The Dallas Wings beat the Atlanta Dream 85-73 at home on Tuesday night behind 23 points from Natasha Howard. But it was another statistic from the game that turned heads.
Referees working the contest handed out an astonishing and absurd 10 technical fouls. Two of them went to the Wings’ star guard, Arike Ogunbowale.
She picked up her second technical while sitting on the bench with less than two minutes remaining in the game. And a second tech meant that, by the rules, Ogunbowale had to be ejected.
With the game all but secured for Dallas – the Wings led by 17 points with 1:42 to play – Ogunbowale exited the court in style. As she marched off, she raised her arms and drew the cheers of Dallas fans, throwing the crowd into a frenzy. And just before entering the tunnel, she happily signed an autograph for a fan.
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Arike hyped up the crowd and signed an autograph after getting ejected 😅 pic.twitter.com/YRJnzMvX2w
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 21, 2023
Fans at home – including New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart – were stunned by the number of techs, but entertained by Ogunbowale.
How many Techs have been called in this game?!
— Breanna Stewart (@breannastewart) June 21, 2023
Arike Ogunbowale gets a random tech and is kicked out of the game, then hypes up the crowd and signs an autograph on her way out 😂😂😂 #DallasWings #WNBA #WNBATwitter
— Kane McCutchen (@Kane_McCutchen6) June 21, 2023
Ogunbowale played a big role in the victory for the Wings, tallying 21 points, three assists and two rebounds. She also put Allisha Gray on skates with this move in the first quarter:
Ankles. Broken. 🫣@DallasWings | #VoltUp | 📺: BSSW Extra pic.twitter.com/J3xNp2MvCx
— Bally Sports Southwest (@BallySportsSW) June 21, 2023
As long as Ogunbowale doesn’t start piling up ejections, she could find herself in the WNBA MVP race. After Tuesday night’s games, she’s third in the league in scoring, averaging 23.5 points per game. She’s also second in minutes played this season (37.3), 11th in steals (1.6), 12th in assists (4.3) and third in 3-pointers made per-game (3.0), according to HerHoopStats. Dallas is in sixth place with a 6-6 record.
