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The Dallas Wings were narrowly defeated by the Connecticut Sun on Friday night by a final score of 74-72. Dallas played fairly well against the Sun, who moved to 7-0 with the victory. Dallas now holds a 3-3 record. Arike Ogunbowale led the Wings once again with 21 points and seven assists.
Ogunbowale is off to a terrific start in 2024. Michael Voepel of ESPN provided a statistic after Friday's game that will catch WNBA fans' attention.
“The @DallasWings‘ @Arike_O has 165 points through 6 games this season. That's the third-most through 6 games in @WNBA history behind @De11eDonne‘s (Elena Delle Donne) 176 in 2015 and @MooreMaya‘s (Maya Moore) 175 in 2014. Those were MVP seasons for those players. re: @ESPNStatsInfo,” Voepel wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Being mentioned in the same conversation with stars like Maya Moore and Elena Delle Donne is impressive to say the least. But should we even be surprised?
Ogunbowale is a superstar. She may be underrated, but Ogunbowale is beginning to establish herself as a legitimate MVP candidate. When asked if Ogunbowale is underrated, her Wings teammate Maddy Siegrist recently made an honest admission while speaking to ClutchPoints.
“I mean, for me I feel like I know how great… I see it everyday. So I know (how great she is),” Siegrist said. “But I definitely think she's underrated. She's just a great player. To have somebody like that so early in my career, to be able to play with somebody like that is huge. What she's able to do for our team, this program, women's basketball in general… It's just great to have somebody like that. And she's a great leader. She's extremely vocal and so encouraging to me and the rest of the team, which I think speaks volumes about her.”
Arike Ogunbowale leading Wings
Will Ogunbowale win the 2024 WNBA MVP Award? She may not have entered the season as the MVP favorite, but all signs are indicating that Ogunbowale will have a serious case for the award.
Satou Sabally and Natasha Howard are both dealing with injures. Yet, Ogunbowale has helped Dallas stay afloat. They are a respectable 3-3 and the Wings have played a number of competitive games.
At 27 years old, Ogunbowale has received MVP consideration in the past. The highest she has ever finished in the voting is sixth, something she accomplished back in 2020. In 2023, Ogunbowale was 10th in MVP voting. Her teammate Sabally finished fifth during the 2023 campaign.
Sabally is not expected to return until August, though, so Ogunbowale knew she needed to play especially well to begin the season. She has certainly answered that challenge and even exceeded expectations up to this point.
Whether she wins the MVP or not, there is no question that Arike Ogunbowale has enjoyed a tremendous start to the 2024 season. She will look to continue playing at a high level moving forward as the Wings finish their road trip on Sunday against the Minnesota Lynx. Dallas will then return home for a highly-anticipated affair against the defending champion Las Vegas Aces.
