Arike Ogunbowale breaks the WNBA playoff scoring record with 45 points, and the Liberty just made history of their own
Ogunbowale's 45-point overtime masterpiece against Golden State is the most points anyone has ever scored in a WNBA postseason game, and the Liberty finished off the No. 1 seed Lynx in the same wild Wednesday night.
In brief
Ogunbowale drops 45, Liberty make WNBA history: Wednesday's playoffs were unlike anything this league has seen
Wednesday night had two WNBA games on the schedule. Both of them ended up in the record books.
Neither result looked probable going in. The Wings had lost Game 1 by 24 points. Minnesota had the best record in the league and home-court advantage already spent. By midnight on the East Coast, both underdogs had either survived or advanced.
Ogunbowale turns an elimination game into a clinic
Fueled by Ogunbowale's single-game WNBA playoff-record 45 points, the No. 7 seed Wings rallied to upend the No. 2 Golden State Valkyries 108-100 in overtime. The eight-year veteran didn't just score. She kept saving the Wings at the exact moments they needed saving.
After several lead changes in the fourth quarter, the Valkyries were up by three points with one minute remaining. With just under five seconds left in the fourth, Ogunbowale hit a game-tying triple to force overtime. The Wings then closed the contest on an 8-0 run in the extra period to finish it.
Gabby Williams did everything she could for Golden State, finishing with a career-high 36 points, five 3-pointers, seven assists, six rebounds and four steals. She and Ogunbowale became the first opponents to each score at least 35 points in the same game in WNBA postseason history.
The record itself matters beyond the box score. Ogunbowale's 45 points are the most in a playoff game in WNBA history, and they came in a game her team had no business winning after getting blown out by 36 in Game 1. The Wings forced overtime, staved off elimination and secured a winner-take-all Game 3 back in the Bay Area on Friday. It was a remarkable turn of events after they struggled mightily in Game 1, trailing by as many as 36 before losing by a slightly more respectable 24-point margin.
The league had already seen something historic 48 hours earlier when Ogunbowale scored 28 in Game 1, then she went out and made that look like a warmup.
The Liberty do what no eighth seed has ever done
The other Wednesday nightcap wasn't close, but it was significant. The Liberty ran over the Lynx 87-71 at Barclays Center. New York is the first 8-seed to knock off a No. 1 seed in the league's history.
Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart each had 21 points and Sabrina Ionescu added 18 for the Liberty, who became the first team to advance to the WNBA semifinals. Lynx guard Olivia Miles, unanimously named WNBA Rookie of the Year on Monday, finished with five points.
Minnesota has now collapsed in the playoffs for three straight years. The Lynx lost both games by 16 points, and their minus-32 margin for the series was the worst ever by a No. 1 seed in a best-of-three series, per Her Hoops Stats.
Despite Game 1 at home on Sunday, and needing a response to keep their season alive, the Lynx immediately fell behind 9-1 on Tuesday and were down double digits within five minutes. Though they worked their way back into the game at times, they never led in what became an emphatic Liberty win.
Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, Jonquel Jones and the Liberty made WNBA postseason history as the first No. 8 seed to eliminate a No. 1 seed with a pair of 16-point victories over the Minnesota Lynx. New York is now one series victory away from its third WNBA Finals appearance in four years.
The Dream, who eliminated Washington on Wednesday, will now face the New York Liberty in the semifinals. The Dream are in the semifinals for the first time since 2018 after bouncing the young No. 5 Washington Mystics via victories by 15 and 18 points.
Fever-Aces heads to a Game 3, and the bracket is almost set
The only first-round series still alive is Las Vegas vs. Indiana. Indiana, playing at home at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, beat the No. 3 seed Las Vegas Aces 99-89 on Tuesday, forcing their first-round series of the 2026 WNBA playoffs back to Las Vegas for Game 3 on Thursday.
Caitlin Clark recorded a double-double, while Kelsey Mitchell scored 26 points and Aliyah Boston added 22 as the Fever defeated the Aces 99-89 to even the series and force a decisive Game 3. Jackie Young led Las Vegas with 31 points, while MVP front-runner A'ja Wilson had 22 points and nine rebounds.
The Fever and Aces play Thursday at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas. Everything else waits on Friday's Game 3 between Dallas and Golden State in the Bay Area, where Ogunbowale will try to keep the Wings alive again.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
