Friday night marked the final home game of the 2023 WNBA regular season for the Dallas Wings as they took on the Seattle Storm from the College Park Center in Arlington.
With a win, the Wings would clinch the 4th seed and home-court advantage in the first round of the WNBA playoffs, which begin next week.
All day, players and coaches emphasized how big a good first quarter would be against a Seattle Storm team that has been eliminated from playoff contention. A fast start is exactly what the Wings would get as they led 32-20 after one.
Arike Ogunbowale led all scorers with ten points, including a pull-up including a pull-up jumper for her 800th point in the regular season, becoming just the sixth WNBA player to reach 800.
Dallas dominated the first half to lead 56-45 at the break.
The Wings offense continued their offensive success in the second quarter as they shot 65% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc.
Natasha Howard led the way with 16, followed by Arike Ogunbowale and Teaira McCowan with 12.
Heading into the 4th, Dallas led 82-70. Jewell Loyd had 30 points after three, but overall, the Wings did a pretty good job defensively, including dominating the rebound battle 29-17.
By the end of this one, the Wings were firing on all cylinders and came away with a 106-91 win. Dallas put on an offensive show, shooting 59 % from the field and 40% from three.
Natasha Howard scored 23 points to lead the team, followed by Satou Sabally with 21 and Arike Ogunbowale with 19. Ogunbowale also finished with ten assists, which is the second most of her career.
With the win, the Wings have officially clinched the 4th seed in the WNBA playoffs and will have home-court advantage in at least the first round, which begins next week.
After the game, when speaking on clinching the 4th seed and the 21st win of the season, Arike Ogunbowale said:
“This was the goal this year; we knew we had the team to do it.”
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