WNBA player gets ejected, signs autograph on her way off the court
Arike Ogunbowale received a standing ovation while hyping the crowd as she walked off the court.
Dallas Wings player Arike Ogunbowale was ejected in the fourth quarter of the game against Atlanta Dream on Tuesday at College Park Center court in Arlington, Texas.
During the final minutes of the Wings’ 85-73 win, Ogunbowale, 26, picked up two technical fouls while sitting on the bench and was automatically ejected, Yahoo reports. She received a standing ovation while hyping the crowd as she walked off the court. Ogunbowale even signed an autograph.
“Not you hyping up the crowd!!” former Chicago Sky star Isabelle Harrison joked in a tweet.
The crowd booed the referee who kicked the two-time WNBA All-Star out of the game, People reports. After her team’s win, Ogunbowale hit up special media to tell fans she could not comment on what prompted her removal because she risked getting fined.
“I wish I could say more but I ain’t tryna lose no mo money,” the WNBA star tweeted. “Great win tho!”
One Twitter follower commented, “I mean I understand 1 tech on the bench but 2? You really have to try for that 2nd one. Congrats though, looks like it hyped up your team.”
Another person said of the ref who ejected Ogunbowale from the game: “He did you and the team dirty tonight. He made it personal. Crossed the line. But you came out on top,” the user tweeted.
Ogunbowale received a rare “double technical” foul with 1:42 left in the game. This resulted in a record night of penalties for the WNBA as both teams combined had 10 technical fouls, the most in a regular season game, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
“I definitely have never seen anything like it,” Dallas coach Latricia Trammell told reporters after the game, according to ESPN.
Ogunbowale finished Tuesday’s game with 21 points, according to Yahoo.
In the post-game press conference, she appeared to take aim at the referee by noting that the players are not the only ones who need to “control their emotions.”
“Everybody’s going to be emotional in the game, and I just feel like everybody’s got to learn how to control their emotions,” she said, People reports.
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