From sending the game into overtime with a three-pointer to scoring a NBA playoff-record 45 points to help the Dallas Wings win, Arike Ogunbowale was the difference maker in Game 2. However, Golden State Valkyries star Gabby Williams isn’t blaming their side’s loss on one heroic performance from the Wings veteran.
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Instead, she reflected on what went wrong with their formidable defense in the OT loss.
“Our energy was different,” Williams told reporters during the post-game press conference. “I didn’t recognize us tonight. I don’t think any of us did.”
“There’s so many things that we can’t control when they hit some really tough shots at the end. Those things we can’t control, but we can control what we do. It doesn’t even come down to those things,” Williams said in a video uploaded by the Valkyries.
The Valkyries forward recorded 36 points, six rebounds, seven assists, and four steals against the Wings on Wednesday night. She was the engine of the Valkyries’ team. None of the Valkyries’ players were able to back Williams offensively.
Moreover, Williams also felt that the team could have done better defensively. It was uncharacteristic for a team like the Valkyries, who ended the regular season as the No. 1 scoring defense, allowing just 75.1 points per game.
Williams also said that overall offense wasn’t the problem in her eyes when asked whether the Valkyries needed to match Dallas’ pace on offense.
“No, cause that’s not us. We’re not here to trade baskets with people. We’re a defensive team. We need to get stops.”
In the 44-game regular season, the average WNBA defense allowed 109.1 points per 100 possessions. The second-season franchise’s defensive rating was only 100.6 points, a massive 8.5-point gap.
The Valkyries allowed the Wings to score 108 points on them, 93 in regulation. Throughout the regular season, the Valkyries have allowed the opposition to score 92 points at most. Golden State also allowed the Wings to shoot 52% from outside the arc, another season-high for what has been an elite defense this season.
The only saving grace was that the Valkyries were able to reduce the impact of Wings star player Paige Bueckers and recent winner of the Most Improved Player award Jessica Shepard. The former scored only 10 points on 3-of-13 shooting, while the latter recorded only four points in 41 minutes.
Unfortunately for the Valkyries, that did not account for much in the end thanks to Arike Ogunbowale’s generational performance. She recorded a mammoth 45 points in her career-high night against the Valkyries, along with seven rebounds and four assists. Even 39-year-old Alysha Clark got into the action, scoring 21 points of her own.
Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase also saw the problem.
“Like, we just don’t give up 108 points. That’s just completely uncalled for. I have to do better. I got to get better in terms of getting on them quicker.
“Arike likes that step-back. We just have to make sure we take that away. And then once she’s rolling, you know, we have to respond. We have to maybe throw more bodies at her. She did a h*** of a job.”
On the offensive end for the Valkyries, there was no needle-moving performance apart from Williams. In fact, it was a highly inefficient showcase, which further cements Williams’ comments on the team’s energy being different.
Kayla Thornton scored 13 points and six rebounds on 50% efficiency, while Veronia Burton and Janelle Salaun recorded 11 points each with less-than-ideal shooting efficiency. Burton went 3-of-8, while Salaun only shot 5-of-14. Meanwhile, reserve Kaila Charles was the only saving grace for the Valkyries with 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
Gabby Williams and the Golden State Valkyries will now head back to the Chase Center in San Francisco for Game 3 on Friday night, where they completely overpowered the Wings with a 104-80 performance.
However, the tables have turned now, with Wings head coach Jose Fernandez’s side having all the momentum following the Game 2 victory. Following the eighth-seeded New York Liberty sweeping the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx in the first round, the seventh-seeded Dallas Wings will now hope to follow that pattern with a series victory of their own against the second-seeded Golden State Valkyries.