The Dallas Wings have struggled this year, with injuries taking a heavy toll.
The team lost eight consecutive games and plays six of the next seven on the road. Dallas played the entire season without forward Satou Sabally (shoulder) and most of it without Natasha Howard (foot). Now the Wings are without top scorer Arike Ogunbowale, who suffers daily from pain in his Achilles tendon.
Ogunbowale is putting up the best numbers of his career, averaging 24.9 points, 5.4 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 2.9 steals. It wasn’t enough for the Wings (3-10), who are one game ahead of last-place Washington in the standings.
Star Guard was also in the news last week when it appeared in a podcast and explained that she had withdrawn from consideration a few months earlier for the US Olympic team because she could see how politics were influencing the selection process.
“I pretty much had the idea that I wasn’t going to participate,” Ogunbowale said. “I just felt the vibrations. When it comes down to that stuff, it really doesn’t have much to do with your game.”
USA Basketball confirmed to the Associated Press that Ogunbowale had removed himself from the pool.
If she doesn’t get healthy soon, the Wings’ season could continue to decline.
New York was the unanimous No. 1 pick in this week’s AP WNBA Power Poll, followed, respectively, by Connecticut, Minnesota, Seattle and Phoenix. Two-time defending champion Las Vegas (6-6), which has already lost as many games as it did all of last season, ranked sixth. Atlanta came in seventh, followed by Indiana, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington and Dallas.
The rematch between Indiana’s Caitlin Clark and Chicago’s Angel Reese drew record ratings, with an average of 2.25 million people watching on CBS – the most on any network in 23 years. It was more than triple the viewership of last year’s comparable game window, which featured Phoenix and New York. The Fever’s 91-83 victory over Skywhich featured Reese being assessed a flagrant-1 foul when her arm hit Clark’s headpeaked at nearly 3 million viewers.
Clark had a solid game in Indiana’s win over Chicago, finishing with 23 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. This came after a tough contest against Atlanta in which the No. 1 pick had seven points, six assists and seven turnovers. Clark had a busy week with games against Washington and Atlanta before visiting Reese and the Sky on Sunday.
Although Chicago has lost six of its last seven, Reese has played well. She had a double in six consecutive games. Reese is averaging 12.1 points and 10.2 rebounds. Her teammate and newcomer Kamilla Cardoso also had a double in the loss to Indiana. It’s the first time two rookies have double-teamed in the same game since 2008, according to ESPN.
Indiana’s Aliyah Boston earned AP Player of the Week honors. The forward averaged 23 points, 13.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks to help the Fever win both games. Ariel Atkins of Washington, Napheesa Collier of Minnesota, Kahleah Copper of Phoenix and Jonquel Jones of New York also received votes.
Indiana at Chicago, Sunday. There is a budding rivalry between these teamsboth with many young talents.
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