The consensus after the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game was that it was the best one ever. That was in no small part because of what Notre Dame legend [autotag]Arike Ogunbowale[/autotag] did. She followed a scoreless first half with 34 points in the second half to set the single-game scoring record. That gave Team WNBA a 117-109 victory over the U.S. Olympic team and Ogunbowale her second All-Star MVP.
Ogunbowale will remember this night for the rest of her life. Feeling she would be snubbed from the Olympic team, she withdrew from consideration early on. Now, she can move forward knowing that twice now, she’s been left off the team and embarrassed that team twice in as many All-Star Games with the Team USA-Team WNBA format. Hopefully, she’ll be on the other side of that in 2028.
Here are some photos from a night in which Ogunbowale’s play was as hot as the weather in Phoenix: