Ogunbowale, Sabally, Howard step up on offence to lead Wings past Dream

Arike Ogunbowale scored 20 of her 27 points as Dallas built a 17-point halftime lead and the Wings beat the visiting Atlanta Dream 85-78 Saturday in the season opener for both teams.

Satou Sabally added 25 points and Natasha Howard had 20 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and two blocks for Dallas. Howard, a three-time WNBA champion and the league's 2019 defensive player of the year, was acquired in a trade in January.

Ogunbowale scored 12 points — including the final 10 — in a 19-0 run that made it 33-18 when she hit a 3-pointer to cap the spurt with about six minutes left in the first half.

Allisha Gray converted a three-point play that trimmed Atlanta's deficit to 81-78 with 1:04 to play — the closest the Dream had been since the first quarter — but Veronica Burton and Sabally each made two free throws from there to cap the scoring.

Make that 2⃣1⃣ for SA