Atlanta Is Back in the Semifinals After 8 Years

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What to Know About Women’s Basketball Today

1. The Dream Are Headed to the Semifinals ✅

The Atlanta Dream are moving on. Atlanta beat Washington 93-75 Wednesday night in Game 2 to sweep the best-of-three First Round series and punch their ticket to the semifinals. Allisha Gray led the Dream with 22 points, while Jordin Canada scored 13 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter. (USA Today)

WHY IT MATTERS: This is Atlanta’s first trip to the semifinals since 2018. Up next is a best-of-five series against the New York Liberty, with a spot in the WNBA Finals on the line. Game 1 is this Sunday in Atlanta.

2. Arike Drops 45 and Dallas Forces Game 3 🤯

The Dallas Wings kept their season alive with a 108-100 overtime win over Golden State, and Arike Ogunbowale delivered a playoff performance for the record books. She scored 45 points, including 11 in overtime, to set a new WNBA postseason single-game scoring record. (Yahoo Sports)

📺 Watch Ogunbowale’s three that sent the Wings into overtime

WHY IT MATTERS: Talk about a response. Dallas trailed Golden State by as many as 36 points in Game 1 and lost by 24. Two days later, with their season on the line, Dallas forced a deciding Game 3. Ogunbowale’s 45 points also broke the previous playoff record of 42, shared by Napheesa Collier, Breanna Stewart, and Angel McCoughtry.

Game 3 is Friday at Chase Center in San Francisco.

🗳️ Which team are you rooting for in Game 3?

3. Jessica Shepard Is the WNBA’s Most Improved Player 👏

Jessica Shepard was named the WNBA’s Most Improved Player after a career year in her first season with Dallas. (ESPN)

WHY IT MATTERS: Shepard became a major presence for the Wings this season, averaging career highs of 14.5 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game. Those numbers made her just the second player in WNBA history to average at least 10 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists in a season. Her physical presence inside was a big part of Dallas finishing 27-17 and earning the No. 7 seed in the playoffs. She and Angel Reese were the only players to average a double-double this season.

The vote was close. Shepard received 29 of 74 votes from the media panel, narrowly beating Washington’s Shakira Austin, who received 25.

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OVERTIME ⏱️

No Ordinary Day: Caitlin Clark’s first signature shoe with Nike officially launches globally today, along with her first signature apparel collection.

🗳️ Poll Results from Yesterday: We asked how surprised you were that the Liberty swept the Lynx, and 44% of you said, “A little, but New York is dangerous.” The rest of the vote was nearly split, with 28% saying they weren’t surprised at all and 27% saying, “I didn’t see that coming!”