Dallas Wings star Arike Ogunbowale stole the show in the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game on Saturday with a record-setting 34-point effort to lead Team WNBA to an upset win over Team USA, 117-109. Ogunbowale was named All-Star Game MVP for the second time in her career.
The WNBA's third-leading scorer this season did not have a single point in the first half, but said during the broadcast that she got a pep talk from Team WNBA coach Cheryl Miller. The Hall of Famer told Ogunbowale she was thinking too much and needed to settle down and play her game.
High Level MVP Buckets 🤌
— WNBA (@WNBA) July 21, 2024
34 PTS, 6 REB, 6 AST for Arike Ogunbowale
2024 @ATT #WNBAAllStar | #WelcometotheW pic.twitter.com/MQbiC4r4UX
That's exactly what Ogunbowale did in the third quarter. She made Team WNBA's first three baskets in the second half, which helped them take the lead for good, and poured in 21 of her 34 points in the frame on a barrage of 3-pointers. She kept it going in the fourth quarter with a few more jumpers to help Team WNBA pull away for good, then set the All-Star Game scoring record -- previously held by Jewell Loyd -- with yet another 3-pointer in the closing minutes.
Here's a look at the highest-scoring performances in All-Star Game history:
| Player | Team | Year | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
Arike Ogunbowale | Wings | 2024 | 34 |
Breanna Stewart | Liberty | 2024 | 31 |
Jewell Loyd | Storm | 2023 | 31 |
Kelsey Plum | Aces | 2023 | 30 |
Kelsey Plum | Aces | 2022 | 30 |
Maya Moore | Lynx | 2015 | 30 |
With her stunning performance, Ogunbowale has joined Lisa Leslie (three), Maya Moore (three) and Swin Cash (two) as the only players in WNBA history to win the award multiple times.
Notably, Ogunbowale's first All-Star MVP award came back in 2021 when the league also used the Team USA vs. Team WNBA format. Despite her impressive WNBA credentials, Ogunbowale has never played for Team USA in a major tournament. This time around, she removed herself from the player pool due to "politics."
"When it comes to [the Olympic trials], it really doesn't have much to do with your game," Ogunbowale said last month. "It's really about who they feel like fits with the team. So I actually took my name out the pool months ago. That's not saying I didn't think maybe last year, I would be on the team and I was good enough to make the team, but when the list came out, I knew I would not be on that one."
