Patrick Mahomes led the praise for WNBA star Arike Ogunbowale following her record performance in Saturday’s All-Star game.
The Dallas Wings guard stole the show Saturday night as she led the charge for the WNBA All-Stars, including Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, in a 117-109 victory over the US Women’s Olympic Team at the Footprint Center in Phoenix.
Ogunbowale was snubbed for the USA’s last Olympics squad, for the pandemic-delayed games Tokyo in 2021, before going on to win the All-Star MVP that year.
And history repeated itself this week, as Ogunbowale, who withdrew her name from contention for the Olympic roster this year, sealed MVP once again with a record performance.
Ogunbowale finished with 34 points, all coming in the second half, including 21 in the third quarter alone, to break the WNBA All-Star points record.
As she set the court alight in Phoenix, social media went wild for her performance, earning her recognition from three-time Super Bowl winner Patrick Mahomes.
‘Yo! @Arike_O is hoopin hooping,’ the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, alongside a fire emoji.
Meanwhile, Jemele Hill, a prominent US sports writer, shared a GIF of a person on fire, captioning it: ‘Arike right now.’
However, it took a while for Ogunbowale to catch fire. She deferred to her All-Star teammates throughout the first half, missing the two shots she took.
It wasn’t until coach Cheryl Miller gave her a halftime wake-up call that Ogunbowale really began to wow.
After the halftime talking to by her Hall of Fame coach, the 5-foot-8 guard turned into the biggest player on the court, scoring on step-back 3-pointers and runners in the lane.
Ogunbowale hit 6 of 10 shots in the third quarter, including 5 of 7 from 3-point range. She kept scoring and Team WNBA turned Team USA’s last domestic warm-up before the Paris Olympics into a 117-109 loss. She hit eight 3-pointers and finished 10 for 20 from the floor with six assists to become the third two-time MVP in WNBA All-Star Game history.
‘She was just in the zone and they played really good defense multiple times,’ said Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark, a player known for going on heaters during her career at Iowa.
‘There´s just nothing you can do in those situations where she’s making step back 3s, one-legged floaters, things like that. You, you literally can’t guard her.’
Ogunbowale has shown a knack for scoring in bunches throughout her career, starting with her college days, when she hit game-winning shots in the Final Four and national championship game during Notre Dame’s 2018 title run.
Ogunbowale has been one of the WNBA’s best scorers during five seasons with the Dallas Wings, averaging 22.3 points per game this season. She was the All-Star Game MVP the last time Team USA played Team WNBA in an Olympic warm-up, scoring 26 points.
