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ARLINGTON – When Arike Ogunbowale shot a runner off the backboard as the game clock expired, fans at College Park Center held their breath.
But as the ball missed off the rim, a moment ready for jubilation slipped into disappointment.
The Wings (17-9) lost to the New York Liberty 99-98 in overtime, snapping their six-game win streak. Sabrina Ionescu scored 12 points in overtime to push New York (14-12) over the finish line.
Despite the loss, the crowd cheered for the Wings as they walked off the court. It was the second night of a back-to-back and the Wings were without All-Star guard Paige Bueckers, who was sidelined after a collision with Nneka Ogwumike in Sunday's 90-82 win over the Los Angeles Sparks.
Still, the Wings had the game in their hands.
"I think we just started to slow down a little,"Azzi Fudd said. "I think we stopped pushing the pace as much, which is something that we did in the third quarter. And I think if we had just stuck with that, who knows. We got away from what was working for us."
Dallas dominated the third quarter, going on an 18-3 run out of the halftime break to take a 12-point lead. The Liberty scored just nine points in the period and trailed by nine to start the fourth.
The Wings had some costly fouls in the fourth quarter and New York forward Breanna Stewart took advantage to help the Liberty surge back in front. The two-time MVP finished with 33 points on 10-of-19 shooting.
"It's a good challenge for us," Ogunbowale said. "They wanted to win that one, we've beat them twice already this season … playoff atmosphere and playoff type of feel to the game. This film will help us a lot."
Ogunbowale hit the game-tying free throws with 3.5 seconds left to force overtime.
Without the on-ball creation of Bueckers, Azzi Fudd, the Wings' No.1 overall pick in the 2026 WNBA draft, was given a heavy offensive workload. She scored 15 points on Monday, knocking down six jump shots.
Ogunbowale pushed the tempo for Dallas. The four-time All-Star frequently threw outlet passes to Odyssey Sims and other guards or pushed the pace in transition herself. She finished with 29 points on 9-of-24 shooting.
All-Star starter Jessica Shepard recorded her 17th double-double of the season on Monday, scoring 13 points to go with 16 rebounds. She's tied with Atlanta's Angel Reese for the most double-doubles in the league.
New York lost four consecutive games heading into Monday night, including an 88-77 loss to the Wings in Brooklyn.
Still, a team loaded with 2024 WNBA champions gave Dallas problems. The Liberty grabbed 17 offensive rebounds and outrebounded the Wings 48-34.
"They had a 16-2 second-chance point differential at halftime," Wings head coach Jose Fernandez said. "That's a big number, the glass was very important, and we could have done a much better job of that."
New York frequently utilized a 2-3 zone, which allowed both 6-6 center Jaquel Jones and 6-11 center Han Xu – the tallest active player in the WNBA – the chance to stay near the paint and protect the rim.
Wings forward Maddy Siegrist busted the zone coverage, scoring 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting while knocking down all three of her 3-point attempts.
"I thought we got good shots," Fernandez said. "We got the ball to the elbow, we got the ball to the corners. We knew they were going to go to [a 2-3 zone] a lot just because of Stewie's length and being able to disrupt."
Up next, the Wings travel up to Portland for a game against the Fire at 9 p.m. on Wednesday. It will be the Wings' final game before the WNBA All-Star break.
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