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ARLINGTON — Arike Ogunbowale surveyed the defense late in the second quarter of Tuesday’s playoff game and saw Monique Billings looming right around the 3-point line ready to double her. Billings had stayed to help on Ogunbowale after a high-ball screen by Natasha Howard.
But that left a drifting Howard wide open on the opposite wing. Ogunbowale drove to her right and flicked a one-handed looping pass the other way to Howard, who caught the ball in rhythm and connected on a 3-pointer.
The shot finished a five-possession stretch where Ogunbowale controlled the game like Greta Gerwig directing a movie. The Dallas Wings scored on all five possessions with the All-Star guard scoring on three and assisting Howard on the other two.
The fourth-seeded Wings climbed from up six to up 17 points during that stretch, and entered the half with an 18-point lead on the fifth-seeded Atlanta Dream. Dallas continued its excellent play the rest of the way as it claimed a 101-74 victory to win Game 2 of its first-round series and advance to the WNBA semifinals.
“I’m just happy for ‘em,” Wings head coach Latricia Trammell said. “Words can’t express it. I can sit here and say, ‘I’m so happy for them and they’ve done a great job.’ The championship mentality. I feel like I have a loss of words. I just think that’s not enough for them.”
It is the first playoff series victory in Dallas history. The last time the franchise won a playoff series was in 2009, its final season in Detroit. The 27-point margin of victory is also the largest in franchise history.
Seven players finished in double figures for the Wings, including all five starters. It was the first time in WNBA playoff history a team has had seven players finish with at least 10 points.
Ogunbowale led the way with 20 points and seven assists while Teaira McCowan had a double-double of 12 points and 16 rebounds. Satou Sabally and Awak Kuier each had 13 points.
“We struggled a little bit over the years but it’s all about the journey,” Ogunbowale said. “To finally get here, get to the semifinals, after five years being on this team is amazing.”
Dallas won both games of the series in the second quarter. In Game 1, the Wings turned a 20-point deficit into a halftime tie before emerging victorious in the second half.
The situation was different Tuesday at College Park Center. Atlanta had only a one-point lead at the end of the first quarter instead of a 15-point one. But Dallas used a similar formula to flip the game all the way in its direction.
The Wings defense set the tone with six turnovers leading to 12 points in the second quarter. The Dream entered the series looking to dominate the game in transition but it was instead Dallas that controlled the pace and feasted on the fast break.
Using their size and length to their advantage, the Wings closed passing lanes quickly and controlled the paint. McCowan had her second straight double-double and Kalani Brown had 12 points in less than eight minutes of action. The team totaled 54 points in the paint while Atlanta had only 34.
“We turned the ball over heavy in the second quarters; that was giving them an opportunity to get out and run,” Atlanta head coach Tanisha Wright said of Game 1 and Game 2. “I think Dallas leads the league in scoring in the paint, and everybody looks at that and they think it’s just the big kids. It’s not just Brown. It’s not just McCowan. It’s their opportunities that they score in transition as well.
Dallas also used an outstanding performance from an X-Factor off the bench in partnership with its stars to push the offense. Tuesday’s difference-maker was Kuier, who scored nine points and was plus-18 in the frame, which the Wings won 29-10.
Ogunbowale had nine points and three assists in the second while also taking the assignment on Dream star Rhyne Howard. Howard scored 36 points in Game 1, a record for a player in their playoff debut. But she struggled the most when Ogunbowale was guarding her, and that trend continued Tuesday.
Howard still got hers — all great players do — but she had to work hard to do so. She didn’t score until under a minute left in the first quarter, and finished with 21 points on 9-for-22 shooting.
“I would say today Rhyne got downhill,” Wright said. “She missed some bunnies, some easy things, some opportunities like that. But they do a good job of just wearing on you in general. Not just Arike. Satou as well.”
Atlanta didn’t give up after halftime but Dallas didn’t give them any chance to realistically get back in the game either. The Dream got within 13 points a few minutes into the third but never had enough momentum to really challenge the Wings.
Amid the post-game celebration of the historic victory, Dallas president and CEO Greg Bibb had some high praise for the staff.
“Greg came into the coaches’ locker room and said that may have been the best basketball he has seen in eight years here,” Trammell said.
WNBA semifinals start Sunday: Dallas will face the defending champion Las Vegas Aces in the next round. Game 1 of that series will tip off Sunday in Nevada.
“Our plan was to handle business against Atlanta so we (could have) a couple extra days off before we got ready for Vegas,” Ogunbowale said. “Everybody knows Vegas, one of the best teams in the league. But it’s a new season.”
Latricia Trammell is runner-up for Coach of the Year: Wings head coach Latricia Trammell came in second in the vote for Coach of the Year this past weekend to Connecticut Sun head coach Stephanie White.
“Obviously I’m very appreciative and grateful for that,”
Trammell said pregame.”But I’m not anything without these players.”
Kalani Brown receives vote in Sixth Woman of the Year voting: Wings backup center Kalani Brown received a single vote in the WNBA’s Sixth Woman of the Year, the league announced Monday. Las Vegas Aces forward Alysha Clark won the award.
Brown, who is currently signed to a hardship contract, averaged 7.8 points and 4.5 rebounds on 62.9% shooting during the regular season.
“She’s done an incredible job,” Trammell said. “One vote, 10 votes, whatever that looks like, it just really says a lot about her productivity. This is a young lady on a hardship contract. That shows you right there she — I’ve said it before — deserves to be in this league, and I hope we can keep her.”
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