LAS VEGAS — The Dallas Wings fell to the Las Vegas Aces, 84-91 Tuesday night, in Game 2 of the WNBA semifinals. Now, the team must win Game 3 in order to keep their hopes of moving on to the championship alive after going down 0-2 in the best-of-five series.
Arike Ogunbowale led No. 4 Dallas with 24 points, Natasha Howard had 20 points and 10 rebounds, Teaira McCowan added 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Satou Sabally scored 13 points. But it wasn't enough to overcome the force of A'ja Wilson responding with 30 points and 11 rebounds, Chelsea Gray adding 23 points and eight assists and Kelsey Plum netting 18 to help lift the Aces to the win.
The top-seeded Aces can close out the series when it shifts to Dallas on Friday, Sept. 29 for Game 3. The Wings have shown they have no intention of making it easy.
In Game 2, Dallas went on a couple of runs, including a 14-2 run from late in the second quarter to early in the second half to come to within 44-43.
The Wings tied the game at 49 before Plum put the Aces back in front for good with a 3-pointer to ignite an 11-2 run.
But Dallas didn't go away, cutting the deficit to 73-68 early in the fourth quarter and staying within reach the rest of the way. Ogunbowale's long past to Howard for the layup on the fast break brought the Wings to within 85-81 with 1:36 left before the Aces survived with the victory.
"I was proud of the physicality of our team," Wings head coach Latricia Trammell said in her postgame interview. "We came back and we battled. And I expect it's going to be that same thing when we go back home."
Ogunbowale said to get over the hump, she and her teammates just need to play smarter and concentrate on their game going into a must-win Game 3.
"It takes a lot to come back on the Aces," Ogunbowale said in her postgame interview about Dallas' runs throughout the last half of the game. "So, trying not to get ourselves in that hole in general... They are a great team and you know when we cut it, they figured something out and got points."
"If we can not make mental mistakes when we cut it like that, I think we'll be okay," Ogunbowale continued.
Game 3 will be played on the Wings' homecourt at College Park Center in Arlington on Friday. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available for Game 3 and a TBD Game 4, here. Dallas native Kaash Paige is set to perform at halftime.
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