ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Arike Ogunbowale was standing near Paige Bueckers waiting for the star guard to make a move on her dribble with the Dallas Wings trailing by three as the final seconds of regulation — and their season — ticked away.
Bueckers waved toward her backcourt mate, but she wasn't telling Ogunbowale to get out of the way. She was telling her to get open.
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Golden State Valkyries guard Veronica Burton (22) shoots as Dallas Wings' Paige Bueckers, right, defends in the first half of a WNBA basketball first-round playoff game Wednesday Sept. 30, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Alysha Clark (7) celebrates a 3-point basket in the first half as the Golden State Valkyries play the Dallas Wings in Game 2 of the WNBA playoffs first round in Arlington, Texas, on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Dallas Wings' Arike Ogunbowale celebrates a basket in the second half of a WNBA basketball first-round playoff game against the Golden State Valkyries Wednesday Sept. 30, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Wings' Arike Ogunbowale (24) shoots in the second half of a WNBA basketball first-round playoff game against the Golden State Valkyries Wednesday Sept. 30, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Wings' Jessica Shepard (32), Paige Bueckers (5) and Arike Ogunbowale (24) celebrate after Ogunbowale sunk a three-pointer in overtime of a WNBA basketball first-round playoff game against the Golden State Valkyries Wednesday Sept. 30, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
After all, Bueckers knew who the hot hand was — and it wasn't the 2025 No. 1 overall pick and Rookie of the Year who is in her first playoff series.
Ogunbowale took a pass from Bueckers on the left baseline, dribbled toward the corner and hit an off-balance corner 3-pointer, sending the game to overtime and her on the way to a WNBA playoff-record 45 points as the Wings won a thriller 108-100 on Wednesday night, forcing a Game 3 in their first-round series.
The deciding game will be Friday night in San Francisco, where the Valkyries won the series opener by 24 points.
Golden State is trying to advance in the playoffs for the first time in the franchise’s second season. The Wings are trying to reach the semifinals for the second time in six postseason appearances since moving to the Dallas area in 2016.
Ogunbowale opened the extra period of Game 2 by banking in a 3, then hit another one to put Dallas ahead for good at 103-100 with 1:46 remaining. The four-time All-Star easily topped her previous playoff best of 24 points after scoring 10 points on just seven shots in the series opener.
“We felt like we got pushed around out there when we played in San Francisco and especially me personally I don’t feel like I was aggressive,” Ogunbowale said. “I didn’t know what I would score. I was going to shoot regardless because I just feel like seven shots isn’t enough to win playoffs and I have to be aggressive whether it’s going in or not.”
Bueckers, who scored 10 points, was mired in a 3-for-13 shooting night that included an air ball on a 3-pointer with the Wings trailing by three in the final two minutes of regulation. But she assisted on Ogunbowale's tying 3, and again on a the banked 3 to start OT. Bueckers had four assists.
“For us to do what we did today without Paige having the type of game that she always has offensively for us, to come out with a win is huge,” Wings coach Jose Fernandez said. “We had other people step up.”
Ogunbowale's shot for a 93-93 tie with 4.1 seconds left in regulation of Game 2 was followed by Gabby Williams getting called for an offensive foul on the inbound play after a Golden State timeout.
That call was reversed on replay, so instead of Aziaha James having a chance to give Dallas the lead at the free-throw line, there was a jump ball at center court with 3.0 seconds to go. After a scramble for the loose ball, Golden State's desperation shot was way off target, and after the buzzer.
Williams scored a career-high 36 points, regular season or playoffs, but missed all six of her shots in the final 1:31 of overtime to finish 12 of 23 from the field.
“We got one at home, and we got to bring our best,” Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said. “That was not our best. Tomorrow’s got to be clear minds, clear focus, clear game plan, and then be ready to go for the game at home.”
Ogunbowale scored 22 points in the fourth quarter and overtime — 11 in each period. She passed her previous overall career high of 41 points with the 3 that put Dallas up for good.
Dallas' Alysha Clark tied her playoff career high with 21 points, and Aziaha James added 13.
Kaila Charles scored 14 points for the Valkyries, and Kayla Thornton had 13.
With the scored tied at 98 in the extra period, Ogunbowale and Tiffany Hayes had to be separated after making contact. Both were called for flagrant fouls, and each made a pair of free throws with 2:26 remaining.
The Valkyries didn't score again, shooting 2 of 12 in overtime.
See AP’s full WNBA coverage here
Golden State Valkyries guard Veronica Burton (22) shoots as Dallas Wings' Paige Bueckers, right, defends in the first half of a WNBA basketball first-round playoff game Wednesday Sept. 30, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Alysha Clark (7) celebrates a 3-point basket in the first half as the Golden State Valkyries play the Dallas Wings in Game 2 of the WNBA playoffs first round in Arlington, Texas, on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Dallas Wings' Arike Ogunbowale celebrates a basket in the second half of a WNBA basketball first-round playoff game against the Golden State Valkyries Wednesday Sept. 30, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Wings' Arike Ogunbowale (24) shoots in the second half of a WNBA basketball first-round playoff game against the Golden State Valkyries Wednesday Sept. 30, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Wings' Jessica Shepard (32), Paige Bueckers (5) and Arike Ogunbowale (24) celebrate after Ogunbowale sunk a three-pointer in overtime of a WNBA basketball first-round playoff game against the Golden State Valkyries Wednesday Sept. 30, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
NEW YORK (AP) — With the Boston bats ice cold at Yankee Stadium again, a couple of quick hooks by Red Sox rookie manager Chad Tracy led to another early postseason exit.
And top starter Sonny Gray wasn't happy about being lifted after only 70 pitches.
“I think I’m the best pitcher in the American League going through the order the third time. I think that’s a fact,” Gray said. “I would have liked to have been trusted in that moment.”
For the second consecutive season, the Red Sox were sent home for the winter by their biggest rivals as the New York Yankees rolled to a 9-2 victory Wednesday night and a two-game sweep of their Wild Card Series.
Boston was outscored 18-2 overall and left to lament a miserable finish to this roller-coaster ride of a season that included Tracy taking over when Alex Cora was fired in April.
Tracy's decision-making came under scrutiny after both playoff games against the Yankees. In Boston's 9-0 defeat a night earlier, Tracy pulled rookie starter Payton Tolle after 4 2/3 innings and 83 pitches in a 1-0 game.
Last year, the Red Sox won their Wild Card Series opener before losing to New York in a deciding Game 3 as they got overpowered by Cam Schlittler, who pitched another playoff gem against his hometown team Tuesday night.
“To have it end here two times in a row is tough,” shortstop Trevor Story said.
Facing a Yankees lineup missing injured slugger Aaron Judge, the Red Sox gave up 26 hits in two games despite a pair of effective performances from their starting pitchers.
At the plate, Boston mustered only seven hits and finally snapped a 26-inning postseason scoring drought that dated to last year when Willson Contreras homered just over the right-center fence in the sixth Wednesday.
“It’s obviously been an eventful year," Tracy said. "In the moment right now you can’t think much more other than anything but the fact that we just lost a playoff series.”
Needing a victory to extend their season, the Red Sox sent Gray to the mound and the 18-game winner certainly gave them a chance. Boston trailed 1-0 in the fifth when the right-hander allowed a two-out single to Ben Rice that put runners at the corners.
Tracy then yanked Gray, eager to hand the ball to baseball's best bullpen during the regular season.
“I felt good. You know, I felt crisp. I felt sharp. I felt like I was just out there competing. And yeah, I mean, I got clipped for a solo homer and then some singles, but I felt like I stayed on the attack throughout. I was just executing what I wanted to do," Gray said. “I’m frustrated, for sure. You know, not ready for it to end. A lot of emotions.”
Asked about the move, Contreras put his finger over his lips to zip them shut.
“It’s not enough when you have talent or you have data or you have computers that’s telling you what to do, because this is baseball," he said. "The data is here to help us, but at the end of the day you are going to have to need experience and veteran guys to win games.”
In both games of the series, Tracy gave the ball to left-handed reliever Erik Miller after taking out his starting pitcher.
On Tuesday, Rice greeted Miller with a 423-foot solo homer to straightaway center field.
On Wednesday, Tracy summoned Miller to face a different left-handed hitter, Cody Bellinger — who batted .274 against lefties this season and .259 versus right-handers. In fact, his .310 batting average against left-handers over the past two years was the best of any left-handed hitter in the majors.
Bellinger made Tracy and the Red Sox pay, lining an RBI single to right field.
“We’re struggling to score runs,” Tracy said. “And when you get in spots where you're struggling to score runs and you’re already trailing, you feel like you’ve got to be aggressive and go.”
Back from a shoulder injury, ace starter Garrett Crochet entered in the sixth for his first outing since April 25 and first relief appearance since 2023 with the Chicago White Sox. The left-hander opened with a strikeout, but Spencer Jones reached safely on a wild pitch, and Crochet never got an out.
Bellinger's three-run homer off right-hander Garrett Whitlock capped a six-run inning that made it 8-1, and the Red Sox were done. A bullpen that led the majors with a 3.00 ERA during the regular season finished this series with a 20.25 ERA after giving up 15 runs, 15 hits and seven walks in 6 2/3 innings, with a .484 opponents' batting average.
Boston's latest downfall in the Bronx was a crushing end to a wild 2026 season for the Red Sox, who stumbled to a 32-46 start. Tracy was the skipper at Triple-A Worcester before getting promoted to interim manager in Boston, and the team finally began to take off with a four-game sweep of the Yankees at Fenway Park in late June.
After clinching a wild-card spot last week, the Red Sox removed the interim tag and named Tracy the 49th manager in team history, signing him to a three-year contract that runs through the 2029 season, with a club option for 2030. The team also exercised the 2029 and 2030 options on chief baseball officer Craig Breslow.
“I wasn't there for the highs and lows,” Crochet said. “For this team to do what it did do, to make it to this point, was nothing short of miraculous.”
Led by Gray and Contreras, among others, the Red Sox went on a 15-game winning streak in July that equaled a franchise record and used a 32-5 surge to climb back into contention. They became the fourth team in major league history to reach the postseason after falling 14 games under .500, and the first to qualify after losing as many as 44 of its first 75.
Gray, who can become a free agent after the World Series, went around the clubhouse to hug each of his teammates following Wednesday's defeat.
“I'm proud of what we accomplished,” the pitcher said. “We were left for dead there for a while.”
See AP’s full MLB coverage here
Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Garrett Whitlock reacts after giving up a three-run home run to New York Yankees' Cody Bellinger during the sixth inning in Game 2 of baseball's American League Wild Card Series, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Garrett Crochet is pulled from the game against the New York Yankees during the sixth inning in Game 2 of baseball's American League Wild Card Series, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Yankees' Cody Bellinger reacts while jogging the bases after hitting a three-run home run against the Boston Red Sox during the sixth inningin Game 2 of baseball's American League Wild Card Series, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Sonny Gray walks back to the dugout after being pulled during the fifth inning against the New York Yankees in Game 2 of baseball's American League Wild Card Series, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Sonny Gray, center facing, is pulled from the game against the New York Yankees during the fifth inning in Game 2 of baseball's American League Wild Card Series, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
