Arike Ogunbowale and Satou Sabally teamed up as one of four teams in the skills challenge, which featured a 2 person team racing against the clock to advance to the finals and win the event.
Unfortunately for the Wings duo, they did not have one of the fastest two times to advance to the finals as they finished in 3rd place, losing out by 5 seconds to the New York Liberty duo of Sabrina Ionescu and Courtney Vandersloot and the eventual champions from the hometown Las Vegas Aces.
The day was not done for Arike Ogunbowale, who took to the 3-point contest to try and crown herself as the top three-point shooter in the W. Ogunbowale did advance to the finals but finished in 3rd place with 11 points.
Sabrina Ionescu of the New York Liberty with an astonishing score of 37 of a possible 40 points. The former Oregon Ducks’ performance was the greatest 3-point contest display in WNBA or NBA history.
As for the game on Saturday, Sabally and Ogunbowale faced off on different teams for the first time since college, with Satou on Team Stewart and Arike on Team Wilson. Ultimately, Satou Sabally would get the last laugh, with her team winning the game by a score of 143-127.
Sabally finished the game with 19 points and 8 rebounds in her winning efforts. For Ogunbowale, who won the All-Star Game MVP in 2021, it was a final tally of 18 points and 5 assists.
With the All-Star Game in the books, it’s time for the red-hot Dallas Wings to return to play, having won 6 out of their last 7 games.
Dallas will take on the New York Liberty on the road this Wednesday at noon before returning to the College Park Center to take on the LA Sparks on Saturday night.
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