Arike Ogunbowale is shutting down talk of a fractured Dallas Wings locker room. Following head coach Jose Fernandez's selfishness remarks, the star led a dominant 92-69 win over the Mystics.

Fernandez is known to be a strict coach, and his stating that "there's selfishness in the locker room" definitely carries a lot of weight. Ogunbowale remained unfazed after their win.

"Honestly, we're not worried about what people think about the (our) locker room. It's just what we think about ourselves," she said in the post-match press conference.

"We know our standard, we know what coach wants us to do. We know what we expect from ourselves, and I think we showed that tonight, so we just got to continue that," Ogunbowale added.

And there were reasons for the veteran's assessment. While external voices surrounding the players can be a nuisance to deal with, Fernandez's critics regarding the player's lack of cumulative efforts saw a change in the game against the Mystics.

Dallas played an unselfish game, totaling 30 assists as compared to 22 against the Minnesota Lynx.

In addition, the players were able to wrap up the tie and not lose composure in the fourth quarter, a stark contrast compared to their games against Minnesota and the Atlanta Dream.

Arike Ogunbowale enjoyed a decent outing with 16 points, 3 assists, 3 steals, and a perfect free-throw percentage.

With the win against the Mystics, the Wings are just four games into a 44-game regular season. So, it is still early days to judge anything.

However, that did not stop Maddy Siegrist and Aziaha James from delivering a clear response to questions about the locker room atmosphere.

Maddy Siegrist and Aziaha James Address the Locker Room Question

Aziaha James did not hesitate when asked directly whether Fernandez had run the risk of losing the locker room, and believed that the locker room had held together through every step of the way.

“No. He’s a wonderful coach,” James said.

“He pushes us every day. He wants the best out of us. He’s very detailed, and he just wants us to be great players.”

Maddy Siegrist, who has been one of the most improved players under Fernandez, doubled down on James' sentiment and believes that it is still early days and the team will only improve going forward.

“Yeah, I agree. I think he pushes us to be better every single day,” Siegrist said.

“We take that as a lesson and try to come together and be the best we can be. Like I said, we’re only three games in. We’re still figuring it out as a group."

After three consecutive home games, the Dallas Wings will travel to the Wintrust Arena to face the Chicago Sky.

Do you believe Fernandez's comments will further elevate the Wings' in-game chemistry?

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Written by

Joy Bassy

Edited by

Koushik Biswas