Guru Collegiate Report: Assisting Post Production Still a Way of Life for Former Drexel Star Guard

By Mel Greenberg

PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia collegiate scene in women's basketball has sent forward players who became stars in the WNBA or overseas or both.

Then there are those who have also become successful coaches in their own right.

Some have gone on to athletic administration.

But there have been achievements in non-sports fields as well as their post graduate lives have led to fields in law, medicine, and other disciplines.

And in the case of former Drexel point guard Kira Karlstrom, a 2007 graduate who played in Romania and who was an integral part of the Dragons' first-ever win over Old Dominion in March 2005 when she scored 18 points, the native of Michigan went on to become an Emmy winner in production at ESPN.

Technically, a lot of what she did and does involves post production, which ironically, what she was at Drexel, except with the Dragons she went on to become on of the all-time assists leaders feeding such Drexel greats inside the paint as Gabriela Marginean, the all-time women' scorer in Phildelphia area women's collegiate basketball among all NCAA divisions.

However, Karlstrom's career at the major sports television network is in the past tense as is her most recent gig working for Marvel, the folks that bring you all those comic book characters that also get turned into portrayals on TV and in the movies.

On Wednesday, Karlstrom was announced to have moved on from her job as a manager in the Live Events Division at Marvel Entertainment to become business development executive at Arsenal FX, no, not the English soccer franchise.

The firm in Santa Monica, California, is a leading Visual Effects Post Production studio specializing in high end commercial finishing.

To learn more about all that, the Guru has the full press release below along with a picture.

Incidentally, somewhere in her basketball days, she happened to become an acquaintance of Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman, who has also gone to success in the business part of sports besides TV and radio broadcasting.

Krlstrom is also a cancer motivational speaker for such organization's as the Jimmy V Foundation and Coaches vs. Cancer.

During Karlstrom's days at Drexel, Lieberman, when talking to the Guru on other matters, would usually want to be brought up to date on Karlson's play besides following her career, herself.

Before adding the official announcement below, first a little flesh and blood in a conversation Karlstrom had with the Guru.

In the classroom, Karlstrom was a Graphic Design Major at Drexel and then a a Business Entertainment Masters at Full Sail University, a prestigious educational institution that offers growth in fields of interest involving Karlstrom.

Looking at her post-Drexel life through the magic of google, she was once featured in one of the ESPN inside-the-organization websites talking about how Karlstrom ran 13 miles on short notice with a video camera strapped to her body to film the exploits of one of the network's on-air talent.

"My favorite projects at ESPN were the Women's World Cup, launching the Longhorn Network at the University in Texas, and the re-brand of the ESPN Global X-Games," Karlstrom said.

"My favorite project at Marvel was Producing the Sony // Marvel The Amazing Spider-man II consumer product photo shoot," she noted about her other place of employment.

"I also worked heavily on the FELD Entertainment: Marvel Universe Live touring arena show which is making it's rounds through NJ, Philly, + NY right now."

Karlstrom said she was not a victim of the ESPN downsize a while back involving some of its support people in several departments and loved working there.

Of living now among the aforementioned "beautiful people,", she said, "The change in LA is a bit different than the East Coast.

"I love my job and living in Beverly Hills but I will always be a Midwest-East Coast girl at heart," ahe aaid.

Apparently, back in Karlstrom's high school days, the Dragons were an easy sell by Denise Dillon and her staff because of what the school offered in the classroom.

"I chose Drexel because they had a great Design program, I loved the city of Philadelphia, and it was a growing program," Karlstrom recalled.

"I thought I would play a lot of minutes in and have the opportunity to make a difference in," she continued.

"I partially tore ligaments going into the summer of my junior season playing pick-up at the University of Michigan," she aaid.

"I was in a cast all summer but didn't effect my in-season playing much."

For those who go to Drexel games, Karlstrom is no stranger and often is seen showing up on a moment's notice.

"I come back to visit Drexel often," she explained.

"I have a great relationship with Denise, the coaching staff, and the whole athletic staff. They are amazing people that I'm fortunate to have had apart of my younger years."

And with all that said, here is the release by Arsenal FX announcing Karlstrom's hire.

xxxx

ARSENAL FX NAMES KIRA KARLSTROM – BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVE

Santa Monica, CA -- Arsenal FX, a leading Visual Effects Post Production studio specializing in high-end commercial finishing, has appointed Kira Karlstrom as business development executive. Previously, she was a manager in the Live Events Division at Marvel Entertainment.

As Arsenal FX’s business development executive, she will be responsible for procuring new clients, and identifying fresh business ventures and opportunities.

Karlstrom’s immediate focus will be to strategically strengthen and further position the Arsenal FX brand.

This includes leading an effort to integrate the animation discipline into the Arsenal FX Design Department to customize content and messaging through visual storytelling across multiple platforms.

“Kira is an award-winning creative producer with a keen expertise and years of experience in animation, live action and broadcast television,” said Mark Leiss, managing partner of Arsenal FX. “She is a proven leader and an executive who is equally comfortable with both the business and creative sides. Her unique set of skills is a true asset to our team.”

“My goal is to reinforce the client partnerships we already have and foster new relationships by bringing in unique and cutting edge creative talent,” Karlstrom said. “Championing this talent will allow us to be more than just a traditional post production VFX studio, but also the ‘creative ideation’ that will give us the flexibility to expand in the marketplace.”

“I see opportunities to broaden our work into co-branded TV spots, network animation, live events, as well as commercial and digital content,” Karlstrom added. “These new avenues are crucial not only for our brand, but, more importantly, for our clients. And, it will allow us to compete with any full-service post production, VFX or design studio.”

ABOUT KIRA KARLSTROM

Prior to joining Arsenal FX in July 2014, Karlstrom helped develop and manage the Live Events Division at Marvel Entertainment.

Responsible for the branding of Marvel Intellectual properties through initiatives such as Disney attractions, theme parks, Broadway productions, live touring arena shows, and museums viewed by more than three million people annually. Karlstrom also produced the MARVEL/SONY consumer product photo-shoot for 2014’s “The Amazing Spider-Man.”

Prior to that, Karlstrom was a producer and art director at ESPN, where she garnered seven Sports Emmy Award nominations.

There she produced and assisted in directing more than 20 high-end network animation packages and over 15 live actions productions, concurrently working with numerous A-level talent, artists and athletes. ESPN projects on which Karlstrom worked include: the 2013 Global X-Games re-brand, 2012 EURO Cup, 2011 Women’s World Cup, 2010 Men’s World Cup, the ESPYS, NBA re-brand, the Longhorn Network, College GameDay Open, and Monday Night Football, to name a few.

Originally from Clarkston, Michigan, Karlstrom was an honors graduate in Graphic Design from Drexel University in 2007.

She was a scholarship basketball player for Drexel, who later became a professional player in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Karlstrom is a Cancer Motivational Speaker for Foundations including the Jimmy V Foundation and Coaches vs. Cancer, as well as a Salutatorian Award recipient of an Entertainment Business Masters Degree from Full Sail University.

ABOUT ARSENAL FX:

Arsenal FX is an artist-driven, Visual Effects Post Production studio set within a boutique environment.

The company specializes in commercial finishing. Arsenal FX enjoys a stellar reputation and a diverse global client base, spanning the industries of advertising, motion pictures, and television.

Since its founding in 2008, Arsenal FX has contributed visual effects to many hundreds of commercial spots on behalf of such major clients such as Sony, Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper, Nike, Redbull, BMW, Beats By Dre, Bud Light, Hyundai, Audi, Lexus, Chevrolet, Mazda, McDonalds, State Farm, U.S. Cellular, and dozens more.

Please see: www.arsenalfx.tv.










- Posted using BlogPress from the Guru's iPad

Philly Summer League: Team Pink Upsets Front-Running Gold

By Mel Greenberg

Unbeatens are no more for 2014 in the Philadelphia/Suburban Women's NCAA Summer Basketball League.

The story of Tuesday night on top of several story lines was Pink, also known as Division II University of the Sciences of Philadelphia (USP) upsetting first-place Gold 64-61, ending the frontrunners' nine-game unbeaten streak at Kelly Bolish Gym, home of the AAU Renegades, in Hatboro, Pa., in Lower Bucks County.

Bob Heller, the all-everything athletics official at USP, once again offers an in-depth account of the game that will lead the recaps in the usual place under all this opening information.

The win catapulted Pink into 7th place in a tie-breaker but much remains to be done in the final two games.

Saint Joseph's star senior Natasha Cloud was unable to play for Gold, though the squad certainly still had enough firepower to win in her absence.

Incidentally, the Guru was not on the scene since he was up in New York for the Liberty's overtime WNBA win against the Washington Mystics in Madison Square Garden.

Meanwhile, White, also known as Division II West Chester, stayed a game behind Gold, though Gold has the tiebreaker between the two on a head-to-head win with two games remaining for each.

White was afforded a forfeit win over Maroon, a somewhat costly setback for using an ineligible player.

Black, also known as Division II Philadelphia University, topped Sky Blue 60-55 to move into the third seed, breaking a tie with Orange off a previous head-to-head win.

But while the win was enjoyable, Black must play Gold and White to finish out and two losses right now puts a postseason slot in jeapoardy.

Kelly Green stayed alive in a hunt for a playoff berth, beating Hunter Green 59-57 on a three-pointer with three second left from recent newcomer Vicki Tumasz, a North Penn graduate who is heading to Shippensburg.

Five players hit the 20 or more points nightly milestone with Navy Blue's Chelsea Woods, scoring 22, while Black's Najah Jacobs and Kelly Green's Alex Louin also scored 20 points all in victories.

Sarah Fairbanks, a Saint Joseph's junior, had the night's top performance with 26 points for Hunter Green.

Gold got another highlight night from Lauren Crisler, who scored 20 points in the loss.

Meanwhile, by the time the smoked cleared with the final game completed, things began very foggy looking ahead to the two remaining nights on the regular season schedule.

Ir'a like this: The Guru hates to break the news to longtime commissioner David B. Kessler, if he thought his recent hip replacement surgery at the start of the season was somewhat painful, he has no idea of the potential headache looming ahead to determine the who is going to fill the other six playoff spots, let alone how they will be filled by seed.

At this hour, mathematically, a gridlock unlike any the league has ever seen at the finish could occur.

Since the turnaround is short until Thursday night, there is no sense spending what would be almost up to the next tipoffs or even beyond to go over everyone's individual scenario, let alone how a massive tie would be broken.

After Thursday night things will be a little clearer but again maybe they will still be murky, but at least some clue may rise as to the remaining scenarios.

For now, what the Guru did in the seed tracker is also list the final two games for each team.

But everyone taking the court the next two nights, the best thing to say to all is that comment from the past: Just win baby.

It's a two-day demolition derby so it is doubtful that survival will be possible while suffering losses unless the affected get help from elsewhere.

Sewing the Seeds

For now, because of the mess that exists for the mnoment, the only thing to do is explain how every team is in the listed slot heading into Thursday night.

Gold and White are still clear-cut 1-2 on their records. Black and Orange moved up two slots with Black in the third seed and Orange the fourth by way of the Black head-to-head win over Orange.

Hunter Green and Maroon each fell two slots with Hunter Green using its head to head win over Maroon to be fifth and Orange sixth.

For what would be the final two playoff berths there is a three-way tie by record among Pink, Sky Blue and Purple.

Pink is 1-0 among the three with a game with Purple to be played but for now a win over Sky Blue gains seventh, Sky Blue at 1-1 ia eighth, and Purple, which was serving the nightly bye among the 13 teams, at 0-1 is night.

Kelly Green and Navy Blue could still catch the teams in front but for the moment, they remain ninth and tenth with Kelly Green gaining the ninth slot on a tie-breaking win over Navy Blue.

Red, which is 12th, was eliminated by its loss Tuesday night while Royal Blue, still looking for a win, was eliminated last week.

Tuesday's Recaps

Pink 64, Gold 61 -- For the winning Pink team from USP (5-5), incoming sophomore Jessica Sylvester had 17 points, including four 3-pointers, while classmate Brianne Traub scored 16 points, and Amber Reiley, a junior, scored seven.

As mentioned on Gold (9-1), Lauren Crisler, an American U. sophomore from North Penn, scored 20, while Jasmine Elum, a 2012 Bethune-Cookman grad out of Bodine High, scored 13, and Pallavi Jueja, a Division III Haverford senior from the Peddie School, scored 10.

Two huge second half runs propelled the Pink team to the upset that stopped Gold's ubeaten streak at nine.

The Gold team held the lead for the first 35 minutes before Pink pulled out the come-from-behind win, outscoring Gold 17-9 over the final 6:29.

Amber Reiley's seven seven points all came in the final 3:44.

The Pink team trailed by as many as 13 points in the opening 20 minutes before cutting the Gold team’s lead down to eight at the break, 36-28.

Gold struck first in the second half to go back up by double digits 38-28 before Pink began their comeback.

Pink went on a 12-4 run to cut the deficit to two, 42-40 at the 14 minute mark.

Three-pointers by Traub and Sylvester capped the rally.

The Gold lead oscillated between three and six points over the next seven minutes with Stephanie Leon (Delaware’17) putting her team on top by five 52-47 with a ten-foot jumper at the 6:29 mark.

Traub sank another trey at the 5:57 mark, starting string of 12 straight points by the victors and cutting the lead to two 52-50.

Two possessions later, incoming freshman Colleen Walsh gave Pink their first lead of the game, 53-52 with a layup at the 4:27 mark.

Reiley and incoming freshman Molly Greenberg each sank a pair of free throws to extend the lead and Reiley running scoop shot at the 2:41 mark put Pink on top 59-52.

Crisler broke the run, making one of two from the free throw line at the 2:06 mark, before Reiley completed what would be a 15-1 spurt from the Pink squad with two trips to the free throw line and converting three of four attempts to produce their largest lead of the game 62-53 with 37.2 seconds left.

Gold countered with a triple from Elum to pull within six 62-56 and after a Greenberg free throw made two of three from the line to cut Gold’s deficit to five 63-58 with 11.9 seconds left.

Sylvester went 1-2 from the free throw line before Leon sank a three-pointer with 1.6 seconds left to make the final score 64-61.

White 2, Maroon 0, forfeit -- White (8-2) gets the win because Maroon (6-5) used an ineligible player, though Maroon had a win on the court before the infraction was determined.

That kept White in second two games back and a playoff spot with a chance at this hour to finish first if Gold loses its last two games and White sweeps.

Kelly Green 59, Hunter Green 57 -- As mentioned above, Kelly Green (4-6), which has had much adversity, stayed in the playoff hunt with a narrow win, courtesy of Vicki Tumasz' 3-ball over Hunter Green (6-5), which was at least temporarily deprived of clinching a spot in the postseason, which begins a week from Thursday with the quarterfinals.

The winners were powered by a Villanova duo as imcoming freshman Alex Louin, an incoming freshman from Mt. St. Joseph's, scored 20 points and sophomore Megan Quinn from Episcopal scored 16 points.

Saint Joseph's junior Sarah Fairbanks had her third game of 26 or more points, including a league-best 35 two weeks ago, for Hunter Green (6-5). Sarah Veilleux, an incoming Saint Joseph's freshman, scored 11 points.

Black 60, Sky Blue 55 -- Two teams that were tied going into the game play a competitive game with Black (6-4), prevailing to move into the third seed for the moment, though as mentioned above, the Division II Philadelphia University group finishes out against the two top teams in the league and a 6-6 record at this time looks dicey unless a tiebreak would go the right way.

As mentioned, Najah Jacobs, a senior from Central High, scored 20 points for Black, while Monica Shacker, a senior from Germantown Academy, scored 15 points, and Jacqueline McCarron, a junior from Lansdale Catholic, scored 11.

Sky Blue (5-5), which fell into a three-way tie for seventh, got 19 points from Megan Gallagher, a recent DeSales grad out of St. Basil who was also 6-for-6 from the line, while Carolyne Heston, a recent Division II Holy Family grad from Villa Jos. Marie, scored eight points.

Navy Blue 73, Royal Blue 58 -- The winners (4-6) stayed in the playoff hunt as Chelsea Woods, an incoming Saint Joseph's freshman, had another night in the twenties with 22 points.

Kathleen Fitzpatrick, a Saint Joseph's sophomore from Academy od Notre Dame de Namur, added had 16 points, and Stephanie Keyes, a Penn State-Abington senior from Archbishop Wood, scored scored 11 points.

Ciara Andrews, a Saint Joseph's junior from Cheltenham High, had 17 points for Royal Blue (0-10) and Adashia Franklyn, yet another incoming Saint Joseph's freshman who is a graduate of Rustin High in West Chester, scored 12.

Orange 80, Red 32 -- The winners (6-4) jumped into the fourth seed with an easy win over Red (2-8) as Amanda Fioravanti, a Saint Joseph's sophomore, scored 18 points, Penn senior Kathleen Roche of the defending Ivy League champions scored 14 points, and Kelsey Watson, a Division II Kutztown sophomore from Methacton High, scored 10 points.

Nobody scored in double figures for Red but Emily Kiersnowski, an incoming DeSales freshman from Archbishop Wood, scored nine points, and Brianna Spector, an Oneonta State sophomore from Upper Dublin High, scored seven points.

Individual Scoring Performances
(20 or more points)

35 pts. -- Sarah Fairbanks, Hunt. Grn(W) vs. Orange, July 17
31 pts. -- Jasmine Elum, Gold (W) vs. Maroon, July 1
29 pts. -- Ciara Andrews, RB (L) vs. Orange, July 24
28 pts. -- Sarah Fairbanks,Hunt.Grn. (L) vs. S. Bl., July 24
27 pts. -- Samantha Stipa, Purple (W) vs. H.G., June 26
26 pts. -- Mariah Powell, White (W) vs. Red, July 17
26 pts. -- Courtney Brown, Maroon (W) vs. R. Blue, July 2
26 pts. -- Sarah Fairbanks, Hunt. Grn (l) vs. K.G., July 29
25 pts. -- Meghan Gibson, Gold (W) vs. Navy Blue, July 17
24 pts. -- Jasmine Elum, Gold (W) vs Hunter Green, June 24
24 pts. -- Erin Fenningham, Hunt. Green (W) vs. N.B., July 1
24 pts. -- Alexis Smith, Gold (W) vs. Maroon, July 1
24 pts. -- Brianne Traub, Pink (W) vs. Royal Blue, July 10
24 pts. -- Amanda Fioravanti, Orange (W) vs. R. B., July 23
23 pts. -- Lexi Scrivano, Kelly Green (L) vs. White, June 24
22 pts. -- Mariah Powell, White (W) vs. Kelly Green, June 24
22 pts. -- Alex Smith, Gold (W) vs. Orange, June 26
22 pts. -- Brianne Traub, Pink (L) vs. Sky Blue, July 1
22 pts. -- Chelsea Woods, Navy Bue (L) vs. White, July 24
22 pts. -- Chelsea Wood, Navy Blue (W) vs. R.B., July 29
21 pts. -- Alex Smith, Gold (W) vs. Hunter Green, June 24
21 pts. -- Jasmine Elum, Gold (W) vs. Orange, June 26
21 pts. -- Chelsea Woods,Nav Blu (L-OT),vs.Kelly Grn, July 8
21 pts. -- Amanda Fioravanti, Orange (L) vs. Maroon,July 10
21 pts. -- Natalie Stella, Pink (W) vs. Royal Blue, July 10
21 pts. -- Sarah Fairbanks, Hunt Grn (L) vs. White, July 14
21 pts. -- Ciara Andrews, Royal Blue (L) vs. Gold, July 14
21 pts. -- Kara Bonenberger, Orange (W) vs. R.B., July 24
20 pts. -- Brittany Sicinski, White (W), vs. R.B., June 26
20 pts. -- Lauren Crisler, Gold (W), vs. White, July 10
20 pts. -- Natasha Cloud, Gold (W), vs. Royal Blue, July 14
20 pts. -- Chelsea Woods, Navy Blue (W), vs. Black, July 22
20 pts. -- Lauren Crisler, Gold (L) vs. Pink, July 29
20 pts. -- Najah Jacobs, Black (W) vs. Sky Blue, July 29
20 pts. -- Alex Louin, Kelly Green (W) vs. H.G., July 29

Running Tracker for Playoff Seeds and Tiebreakers
Placements now reflect seeds (in front of team name) if the season ended today, which it doesn't

1-Gold (9-1): H.G. (W), Orange (W), Maroon (W), Purple (W), White (W), R.B. (W), N.B.(W), S.B. (W). K.G. (W), Pink (L), vs. Black, vs. Red

2-White (8-2): K.G.(W), R.B. (W), Purple (W), S.B.(W), Gold (L), H.G.(W), Red (W), Orange (L), N.B. (W). Maroon (W-F), vs. Pink, vs. Black

3-Black (6-4): Pink (L), Red (L), Orange (W), K.G. (W-F), R.B. (W), H.G. (L), Purple (W), N.B.(L), Maroon (W), S.B.(W), vs. Gold, vs. White.

4-Orange (6-4): Gold (L), Black (L), Purple (W-F), Pink (W), Maroon (L), S.B. (W), H.G. (L), White (W), R.B. (W), Red (W), vs. N.B., vs. K.G.

5-Hunter Green (6-5) Gold (L), Purp. (L), N.B. (W), Pink (W), Red (W), vs. Black (W), White (L), Orange (W), Maroon (W), S.B. (L), K.G. (L), Bye, vs. R.B.

6-Maroon (6-5): Red (W), K.G. (W-F), Gold (L), R.B. (W), S.B. (L), Orange (W), N.B. (W), Pink (W), H.G. (L), Black (L), White (L-F), Purple, Bye

7-Pink (5-5): Black (W), N.B. (L), S.B. (W), H.G. (L), Orng (L ), R.B. (W), Red (W-OT), Maroon (L), K.G. (L), Gold (W), White, Purple

8-Sky Blue: (5-5) R.B.(W), Pink (L), White (L), Maroon(W), Purple (W), Orge (L), K.G. (W), Gold (L), H.G.(W), Black (L),, Red, N.B.

9-Purple (5-5): N.B.(W), H.G.(W), White (L), Orange (L-F), Gold (L), S.B. (L), K.G. (W), Black (L), R.B. (W), Red (W), Maroon, Pink

10-Kelly Green (4-6): White (L), Maroon (L-F), Black (L-F), N.B. (W-OT), Red (W), Purple (L), S.B. (L), Pink (W), Gold (L), H.G. (W), R.B., Orange

12-Navy Blue (4-6): Purple (L), Pink (W),H.G.(L), Red (W), K.G. (L-OT), Maroon (L), Gold (L), Black (W), T.B. (W), Otsnge, S.B.

12-Red (2-8) Maroon (L), Black (W), R.B.(W), N.B. (L), H.G. (L), KG (L), Pink (L-OT), Gold (L), Purple (L), Orange (L), S.B., Gold

13-Royal Blue (0-10): S.B. (L), White (L), Red (L), Maroon (L), BLack (L), Pink (L), Gold (L), Purple (L), Orange (L), N.B. (L), K.G., H.G.

Standings (Thru Wednesday, July 30)

Team, W-L, Pct., G.B., Pts., Opp Pts.

x-Gold, 9-1, .900, --, 748 600
x-fw-White, 8-2, .800, 1.0, 654 489
w-Black, 6-4, .600, 3.0, 468 443
Orange, 6-4, .600, 3.0, 564 549
Hunter Green, 6-5, .545, 3.5, 648 706
fw, fl-Maroon, 6-5, .545, 3.5, 541 493
Pink, 5-5, .500, 4.0, 519 482
Sky Blue, 5-5, .500, 4.0, 639 559
fl-Purple, 5-5, .500, 4.5, 519 482
fl(2)-Kelly Green, 4-6,.400, 5.0, 441 505
Navy Blue, 4-6, .400, 5.0, 612 615
Red, 2-8, .200, 7.0, 507 676
Royal Blue, 0-10, .000, 9.0, 574 785

x -- Clinched playoff slot
fw -- includes forfeit win, fl -- includes forfeit loss

Past Results

Tuesday (July 29) Results

Pink 64, Gold 61
White 2, Maroon 0, Forfeit
Black 50, Sky Blue 55
Kelly Green 59, Hunter Green 57
Naby Blue 73, Royal Blue 58
Orange 80, Red 32

Bye: Purple

Thursday (July 24) Results

Gold 61, Kelly Green 48
White 60, Navy Blue 58
Black 52, Maroon 45
Sky Blue 66, Hunter Green 53
Orange 77, Royal Blue 74
Purple 59, Red 30

Bye: Pink

Tuesday (July 22) Results

Purple 72, Royal Blue 51
Orange 67, White (D2-West Chester) 58
Navy Blue 45, Black (D2-Phila. U.) 36
Hunter Green 68, Maroon 57
Gold 74, Sky Blue 63
Kelly Green 43, Pink (D2-USP) 37
Bye: Red

Thursday (July 17) Results

White (D2-West Chester) 102, Eed 62
Black (D2-Phila. U.) 56, Purple 39
Hunter Green 78. Orange 62
Gold 83, Navy Blue 62
Maroon 55, Pink (D2-USP) 36
Sky Blue 70, Kelly Green 55
Bye: Royal Blue

Tueaday (July 14) Results

White (D2-West Chester) 89, Hunter Green 37
Gold 79, Royal Blue 64
Pink (D2-USP) 64, Red 59, ovt.
Purple 62, Kelly Green 59
Orange 73, Sky Blue 72
Maroon 68, Navy Blue 61

Black (D2-Phila. U.), Bye

Thursday (July 10) Results

Maroon 53, Orange 47
Sky Blue 59, Purple 36
Kelly Green 59, Red 45
Gold 69, White(D2-West Chester) 47
Hunter Green 51, Black (D2-Phila. U) 43
Pink (D2-USP) 70, Royal Blue 50

Tuesday (July 8) Results

Black (D2-Phila. U.) 58, Royal Blue 56
Kelly Green 74, Navy Blue 70, ovt.
Orange 50, Pink (D2-USP) 49
Sky Blue 52, Maroon 47
Hunter Green 75, Red 60
Gold 77, Purple 57

Wednesday (July 2) Results

Hunter Green 51, Pink 47
Maroon 98, Royal Blue 48
White (D2-West Chester) 59, Sky Blue 48
Navy Blue 78, Red 52
Black 2, Kelly Green 0, forfeit
Orange 2, Purple 0, forfeit

Tuesday (July 1) Results

Hunter Green 69, Navy Blue 59
White (West Chester) 54, Purple 45
Gold 85, Maroon 68
Black (Phila. U.) 54, Orange 38
Pink (USP) 59, Sky Blue 56
Red 70, Royal Blue 57

Thursday (June 26) Results

Red 55, Black 54
White 84, Royal Blue 59
Gold 79, Orange 68
Purple 80, Hunter Green 50
Navy Blue 62, Pink 46
Maroon 2, Kelly Green 0 (forfeit)
Bye: Sky Blue

Tuesday (June 24) Results

Purple 69, Navy Blue 44
Maroon 48, Red 42
Sky Blue 93, Royal Blue 43
White (West Chester) 99, Kelly Green 44
Pink (USP) 59, Black (Phila. U.) 53
Gold 84, Hunter Green 59
Bye: Orange

Looking Ahead

Basically, with the wild scramble that is ahead, every game Thursday night and Tuesday night to finish the regular season will have some meaning for someone except maybe Red and Royal Blue, who have been eliminated, though Royal Blue is looking to avoid going winless through the 12-game slate.

Gold and White, while the only two to clinch berths, still need wins to gain the top seed because White could pass Gold, and while Gold cannot finish worse than second, White could still be caught from below.

Upcoming Schedule

Thursday, July 31

7 p.m.

Gold (9-1) vs. Black (6-4), Court 1
Kelly Green (4-6) vs. Royal Blue (0-10), Court 2
Maroon (6-5) vs. Purple (5-5), Court 3

8:15 p.m.

Pink (5-5) vs. White (8-2), Court 1
Sky Blue (5-5) vs. Red (2-8), Court 2
Navy Blue (4-6) vs. Orange (6-4), Court 3

Bye: Hunter Green

Tuesday, August 5

7 p.m.

Sky Blue vs. Navy Blue, Court 1
Purple vs. Pink, Court 2
Hunter Green vs. Royal Blue, Court 3

8:15 p.m.

Orange vs. Kelly Green, Court 1
Red vs. Gold, Court 2
Black vs. White, Court 3

Bye: Maroon

Regular Season Ends

Playoff Schedule

Quarterfinals

Thursday, August 7

7 p.m.
8th aeed vs. 1st seed, Court 1
6th seed vs. 3rd seed, Court 2

8:15 p.m.

7th seed vs. 2nd seed, Court 1
5rh seed vs. 4th seed, Court 2

Semifinals

Tuesday, Aug. 12

7 p.m.

Highest surviving seed vs. lowest surviving seed, Court 1

8:15 p.m.

Remaining quarterfinals survivors, Court 1

Championship

Thursday, Aug. 14

Semifinal survivors, Court 1

That's it for this report.

-- Mel


- Posted using BlogPress from the Guru's iPad

Rob Knox's WNBA Report: Tulsa Still Targeting Playoffs While Coping With Tough Setbacks

By Rob Knox (@knoxrob1)

Prior to Sunday’s much-needed 79-69 home victory over the Chicago Sky, Skylar Diggins tweeted to her half-million followers, a simple passage, which perfectly describes her Tulsa Shock squad: “Sometimes the path you're on is not as important as the direction you're heading.”

Tulsa is heading in the right direction thanks to a collection of talented and passionate performers, who are already producing shining moments on a consistent basis.

While Diggins is the WNBA’s second leading scorer at 21.3 points per game and a candidate for the Most Improved Player award, the Shock also feature double-double queens Glory Johnson and Courtney Paris along with rookie guard Odyssey Sims, who is beginning to get comfortable and find her groove. Rookie Jordan Hooper has provided solid minutes this season for the Shock.

Celebrating her 24th birthday on Sunday, Johnson produced her league-leading 14th double-double (15 points, 11 rebounds) against the Sky. Paris notched her 10th double-double of the season against Washington Friday night during a tough 82-77 loss. Together, the pair combines to average 24.3 points and 17.8 rebounds per contest.

Sims has led Tulsa in scoring in two of its last three games. She dropped a career-high 39 points against San Antonio last Tuesday and ended the week with a 24-point performance against Chicago on Sunday. Sims has scored in double figures 19 times this season.

Tulsa (9-17 overall) believes it will catch Los Angeles or San Antonio for a playoff spot in the Western Conference. The win over Chicago was a perfect way to begin a four-game homestand. The math makes it tough, but as long as the Shock is playing then they confidently believe in their chances. They have eight games remaining and trail the Sparks by 2.5 games and the Silver Stars by three games.

Tulsa and Los Angeles play each other for the final time this season on Tuesday, Aug. 5.

“We just have to finish strong and win games,” Sims said last Wednesday following Tulsa’s practice at the Verizon Center in Washington.

“We’re putting more pressure on us to make the playoffs with all of our close losses. We know we know we have to win at least seven or eight of our remaining games. It’s going to take a lot of determination from us and we have to play with heart. I believe if we all give more with a little extra on top, we’ll be O.K.”

The Shock have already overcome a 0-5 start by winning four consecutive games for the first time since the franchise moved to Tulsa from Detroit earlier this season. The Shock are two wins away from tying the highest win total they have had in Tulsa.

No matter how the season ends for the Tulsa, it has been the most the entertaining team to watch this season.

Playing an up-tempo style and featuring a pair of dynamic scorers who are fun to watch when they are on, the Shock certainly have been must-see television this season. Even though Tulsa has lost nine games by five points or less this season, it has never cheated the fans with its effort.

“Losing the many close games has been tough,” Johnson said. “It seems like we start slow, fight hard and fall short. It’s happened a lot to us this year. But with each loss, we’ve learned something from it.”

The close losses have been frustrating, but the Shock has remained upbeat because eventually they know the heartache will begin to bear fruit down the road.

Tulsa has made analytical and probability formulas go crazy with some of their results this year such as losing consecutive home games by identical 78-76 scores in a 48-hour period on last second shots and limiting Washington to one basket in the fourth quarter and still falling short. The Shock are also one of three teams to beat Phoenix this season.

“We know that wins are going to come if we keep working hard and doing the right things,” Johnson said. “Then we’ll be successful. It might take a while, but we’ll keep working hard. Our games are fun to play in and we give everybody a run for their money. It seems like in all of our games, we keep fans on the edge of their seats.

That’s why people like watching us play.”

Johnson, a two-time All-Star, is also a must-see attraction. She is averaging 14.7 points and 9.4 rebounds per game.

With a smile that can illuminate a dark room and a pleasant personality, Johnson is one of the few players in the league, who can dunk. She has good instincts around the basket, is quick and deceptively strong. Like a magnet, loose balls find her. Trailing by 15 points entering the fourth quarter against the Mystics, Johnson scored eight of her 15 points in the final 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, Sims and Diggins have the potential to be one of the league’s most explosive backcourts in the league for years to come. Consider them the modern-day version of “Fire and Ice” or “Shock and Awe.”

They put pressure on defenses with their relentless and fearless ability to get into the lane and produce points quickly. Both players are improving their shot selection and learning to play with another. They have each scored 20 or more points in the same game four times this season.

“I had a talk with coach Fred (Williams),” Sims said. “He told me to dominate the second part of the season and be aggressive. I am comfortable now and it took me a while to adjust to the league.

"I am getting the hang of it now. It’s a mental thing. I like to keep my eyes on the rim when I am attacking. I just have to stay aggressive," Sims said.

"It’s good playing with Skylar especially when we connect and score 30 points apiece, who can stop that? If we can do that every night, we’ll be unstoppable. Then with our post players Glory and Courtney chipping in we’ll be hard to beat.”

Tulsa’s problem has been on defense where it’s in the bottom half of the league in opponents’ field goal percentage, 3-point percentage and forcing turnovers.

The Shock limited Washington to 1-of-13 shooting in the fourth quarter and that effort carried over to Sunday’s win over the Sky. Tulsa allowed fewer than 70 points for the first time since it beat the Los Angeles Sparks, 69-67, on June 13. It held the Sky to 38.9 percent shooting and had eight steals.

Tulsa hosts Seattle on Tuesday, Atlanta on Thursday and Minnesota on Saturday.

MAYA’S MOMENT: Maya Moore’s 48-point performance last Tuesday against the Minnesota Lynx was simply breathtaking in an 112-108 double overtime victory over the Atlanta Dream.

The game was so great that NBA-TV aired it as an “Instant Classic” on Sunday afternoon. Moore came within three points of the Riquna Williams’ WNBA single-game record of 51 points.

That effort earned Moore her league-leading fourth Western Conference Player of the Week honor of the season, her third in as many weeks, and the ninth such honor of her career. For the week, Moore shared the scoring lead in the West with Sims (25.7 ppg), tied for third in the conference in rebounds (8.3 rpg), ranked fourth in three-point shooting percentage (.467, 7-of-15), and placed ninth in assists (4.0 apg).

Now that Minnesota has its entire team back together for the first time in a while, don’t expect any additional point explosions from Moore.

Sunday’s 76-65 road win over Connecticut was just the second game in which defending WNBA champion Minnesota had its entire team available. Rebekkah Brunson missed the first 24 games after knee surgery. Simone Augustus returned Friday after being out eight games with a knee injury. The Lynx also clinched a playoff berth last week.

“There's a lot of people who could've handled it differently and felt sorry for ourselves,” Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said to the Associated Press following the win over the Sun. “Maya has been terrific, as you guys know, in this run. Lindsey Whalen has been really, really good and above her (scoring) average. They're just warriors; just that competitive drive that fuels them every day. It's fun to be around.”

The Lynx (20-6) have quietly won seven straight games.

They have two games remaining against the red-hot Mercury, winners of 15 straight games and owners of the best record in the league at 21-3 overall. The teams play twice over the next 10 days, including Thursday night in the Twin Cities at 8:00 Eastern Time. Minnesota trails Phoenix by two games overall, although the Mercury have played two fewer games.

Minnesota is the fourth WNBA team to put together at least four straight seasons with 20 or more wins and second team to win 100 or more games in four-season span.

With all due respect to the remaining four teams in the West, Thursday’s game is most likely a glimpse at would be a most anticipated Western Conference finals series in league history since the early Los Angeles and former Houston Comets showdowns.

Both teams are playing at an incredibly high level and are healthy, so this game will have lots of eyes on it for a regular season game.

It’s widely believed that Minnesota stands between Phoenix and the WNBA-record winning streak of 18 games held by Los Angeles. Now, with Atlanta having lost four straight games, the prospect that one of these two teams won’t make the finals is disheartening.

MARVELOUS MYSTICS: Washington extended its winning streak to four games by beating Atlanta, 77-67, on Sunday afternoon. It’s the Mystics' longest winning streak since they won six straight to close the 2010 season. They are back at .500 with a 13-13 record and have climbed toward the top of the Eastern Conference standings by averaging 81.8 points in those victories.

Washington, which has won six of seven overall, has also pulled within three games of first-place Atlanta, losing only to Phoenix in that stretch in a competitive setback on the road.

The Mystics have been winning with defense, contributions from everybody on their roster and foul shooting.

Washington, holding teams to a WNBA-low 41.3 percent shooting, has limited its last two opponents to under 40 percent shooting: Tulsa (30-for-84, 35.7 percent) and Atlanta (28-for-75, 37.3 percent).

The Mystics scored a season-high 89 points, including 30 in the fourth quarter to beat Connecticut, 89-75.

Two days later, they beat Tulsa, 82-77 despite making one basket in the fourth quarter.

In that same game, former Duke star Monique Currie was 16-18 from the foul line for all of her points while shooting 0-3 from the field.

A Mystics team spokesman said that was a record in the WNBA. No matter how they got the job done, the Mystics find themselves in second place and entertaining visions of winning the conference crown.

“Everybody's feeding off each other,” said guard Ivory Latta, who was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week. “This is a collective unit that's finally coming together and buying into what we need to do. It's a great feeling right now, but we can't get complacent. It's going to be a dogfight every night in the Eastern Conference. We just have to maintain what we're doing and keep this confidence and keep this swagger.”

For Latta, this Player of the Week award is her first of the season and the fourth of her career. For the week, Latta led the East in assists (5.3 apg), ranked second in scoring (20.3 ppg), and third in both field goal percentage (.564, 22-of-39) and three-point shooting percentage (.500, 12-of-24).

The WNBA All-Star began the week with 23 points, six assists, and three rebounds in an 89-75 win over the Sun. Two days later against the Shock, she tallied 17 points and four assists in an 82-77 win. To close out the week, Latta handed the Dream its fourth straight loss, posting 21 points, six rebounds, and six assists.

PRINCE ADDS ANOTHER GRAND: Epiphanny Prince recorded her 2000th career point and finished with 14 points and five rebounds to lead the Chicago Sky during a 79-69 loss to Tulsa on Sunday.

DELLE DONNE UPDATE: Ursuline Academy and University of Delaware All-American could return to the court later this week, the team said Saturday. Delle Donne has been out while dealing with a recurrence of Lyme Disease symptoms, which have plagued her since her sophomore season at Delaware.

She missed 12 UD games in 2010-11 and six more as a senior in 2012-13 while coping with fatigue-related Lyme issues.

The 2013 WNBA Rookie of the Year, Delle Donne returned to Chicago last week from Delaware, where she'd been undergoing treatment.

She'll have further medical evaluations in Chicago, and the Sky are "hopeful" Delle Donne could play in Thursday night's home game against the New York Liberty, said Sky spokesperson Lauren Niemiera.

Delle Donne has played in nine games this season, averaging a team-best 21.2 points.

The Sky, which had their first winning record last year in franchise history, are 10-15 overall, but have won two of three since the All-Star break. In a congested Eastern Conference, Delle Donne’s return could make a significant difference in the race for a playoff spot.

LIBERTY ALIVE: New York accomplished its goal of a winning West Coast trip. The Liberty beat the Sparks and Storm in overtime before falling to the red-hot Mercury Saturday night. The Liberty hosts red-hot Washington Tuesday in a crucial game before heading out on another three game road trip to Chicago (Thursday), Atlanta (Sunday) and Washington (August 5).

Tina Charles had 31 points and 15 rebounds to lead New York to a 66-64 win against the Sparks on Wednesday night, spoiling the coaching debut of general manager Penny Toler.

Cappie Pondexter added 16 points as the Liberty snapped an eight-game road losing streak, dating to their only other road win in their season opener May 16. Charles doesn’t want July to end as she is averaging 21.6 points and 10.8 rebounds in The month.

BHA WEEK: The WNBA has teamed up with Bright Pink to bring breast health education to fans and encourage all women to live proactively. The league along with its teams and players are proudly supporting the effort to fight breast cancer by raising awareness and funds during WNBA Breast Health Awareness (BHA) Week July 28 to Aug. 3.

During the week, the WNBA will share breast health education with fans and followers through social media and in-game activation.

In partnership with WNBA Cares, sales proceeds of BHA T-shirts sold on WNBAStore.com will benefit Bright Pink, a national non-profit organization whose mission is to save women’s lives from breast and ovarian cancer by empowering them to live proactively at a young age.

This year, ESPN2 and NBA TV will air a combined seven nationally-televised games, bringing attention and cognizance to this important cause.

ESPN2 will feature a doubleheader on July 29 when the Chicago Sky takes on the San Antonio Stars at 8 p.m. ET, followed by the Los Angeles Sparks visiting the Phoenix Mercury at 10 p.m. ET.

NBA TV will televise five BHA games, including an Aug. 3 doubleheader featuring the Washington Mystics and the Sky at 6 p.m. ET, and the Stars and the Seattle Storm squaring off at 9 p.m. ET.

QUICK DUECE DELIVERS: Seattle’s Temeka Johnson recorded the fifth triple-double in WNBA history and first in Seattle franchise history last week in an 84-80 overtime loss to the Liberty. The diminutive and quick 5-3 guard out of LSU delivered 13 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists.

“I didn’t even know, honestly,” Johnson said following the game on the Storm website. Her face, solemn from the loss, cracked into a grin. “I mean, I’m not going to downplay it, it’s a huge accomplishment…but…aren’t I a little small to be doing this??”

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES: One of the best players in WNBA history, San Antonio’s Becky Hammon will retire at the conclusion of the 2014 WNBA season.

A six-time WNBA All-Star, Hammon was named one of the WNBA’s Top 15 Players of All Time in July of 2011. She will end her career as the Stars all-time leader in assists, points per game and three-point field goals made.

Hammon holds career averages of 13.1 points, 3.8 assists and 2.5 rebounds in 28.0 minutes in 440 games. She was named to the All-WNBA First Team twice and the All-WNBA Second Team twice in her 16 seasons. We’ll have more on Hammon later this year in this space.

MERCURY HOME TO START THE PLAYOFFS: Phoenix officially clinched home court advantage in the first round of the 2014 WNBA Playoffs presented by Boost Mobile following its 78-63 home win over New York that extended the Mercury’s franchise-record win streak to 15 games, matching the second-longest win streak in WNBA history.

Phoenix will host Game 1 of Round 1 on Thursday, August 21 or Friday, August 22 at US Airways Center. The playoff schedule will be released at a later date.

Phoenix is a franchise-best 11-1 at home.

The Mercury have won 10 consecutive home games by win by double figures, giving them a share of the longest such streak in WNBA history (2000 Houston Comets).

More amazingness, the Mercury have shot over 50 percent from the field in six straight games (51.7), a WNBA record. During the streak, Phoenix has shot 206-of-385 for a percentage of 53.5 percent.

Saturday marked the eighth consecutive game in which the Mercury have not trailed in the fourth quarter. Phoenix hosts Los Angeles Tuesday night before visiting Minnesota Thursday in a highly-anticipated matchup.










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WNBA Report: Skylar Soaring in Second Year As a Pro

By ROB KNOX (@knoxrob1)

WASHINGTON – Superstar Skylar Diggins wasn’t pleased.

For one of the few times in her basketball life, the 5 foot, 9 inch Tulsa Shock guard faced adversity.

There was no furrowed brow or squint in her eyes as she reflected on her tough rookie season during an extensive discussion following Tulsa’s practice Wednesday night at the Verizon Center. Instead, Diggins’ peaceful facial façade told a different story.

Confidently speaking in a matter-of-fact tone, Diggins’ difficulties were a humorous memory.

“Last year, I’d be the first to tell you that I wasn’t happy with the product I put on the floor,” Diggins said. “I think that I am the hardest on myself. Nobody can place any greater expectations on me than I already have on myself.”

Diggins kept the most important off-season appointments a secret from her half-million Twitter followers.

A client of Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Sports management division, Diggins’ busy offseason schedule gave her detractors plenty of ammunition to question her commitment to improving as a player.

Diggins ignored the excessive noise and silenced her bleacher critics by working harder than ever while simultaneously building her brand.

“People are going to say what they want to say,” Diggins said. “I think the great thing about me is I have a strong inner circle that keeps me grounded and focused.

"Everybody has an opinion and now some of the things I saw from those same people, they’re saying the exact opposite. It’s funny how people flip-flop.”

Diggins appeared in Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue and in Vogue magazine.

She consistently traveled across the country, making red-carpet appearances, signing autographs and conducting clinics.

Even with her demanding schedule, the humble Diggins wasn’t blinded by her celebrity status, which kept her grounded.

“If you followed my social media, you probably would’ve thought otherwise because I didn’t really post a lot of when I was in the gym playing basketball,” Diggins said. “A lot of people were asking how I have the time to do everything that I do. They were even asking, ‘do you play basketball?’

"It was the opposite. Very quietly I was putting in my work. I wanted to get back to that. I fell in love with the game again.”

The solitude along with the soothing sounds of sneaker squeaking traffic was the perfect tonic for Diggins to regain her swag.

“I had the blinders on during the offseason,” Diggins said. “I was always in the gym whether I was in L.A., New York or Indiana. I always found a gym. I really tried to be adamant about the work I put in and I moved with a purpose.

"I was doing a lot of traveling and other things off the court to build my brand, but I scheduled everything around my workouts. I was focused on my basketball grind. I put in a lot of work in to make sure I got better and I accomplished that mission.”

The hard work has yielded terrific results for Diggins, who is demolishing opponents.

The Notre Dame All-American, who shined with 27 points last week in her first career All-Star game, is second in the league in scoring (21.4 points per game) and fourth in assists (5.3).

A mentally stronger and more assertive Diggins has scored 20 or more points 17 times this season.

A human firecracker and highlight waiting to happen, Diggins scored a career high 34 points against San Antonio in a 95-93 loss earlier this week. She also scored 33 points earlier this year against Chicago.

She has reached double figures in 24 of Tulsa’s 25 games after scoring a team-high19 points Friday night during an 82-77 setback to the Washington Mystics.

For those who didn’t think basketball mattered to Diggins, they should’ve witnessed her reddened and moist eyes while she discussed another tough defeat to a gaggle of media members in a postgame interview in the Shock’s silent locker room following the Mystics game Friday night.

Diggins is in the process of detonating the Shock single-season record book.

She is close to breaking a few of Deanna Nolan’s team records when the franchise existed in the glory days of Detroit. She has scored 535 points this season. Diggins is 25 points and 18 assists away from becoming the Shock’s single-season leader in those categories.

“(The critics) must have thought I was broken last year,” Diggins said. “I don’t think I was broken, I just thought I had a rookie season. I knew this year would be better. I am happy with where I am individually this year. I still have a lot of growing to do as well as my team.”

Diggins is the unquestioned leader of a talented Tulsa team.

In addition to Diggins, third-year center and two-time All-Star Glory Johnson along with rookie guard Odyssey Sims, who dropped a career-high 39 points Tuesday night in San Antonio, are great building blocks for first-year head coach Fred Williams.
Courtney Paris also has 10 double-doubles this season.

Despite losing 10 of their 12 last games, the Shock (8-17 overall) still believes they will earn a playoff spot in the Western Conference. Tulsa starts a critical four-game home stand Sunday against Chicago at 3:30 p.m. The Shock trail the Los Angeles Sparks by 2.5 games for the No. 4 seed.

Another example of Diggins’ leadership occurred during practice.

While sitting on the floor, Diggins consistently encouraged guard Angel Goodrich, who was going through a difficult drill in which she was sprinting from sideline-to-sideline, hitting large red bags resembling tackling dummies and stopping to pull-up in the lane to hit a 13-foot jumpers.

Goodrich, a 5-4 guard out of Kansas, averages 6.7 minutes and 0.9 points per game for the Shock. It didn’t matter to Diggins, who clapped and cheered loudly, each time she made a basket.

“I am fortunate to be part of a young team that’s growing and with a coaching staff that’s passionate and positive,” Diggins said. “They’re just a blessing to be around. My goal is to get better and do my part on this Tulsa Shock team. I want to be a better individual and teammate.”

Diggins’ impact goes beyond the basketball court.

Recently, Diggins was featured in a New York Times article in which she gave beauty tips and in O magazine discussing calf-exercises one can do while in the shower.

Diggins is a model for a new line of Nike sports bras.

She also had role on the hit MTV series “Wild ‘N Out” opposite Nick Cannon. Of course, Diggins recently made a memorable ESPY’s appearance in which she kissed Drake on the forehead.

“The ESPYs is the biggest sports stage so I thought it was great to represent my brand, my family, the Tulsa Shock and WNBA,” Diggins said. “To be able to do that and be on stage was fun. I thought it was a great moment and everybody got a laugh out of it. That entire week was great for me and a blessing. I got to participate in my first all-star weekend as a player. It was amazing and I had a great time doing that.”

Diggins is major attraction in opposing arenas.

During Friday’s game against the Mystics, many little girls paraded around sporting Diggins’ black No. 4 jersey and her trademark headbands.

She has the second-highest selling jersey in the league behind Atlanta rookie Shoni Schimmel.

With a major AAU tournament in town at Convention Center, Diggins made it a priority to make an appearance at the showcase especially since she sponsors the Sky Digg Elite team.

“For me it’s important, that I am always myself,” Diggins said. “With that, I carry around my family. I am very passionate and dedicated to the things that are in my life such as basketball, my family and children. I want to be remembered as someone who always did good, had great character, cared about her family and somebody who stuck to her values.

"I have so many things that I want to do. I just want to make the world a better place.”

When asked to elaborate on her future plans, Diggins smiled and guarded her thoughts the way she locks down defenders.

“I can’t share all my plans,” a grinning Diggins said. “I am full of surprises, but there are great things ahead. I am excited for the future. I am with Roc Nation, the best management company in the world. They’re great at what they do and they keep opportunities coming my way. As long as I do my part and produce, they will do their job. We’re just getting started.”

Just like her journey to greatness is beginning.





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WNBA Report: Vaughn Rescues Washington To Turn Back Tulsa

By Rob Knox @knoxrob1

WASHINGTON – Snoozing through a tough fourth quarter, the Washington Mystics needed somebody to make a play down the stretch to prevent an epic collapse against the Tulsa Shock Friday night at the Verizon Center.

Enter Kia Vaughn, a Rutgers product in her second year with the Mystics.

Vaughn came through with a pair of plays that steadied a wobbly Mystic team, created a seismic momentum shift and helped them hold off the Shock, 82-77 in a thriller.

Extending its winning streak to three games wasn’t easy as Washington played a furiously fought, but frightfully-flawed fourth quarter.

However, thanks to Vaughn’s timely efforts, the Mystics lived to tell and smile about it.

It was a game with bizarre stats for the winning team -- like former Duke star Monique Currie going 16-18 from the foul line for all of her points while shooting 0-3 from the field.

A team spokesman said that was a record in the WNBA.

Then there's the fact that in the fourth quarter Washington was 1-for-13 from the field -- the one being Kara Lawson's basket from the corner with 45.9 seconds left to play -- and still won.

But in the end, all that matters is that the Mystics improved to 12-13 overall and climbed into second place in the Eastern Conference standings ahead of idle Indiana. Tulsa dropped to 8-17 overall after suffering its ninth loss by five points or less this season.

With the Mystics clinging to a 70-69 lead with less than two minutes remaining, Vaughn made two foul shots, blocked a Glory Johnson shot attempt that led to a pair of Bria Hartley free throws and recorded an assist on Kara Lawson’s baseline jumper, which ended a string of 13 straight Washington missed shots to start the fourth quarter.

When asked about the blocked shot, Vaughn admitted to having some extra aderaline at that point of the game.

“It was natural instinct,” Vaughn said of her huge blocked shot. “I had some juice underneath me when I was elbowed in the face earlier. Right now I don’t think we’ve reached our peak as a team where everybody can be great.

"Tonight was a test of our character and he we’re built as a team. We were able to stay focused, stick together as a team and make some plays when it mattered.”

Ivory Latta led Washington with 17 points while Currie had nine rebounds to go with her 16 points from the charity stripe. Hartley finished with 11 points.

Washington ultimately made 12 of 15 free throws in the final quarter to post consecutive home victories for the first time this season.

The hard-luck Shock trailed 68-53 entering the fourth quarter before Johnson and Skylar Diggins fueled a big rally.

Diggins scored a game-high 19 points and handed out five assists.

Johnson scored eight of her 15 points in the final frame.

Courtney Paris scored 10 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for her 10th double-double. Odyssey Sims had 14 points and seven rebounds.

The Shock attempted 20 more shots than the Mystics (84-64) and won the rebounding battle, 43-41, but still ended up on the short end of the scoreboard. Washington was 26-of-32 from the foul line while Tulsa attempted 16 foul shots. Currie attempted 18 free throws.

“We fought hard,” Johnson said. “We worked hard on offense, but didn’t make the shots we normally make. We wanted to finish strong especially on defense, which is what we did as a team tonight and didn’t give up. I saw Kia when I went up for the shot. I thought I was going to get a finger roll or an and-one there.”

In building a 49-37 halftime lead, the Mystics shot 48.7 percent (18-for-37) from the field. Latta was 4-of-7 shooting in scoring 11 first half points while Emma Meesseman made all four of her first half shot attempts for eight points. Lawson also came off the bench to make three of her four shots for seven points.

Defensively, the Mystics did a good job on Sims and Diggins forcing the duo into a combined 9-of-20 shooting effort for 19 points. Neither player made a 3-pointer in the first half.

“We played better defense in the fourth quarter and gave ourselves a chance to win the game,” Diggins said. “We kept fouling, which helped them put points on the board.”

Both teams return to action Sunday afternoon. Washington closes out its three-game homestand against East leading Atlanta at 4:00 p.m. Tulsa begins a stretch of four consecutive home games against Chicago at 3:30 p.m.


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WNBA Report: Bentley Looks to Guide Connecticut Back to the Playoffs

By Rob Knox @knoxrob1

WASHINGTON – Alex Bentley is looking forward to the challenge of helping the Connecticut Sun earn a playoff spot.

Even though the Sun are in a temporary rut – a rough stretch in which they lost nine of their last 11 games -- the energetic 5 foot, 7 inch guard is not worried because she believes Connecticut (10-15) will be part of the WNBA’s postseason party when the season concludes on August 17.

Coach Anne Donovan's squad finds itself in fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings, a half-game behind New York, winners of two straight, as it takes the court Sunday afternoon against former UConn queen Maya Moore and the reigning WNBA champion Minnesota Lynx (18-6) at the Mohegan Sun Arena beginning at 3:00 p.m.

“The Eastern Conference is a dogfight,” Bentley said. “The end of the season is approaching quickly and we’re getting into playoff mode. It’s going to be a battle every night. I am looking forward to it. I love challenges and the competiveness of the league. We’re going to have some fun.”

The Penn State product has always had a blast overcoming obstacles and turning doubters into believers.

There were occasions she was told that she was too short to be an impact player at a major Division I school despite enjoying a phenomenal high school career.

Not only did she become one of the best players in Penn State history, Bentley was drafted in 13th overall by the Atlanta Dream.

With a chip the size of the state of Georgia on her shoulders last season, Bentley played a key role in helping the Dream advance to the WNBA Finals by averaging 8.3 points per game.

A fierce floor-general, Bentley was named to the WNBA All-Rookie team and set a league record by making 10 consecutive 3-pointers during a sizzling two-week stretch.

Just as she was becoming comfortable in Atlanta, she was traded to Connecticut, which became another opportunity to thrive in a new situation.

“At first, I was surprised,” Bentley said. “I learned about the trade when I was overseas playing in Brazil from my agent. When I came back home, I got my mind right for training camp and focused on trying to help my team win. I love the organization here in Connecticut. My teammates and coaching staff are great. I am in a good position.”

Bentley has produced solid numbers for the Sun this season.

Averaging 12.0 points per game, which is third on the team behind rookie Chiney Ogwumike and Katie Douglas, Bentley has scored 20 or more points five times this season.

She has reached double figures in scoring in 14 of the Sun’s last 18 games after her 15-point outing Wednesday afternoon in an 89-75 loss to the Mystics at the Verizon Center.

She also leads the Sun with 93 assists after delivering a season-high tying nine helpers against the Mystics.

Earlier this season, Bentley became the fourth player in franchise history to string together three consecutive 20-point games and she registered three straight career-highs in the process: 21 points against Indiana (June 7), 22 against Phoenix (June 12) and 24 against New York (June 13).

Those efforts all occurred during the Sun’s season-high six-game win streak. She was also named Eastern Conference Player of the Week in June.

Bentley’s passionate and fearless play on the floor has made a nice impression on her teammates. The best part about Bentley is she has inspired confidence in everybody. Bentley has a knack for finding ways to score late in the shot-clock.

“She’s a very confident player, which is good for our team,” veteran guard Renee Montgomery said. “We have a good shot to make playoffs. At this point, we don’t have to hope and wish somebody wins or loses because we control what happens.

"We understand that every game matters for us especially since we’re playing against East teams. We have a chance to move up and stay up in the standings as long as we handle business.”

One of the wins during the streak was a 96-95 triumph over Phoenix. The Mercury have won 14 straight contests since that setback to improve their record to 20-3 overall.

A win over Phoenix proves to the Sun that they have the ingredients to do some special things over their final nine games despite a difficult slate that features a three-game road trip next week.

“There are nine games left with everybody trying to get into the playoffs,” Bentley said. “We’ll keep working and fighting until the season is finished and see where we are. When we play hard as a team, we’re hard to stop. We just have to continue to work hard in practice and try to get these wins.”

One of the highlight's of Bentley’s recent trip to Washington was meeting up with the Penn State coaching staff and former teammate for dinner on Tuesday night. Bentley keeps up with the progress of the Nittany Lions and remains in consistent communication with head coach Coquese Washington.

During whatever tough times Bentley has encountered as a professional, Washington has always been there to provide encouragement and support.

“I talk to coach almost everyday,” Bentley said. “She’s always going to be a mentor to me. She’s like a mom to me. That’s my homie. I saw the entire coaching staff and one of my teammates Mia Nickson, so that was nice. I don’t get up there much. I plan to go visit before I go overseas.”

Bentley has confidence that the trip back to Happy Valley will be delayed a few weeks as she finishes some important business.










- Posted using BlogPress from the Guru's iPad

Philly Summer League: Leaders Short-Circuit Upset Bids as Gold Clinches First 2014 Playoff Berth

By Mel Greenberg

HATBORO, Pa. -- Teams White, Orange, and Black nearly squandered all of big leads each held before escaping with victories while Gold clinched the first of eight playoff slots Thursday night in the Philadelphia/Suburban Women's NCAA Summer Basketball League at Kelly Bolish Gym, home of the AAU Renengades in lower Bucks County.

Three nights remain on the regular season schedule -- two next week and then on Tuesday, August 5 -- before the quarterfinals begin two nights later.

Overall, there was one very slight ripple in the standings on Thursday night.

However, winless Royal Blue (0-9) became the first team eliminated, but not before erasing all but one of a 21-point deficit down the stretch to Orange, which held on for a 77-74 victory.

There are a technical clear eight in the current standings but only because Purple (5-5) snapped an eight-place tie with a 59-30 win over Red (2-7), while Pink (4-5), also known as the Division II University of the Sciences of Philadelphia contingent, was idle.

That was the slight ripple previously mentioned.

Meanwhile, the Guru spoke too soon to longtime Commissioner David B. Kessler earlier in the evening.

The Guru noted that his individual nightly performance standard of 20 or more points was becoming a rarity.

Then no less than six players achieved the distinction with four of them -- two on each side -- collecting big totals in the Orange/Royal Blue matchup.

Ciara Andrews, a Saint Joseph's junior out of Cheltenham, turned in the season's third best nightly performance with 29 points and was 5-for-5 from the line for Royul Blue while Sarah Fairbanks on Hunter Green, who holds the best performance with 35 points in a win laat week over Orange, now also owns the fourth best performance eih 28 points in Hunter Green's 66-53 loss to Sky Blue.

Continuing a trend, Saint Joseph's were all over the scoring leaderships in the six games played.

Saint Joseph's Summer Stars Reunion in Maryland

The Guru recently reported the Loyola, Md., announcement that former Hawks and summer league star Katie Kuester, who spent last season as the video coordinator for North Carolina, has been hired as an assistant coach by Joe Logan, who is a former assistant on Hawk Hill to Cindy Griffin.

The Guru happened to meet Kuester Wednesday in the nation's capital at the Washington Convention Center where many collegiate coaches have descended to scout talent in AAU Competition at the U.S. junior national tournament.

Kuester noted how much she misses the summer action, said she follows the league by computer, and sent her wishes to everyone.

Earlier in the day when the Guru was over at the WNBA contest beteen the host Mystics and Connecticut Sun, the Guru ran into Hall of Fame North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell, who said of Kuester: "I'm going to miss her. I din't want to lose her but she's going to do well."

Meanwhile, though Logan hasn't formally made the announcement, he told the Guru he is bringing aboard Erin Shields, another former Hawks and summer league star, as director of basketball operations.

He also hired former Villanova star Sarah Jones.

"Our office is going to be something when Saint Joseph's and Villanova meet, we might have to go up to Philly to watch that one," Logan quipped.

Sewing the Seeds

As mentioned, not much changed Thursday night, but there will be clinchings and more eliminations probably when the action of the three doubleheaders take place Tuesday night.

Gold, with a two-game lead, is a clear No. 1 seed and either a win over Pink Tuesday night or a White loss to Maroon will give Gold the top seed in the playoffs.

White (7-2), also known as the Division II West Chester squad, is clearly second, while Hunter Green (6-4) and Maroon (6-4), which both lost Tuesday, are tied for third and Hunter Green gets the higher seed off a recent win over Maroon.

Black (5-4), Orange (5-4), and Sky Blue (5-4) all won but did not play any game amongst them self so Black at 1-0 in the group stays fifth, Orange at 1-1 for sixth, and Sky Blue (0-1) is seventh.

Purple (5-5) is eighth with the 59-30 win over 12th place Red (2-7), which is all alone in the slot.

Pink (4-5) is ninth, and since both Kelly Green (3-6) and Navy Blue (3-6) both lost, Kelly Green stays 10th off its head-to-head win over Navy Blue in overtime.

Thursday's Recaps

Orange 77, Royal Blue 74 -- Most of the fireworks from this near-upset by Royal Blue have been addressed.

In addition to the 24 points from incoming Saint Joseph's sophomore Amanda Fioravanti for Orange, Penn senior Kara Bonenberger of Northampton High had 21 points, while sister Quakers aenior Kathleen Roche of the defending Ivy champions, scored 15 points and was 5-for-5 from the line in a game that had some pretty good foul shooting accuracy.

On Royal Blue, adding to the 28 from Ciara Andrws, including 6-for-6 from the lone, incoming Saint Joaeph' freshman Adashia Franklyn od Rustin High in West Chester had a summer high 20 points and shot 5-for-5 from the line.

Black 52, Maroon 45 -- Division II Phiadelphia University stayed in the middle of the pack with an upset of Maroon (6-4), as senior Ram Monica Shacker out of Germantown Academy got Black (5-4) above .500 with 17 points.

Black had 17-point lead cut to six by Maroon.

Maroon (6-4) got nine points from Division II East Stroudsburg sophomore Rachel Falkowski out of Central Bucka South, and seven from East Stroudsburg sophomore Courtney Brown of Council Rock South.

White 60, Navy Blue 58 -- The Division II West Chester bunch saw a 17-point lead whittled to just two over Navy Blue (3-6) but stayed in second as sophomore Emily Torrance of Henderson High scored 15 points for White (7-2) while sophomore Victoria Smick of Woodstown High scored 10 points.

Saint Joseph's incoming freshman Chelsea Woods as mentioned had another great individual night, scoring 20 points for Navy Blue, and Devin Gold, a Caldwell College senior out of Council Rock North scored nine points.

Gold 61, Kelly Green 48 -- Senior Pallavi Juneja of Division III Haverford College out of the Peddie School scored 15 points for unbeaten Gold (9-0), which clinched a playoff spot and hss a magic number one one to finish the regular season in first place.

Ashley Wood, a recent Division II Kutztown graduate out of Spring-Ford, whose father Keith is the Gold coach, scored 13 points, while Saint Joseph's senior Natasha Cloud out of Cardina O'Hara had 12 points and was 4-for-4 from the line.

Kelly Green (3-6), in a precarious situation, got 17 points from Villanova sophomore Megan Quinn of Episcopal, while Lexi Scrivano, a Division II Millersville junior out of Central Bucks East, scored 10 points.

Sky Blue 66, Hunter Green 53 -- Avery Marz, an incoming Saint Joseph's freshman scored 16 points and Hawks sophomore Jessica Pongonis added 13 for Sky Blue (5-4), which stopped Hunter Green (6-4) from taking sole possession of third place.

Hunter Green (6-4) got the 28 points from Saint Joseph's sophomore Sarah Farbanks, as mentioned, while Erin Martin of Indiana U. of Pa. as a junior out of Plymouth Whitemarsh, scored 10 points.

Purple 59, Red 30 -- Lia DiScaascio, a Scranton senior out of Cardnal O'Hara, scored 15 points for Purple, which also got nine points each from Sarah Payonk, a Scranton sophomore out of Spring-Ford, and Samantha Stipa, an incoming Lafayette freshman out of Spring-Ford for Purple (5-5).

Red (2-7) continued to fade but got six points each from Tuga Goff, a Rosemont sophomore out of Upper Dublin, and Josephine Noonan, an incomingx an incoming Salisbury freshman.

Individual Scoring Performances
(20 or more points)

35 pts. -- Sarah Fairbanks, Hunt. Grn(W) vs. Orange, July 17
31 pts. -- Jasmine Elum, Gold (W) vs. Maroon, July 1
29 pts. -- Ciara Andrews, RB (L) vs. Orange, July 24
28 pts. -- Sarah Fairbanks,Hunt.Grn. (L) vs. S. Bl., July 24
27 pts. -- Samantha Stipa, Purple (W) vs. H.G., June 26
26 pts. -- Mariah Powell, White (W) vs. Red, July 17
26 pts. -- Courtney Brown, Maroon (W) vs. R. Blue, July 2
25 pts. -- Meghan Gibson, Gold (W) vs. Navy Blue, July 17
24 pts. -- Jasmine Elum, Gold (W) vs Hunter Green, June 24
24 pts. -- Erin Fenningham, Hunt. Green (W) vs. N.B., July 1
24 pts. -- Alexis Smith, Gold (W) vs. Maroon, July 1
24 pts. -- Brianne Traub, Pink (W) vs. Royal Blue, July 10
24 pts. -- Amanda Fioravanti, Orange (W) vs. R. B., July 23
23 pts. -- Lexi Scrivano, Kelly Green (L) vs. White, June 24
22 pts. -- Mariah Powell, White (W) vs. Kelly Green, June 24
22 pts. -- Alex Smith, Gold (W) vs. Orange, June 26
22 pts. -- Brianne Traub, Pink (L) vs. Sky Blue, July 1
22 pts. -- Chelsea Woods, Navy Bue (L) vs. White, July 24
21 pts. -- Alex Smith, Gold (W) vs. Hunter Green, June 24
21 pts. -- Jasmine Elum, Gold (W) vs. Orange, June 26
21 pts. -- Chelsea Woods,Nav Blu (L-OT),vs.Kelly Grn, July 8
21 pts. -- Amanda Fioravanti, Orange (L) vs. Maroon,July 10
21 pts. -- Natalie Stella, Pink (W) vs. Royal Blue, July 10
21 pts. -- Sarah Fairbanks, Hunt Grn (L) vs. White, July 14
21 pts. -- Ciara Andrews, Royal Blue (L) vs. Gold, July 14
21 pts. -- Kara Bonenberger, Orange (W) vs. Toyal Blue, July 24
20 pts. -- Brittany Sicinski, White (W), vs. R.B., June 26
20 pts. -- Lauren Crisler, Gold (W), vs. White, July 10
20 pts. -- Natasha Cloud, Gold (W), vs. Royal Blue, July 14
20 pts. -- Chelsea Woods, Navy Blue (W), vs. Black, July 22

Running Tracker for Playoff Seeds and Tiebreakers
Placements now reflect seeds (in front of team name) if the season ended today, which it doesn't

1-Gold (9-0): H.G. (W), Orange (W), Maroon (W), Purple (W), White (W), R.B. (W), N.B.(W), S.B. (W). K.G. (W)

2-White (7-2): K.G.(W), R.B. (W), Purple (W), S.B.(W), Gold (L), H.G.(W), Red (W), Orange (L), N.B. (W)

3-Hunter Green (6-4) Gold (L), Purp. (L), N.B. (W), Pink (W), Red (W), vs. Black (W), White (L), Orange (W), Maroon (W), S.B. (L)

4-Maroon (6-4): Red (W), K.G. (W-F), Gold (L), R.B. (W), S.B. (L), Orange (W), N.B. (W), Pink (W), H.G. (L), Black (L)

5-Black (5-4): Pink (L), Red (L), Orange (W), K.G. (W-F), R.B. (W), H.G. (L), Purple (W), N.B.(L), Maroon (W),

6-Orange (5-4): Gold (L), Black (L), Purple (W-F), Pink (W), Maroon (L), S.B. (W), H.G. (L), White (W), R.B. (W)

7-Sky Blue: (5-4) R.B.(W), Pink (L), White (L), Maroon(W), Purple (W), Orange (L), K.G. (W), Gold (L), H.G. (W)

8-Purple (5-5): N.B.(W), H.G.(W),White (L), Orange (L-F), Gold (L), S.B. (L), K.G. (W), Black (L), R.B. (W), Red (W)

9-Pink (4-5): Black (W), N.B. (L), S.B. (W), H.G. (L), Orng (L ), R.B. (W), Red (W-OT), Maroon (L), K.G. (L)

10-Kelly Green (3-6): White (L), Maroon (L-F), Black (L-F), N.B. (W-OT), Red (W), Purple (L), S.B. (L), Pink (W), Gold (L)

11-Navy Blue (3-6): Purple (L), Pink (W),H.G.(L), Red (W), K.G. (L-OT), Maroon (L), Gold (L), Black (W)

12-Red (2-7) Maroon (L), Black (W), R.B.(W), N.B. (L), H.G. (L), KG (L), Pink (L-OT), Gold (L, Purple (L)

13-Royal Blue (0-9): S.B. (L), White (L), Red (L), Maroon (L), BLack (L), Pink (L), Gold (L), Purple (L), Orange (L)

Standings (Thru Monday, July 28)

Team, W-L, Pct., G.B., Pts., Opp Pts.

x-Gold, 9-0, 1.000, --, 691 537
White, 7-2, .750, 2.0, 653 479
Hunter Green, 6-4, .600, 3.5, 611 617
fw-Maroon, 6-4, .600, 3.5, 541 411
w-Black, 5-4, .556, 4.0, 408 388
Orange, 5-4, .556, 4.0, 484 517
Sky Blue, 5-4, .556, 4.0, 579 499
fl-Purple, 5-5, .500, 4.5, 519 482
Pink, 4-5, .444, 5.0, 467 479
fl(2)-Kelly Green, 3-6,.333, 6.0, 382 458
Navy Blue, 3-6, .333, 6.0, 502 701
Red, 2-7, .222, 7.0, 474 596
Royal Blue, 0-9, .000, 9.0, 428 624

x -- Clinched playoff slot
fw -- includes forfeit win, fl -- includes forfeit loss

Past Results

Thursday (July 24) Results

Gold 61, Kelly Green 48
White 60, Navy Blue 58
Black 52, Maroon 45
Sky Blue 66, Hunter Green 53
Orange 77, Royal Blue 74
Purple 59, Red 30

Bye: Pink

Tuesday (July 22) Results

Purple 72, Royal Blue 51
Orange 67, White (D2-West Chester) 58
Navy Blue 45, Black (D2-Phila. U.) 36
Hunter Green 68, Maroon 57
Gold 74, Sky Blue 63
Kelly Green 43, Pink (D2-USP) 37
Bye: Red

Thursday (July 17) Results

White (D2-West Chester) 102, Eed 62
Black (D2-Phila. U.) 56, Purple 39
Hunter Green 78. Orange 62
Gold 83, Navy Blue 62
Maroon 55, Pink (D2-USP) 36
Sky Blue 70, Kelly Green 55
Bye: Royal Blue

Tueaday (July 14) Results

White (D2-West Chester) 89, Hunter Green 37
Gold 79, Royal Blue 64
Pink (D2-USP) 64, Red 59, ovt.
Purple 62, Kelly Green 59
Orange 73, Sky Blue 72
Maroon 68, Navy Blue 61

Black (D2-Phila. U.), Bye

Thursday (July 10) Results

Maroon 53, Orange 47
Sky Blue 59, Purple 36
Kelly Green 59, Red 45
Gold 69, White(D2-West Chester) 47
Hunter Green 51, Black (D2-Phila. U) 43
Pink (D2-USP) 70, Royal Blue 50

Tuesday (July 8) Results

Black (D2-Phila. U.) 58, Royal Blue 56
Kelly Green 74, Navy Blue 70, ovt.
Orange 50, Pink (D2-USP) 49
Sky Blue 52, Maroon 47
Hunter Green 75, Red 60
Gold 77, Purple 57

Wednesday (July 2) Results

Hunter Green 51, Pink 47
Maroon 98, Royal Blue 48
White (D2-West Chester) 59, Sky Blue 48
Navy Blue 78, Red 52
Black 2, Kelly Green 0, forfeit
Orange 2, Purple 0, forfeit

Tuesday (July 1) Results

Hunter Green 69, Navy Blue 59
White (West Chester) 54, Purple 45
Gold 85, Maroon 68
Black (Phila. U.) 54, Orange 38
Pink (USP) 59, Sky Blue 56
Red 70, Royal Blue 57

Thursday (June 26) Results

Red 55, Black 54
White 84, Royal Blue 59
Gold 79, Orange 68
Purple 80, Hunter Green 50
Navy Blue 62, Pink 46
Maroon 2, Kelly Green 0 (forfeit)
Bye: Sky Blue

Tuesday (June 24) Results

Purple 69, Navy Blue 44
Maroon 48, Red 42
Sky Blue 93, Royal Blue 43
White (West Chester) 99, Kelly Green 44
Pink (USP) 59, Black (Phila. U.) 53
Gold 84, Hunter Green 59
Bye: Orange

Looking Ahead

Purple gets a break with the bye and could move to a game in front of Pink since the USP group will be playing Gold at 8:15 p.m. on Court 3.

Two of the teams in the three-way tie for fifth, Black (5-4) and Sky Blue (5-4) meet at 8:15 p.m. on Court 2.

Orange (5-4), the third team in that mix, eill meet Red (2-7) at 7 p.m. on Court 1.

Kelly Green (3-6) will be an underdog facing Hunter Green (6-4) at 7 p.m. on Court 3.

At the same time Maroon (6-4) will be playing White (7-2) on Court 2.

Upcoming Schedule

Tuesday, July 29

7 p.m.

Red (2-7) vs. Orange (5-4), Court 1
White (7-2)vs. Maroon (6-4), Court 2
Hunter Green (6-4) vs. Kelly Green (3-6), Court 3

8:15 p.m.

Royal Blue (0-9)vs. Navy Blue (3-6), Court 1
Black (5-4) vs. Sky Blue (5-4), Court Court 2
Gold (0-0) vs. Pink (4-5), Court 3

Bye: Purple

Thursday, July 31

7 p.m.

Gold vs. Black, Court 1
Kelly Green vs. Royal Blue, Court 2
Maroon vs. Purple, Court 3

8:15 p.m.

Pink vs. White, Court 1
Sky Blue vs. Red, Court 2
Navy Blue vs. Orange, Court 3

Bye: Hunter Green

Tueaday, August 5

7 p.m.

Sky Blue vs. Navy Blue, Court 1
Purple vs. Pink, Court 2
Hunter Green vs. Royal Blue, Court 3

8:15 p.m.

Orange vs. Kelly Green, Court 1
Red va. Gold, Court 2
Black vs. White, Court 3

Bye: Maroon

Regular Season Ends

Playoff Schedule

Quarterfinals

Thursday, August 7

7 p.m.
8th aeed vs. 1st seed, Court 1
6th seed vs. 3rd seed, Court 2

8:15 p.m.

7th seed vs. 2nd seed, Court 1
5rh seed vs. 4th seed, Court 2

Semifinals

Tuesday, Aug. 12

7 p.m.

Highest surviving seed vs. lowest surviving seed, Court 1

8:15 p.m.

Remaining quarterfinals survivors, Court 1

Championship

Thursday, Aug. 14

Semifinal survivors, Court 1

That's it for this report.

-- Mel


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WNBA REPORT: Latta Powers Washington Past Connecticut

By Rob Knox @knoxrob1

WASHINGTON – Ivory Latta punctuated her monster fourth quarter scoring spree by draining a 3-pointer with under a minute remaining and while running back down the floor on defense, pointing at Wizard guard John Wall, who was sitting courtside.

Like a bottle of carbonated diet soda mixed with Mentos candy, Latta erupted in the fourth quarter, scoring 12 of her game-high 23 points to fuel the Washington Mystics to an 89-75 victory over the Connecticut Sun Wednesday afternoon at the Verizon Center.

In scoring 20 or more points for the second time this season, Latta was unstoppable and entertaining during the Mystics’ 30-point fourth quarter surge.

“We had to do the little things down the stretch to get the win,” Latta said. “We had to stop them from getting second chance points and when we did, we kind of controlled the game.

"At that point, I knew somebody had to take control of the game and luckily I was able to do that. When I get going, everybody does well. Coach told me to control the tempo and that’s what I tried to do.”

Among the crowd was Women's Basketball Hall of Famer Sylvia Hatchell who was Latta's college coach and for whom the former Tar Heels star works as an assistant in the winter.

Celebrating her second consecutive All-Star selection, Latta treated the energetic gaggle of thunder-stick banging youth campers wearing a kaleidoscope of bright colored t-shirts from fluorescent teal to orange to a fourth quarter takeover that had to be witnessed to be believed.

When Latta was done burning the nets, she turned those duties over to rookie Stefanie Dolson, who scored nine of her 13 points in the final period.

Latta and Dolson were a combined 9-for-12 shooting in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Sun, 21-16. Dolson finished one point away from tying her career high.

In building off the momentum generated by a 3-2 road trip, the Mystics (11-13 overall) moved into a tie for second place in the Eastern Conference with the Indiana Fever.

“That road trip was so big for us,” Latta said. “We did an outstanding job. I think it gave us the momentum going into this stretch of games. We came together well during that trip. We realized that we can be as good as we want to be. We know we can’t let anybody control the way we play. We control our destiny going forward.”

As has become its modus operandi, it was far from a one-woman show for Washington, which defeated Connecticut for the third time this season to clinch the series.

Also reaching double figures for Washington, winners of four of its last five games, was Monique Currie (17 points), Bria Hartley (11) and Emma Meesseman (10).

Another key to the Mystics victory was committing one turnover in the fourth quarter while forcing Connecticut into a 5-for-15 shooting performance.

“This is a good win for us especially here at home because we haven’t won as many games here as we would’ve liked to,” Hartley said. “It’s awesome to watch Ivory when she gets into that zone. She was making plenty of plays which helped our team get going.”

It took a little time in the fourth quarter for the Mystics to impose their will on Connecticut, who built a 65-61 lead with 8 minutes, 38 seconds remaining following a pair of foul shots from rookie Chiney Ogwumike. A little while later, Latta’s 3-pointer gave the Mystics the lead for good, 68-66 with 6:52 remaining. That basket was part of a bigger 12-1 Washington run that turned the game.

Prior to that burst, the game was an entertaining tug-of-war between a pair of teams trying to improve possible playoff positioning. There were seven ties including 38-38 at halftime and 59-59 at the end of the third quarter along with nine lead changes.

Dolson delivered better than Dominos during the fourth quarter. She drained a 12-foot baseline jumper off of a Latta pass that cut the Sun’s edge to 66-65. Then, with 3:04 remaining, Dolson completed an old-fashioned 3-point play that gave Washington an 80-70 bulge.

“She played big for us today down the stretch and I am proud of her,” Latta said of Dolson. “She’s capable of doing that every night so we’re definitely looking forward to her doing that and giving her the ball down there so she can keep scoring.”

The Sun (10-15) was paced by Ogwumike’s 18 points and 10 rebounds. Kelsey Bone and Alex Bentley scored 15 points each. Bentley, who handed out nine assists, insisted the Sun are not down following the road setback.

“We just got away from our defensive execution in the fourth quarter and that led to their baby run,” Bentley said.

“We broke down on a couple of plays. We have to stay focused on defense for 40 minutes. It’s a dogfight and there are nine games left with everybody trying to get into the playoffs. We’ll keep working and fighting until the season is finished and see where we are.”

The Mystics will host high-scoring Tulsa Friday night at 7:00 p.m. Tulsa’s dynamic backcourt of Odyssey Sims and Skylar Diggins combined for 73 points in Tuesday’s setback to San Antonio.

The Sun will host Maya Moore and the Minnesota Lynx Sunday afternoon at 3:00. Moore dropped 48 points, three shy of Riquia Williams’ single-game record set last year, in a thrilling double overtime victory over Atlanta on Tuesday night.


- Posted using BlogPress from the Guru's iPad

Philly Summer League: Saint Joseph's/Penn Combo Gives Orange Upset of White

By Mel Greenberg

HATBORO, Pa. -- A 67-58 upset win by Team Orange over Team Whie, also known as the Division II West Chester squad marked a string of string of surprises and near-upsets in Tuesday night's action in the Philadelphia/Suburban Women's NCAA Summer Basketball League at Kelly Bolish Gym, home of the AAU Renegades in lower Bucks County.

Unbeaten Gold (8-0) opened a two-game lead over White but had to turn back a strong effort from Sky Blue before emerging with the 74-63 win.

Maroon had a chance to move into a second-place tie but was taken down by by Hunter Green, 68-57, which caught Maroon in a tie for third but gets the third seed for now because of the head-to-head win.

Navy Blue from the lower part of the standings surprised Black, also known as the Division II Philadelphia University squad, with a 45-36 win but didn't get any headway because Kelly Green upset Pink, closing out the Division II University of the Sciences of Philadelphia in the final minute.

Chelsea Woods, an incoming Saint Joseph's freshman, had 20 points for Navy Blue in the win over Black and was the only player in the three doubleheaders to hit the 20 points or better nightly performance milestone.

Woods had 21 points in a game earlier this summer.

The playoff race for the eight spots and seed positions remain tight though Gold can officially be tbe first to the postseason qualifying stop on Thursday with either a win or a loss by Black.

The 13 teams in the league have either four or three games remaining depending on who or who has not yet served a nightly bye.

The Guru Takes an Audible

And so wuth the Guru providing passenger service this week to longtime commissioner David Kessler, who is finishing his rehab from hip replacement surgery serveral weeks ago, the Guru opted to work on this report at what had been an all-night Fedex place in nearby Willow Grove rather than his normal headquarters across the river from Northeast Philadelpia in Cherry Hill, N.J.

However, upon arrival, it appeared the all-night status was no more, but not to worry.

Just across the parking lot in the little shopping mall was a place open all night with wifi, snacks, restroom, electric outlets and a few other commodities, so to put it in plain English, this report is coming to you and being finished in the middle of the night thanks to the ability for the Guru to run on Dunkin.

Of course, still to be determined as the clock ticks is whether the Guru wil drive all the way or take advantage of the MARC communter rail down in either Perryvlle or Abderdeen, Md., to get to the late morning WNBA game in the nation's capital between the Washington Mystics and Connecticut Sun as both teams resume the rest of their regular seasons following the break for Saturday's All-Star Game in Phoenix.

More Notables

Former Temple star Marilyn Stephens was back on the scene Tuesday night to watch her daughter Adashia Franklyn, who is Saint Joseph's bound this fall.

Also on the scene was former Immaculata All-American Theresa Grentz, who has been involved in Franklyn's training.

Grentz and her former Mighty Macs teammates are part of the Immaculata era 1972-74 that will be enshrined next month in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.

The Mighty Macs are also heading for the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame in November and just this past weekend the team was announced as a winner of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame Trailblazer Award and will be cited besides the six inductees heading for inclusion in Knoxville, Tenn., on June 13 next year.

Grentz, who coached at Saint Joseph's, Rutgers and Illinois and has recently written a book and now runs her own clinics and training operation, has already been individually honored in Knoxville and at the Philly Hall as has her teammate Marianne Stanley, an assistant coach with the WNBA Washington team, and former Mighty Macs coach Catby Rush.

On the Mend

Besides the commissioner, also back from hip surgery Tuesday night was Tom Utescher of the Chestnut Hill Local who was operated upon a few weeks after Kessler.

Sewing the Seeds

OK, here is how the tiebreaks set up the seeds right now if the season ended today, which of course will not really happen until August 5.

Quarterfinals begin Augusut 7, followed by the semifinals on August 12, and title game on August 14.

Gold and Wbite continue as the top two seeds, wbile Hunter Green gets the third seed off Tuesday's win over Maroon, which created a tie between the two teams.

Black, Orange and Sky Blue are tied for fifth and the games among them are not all complete.

But for now within the group Black gets the fifth seed at 1-0, Orange is 1-1 and Sky Blue is 0-1 for the seventh seed.

There is a tie for the eighth seed cut-off for the playoffs.

Purple and Pink have yet to play each other but for now Purple gets slotted eighth because of its best quality win over Hunter Green.

Kelly Green and Navy Blue remain tied for 10th -- both teams won Tuesday -- so Kelly Green remains 10th in the tiebreaker move of having beaten Navy Blue in overtime.

Red, which had the bye Tuesday, is 12th and Royal Blue finishes out the standings still looking for a win.

In terms of getting to the eighth spot, Kelly Green and Navy are a half-game out while Red is 1.5 games out and Royal Blue must win its four remaining games, though that may not be enough.

At the bottom, the remainder of the regular season schedule is listed, given there are but four nights left. Playoff dates are also listed with the actual teams to be filled in when the seeds and final standings are determined.

Tuesday's Recaps

Orange 67 White 58 -- In the big upset, Saint Joseph's incoming freshman Amanda Fioravanti had 17 points for Orange (4-4), which got back to .500 in a three-way tie for fifth.

Penn senior Kara Bonenberger, a former Big Five rookie of the year who went to Northampton High, had 16 points and Division II Kutztown sophomore Kelsey Watson out of Methacton scored 10 points.

White (6-2), the West Chester squad, as mentioned, got 15 points, of which nine came from three treys, from junior Dallas Ely, Emily Torrance, a sophomore from Henderson High, scored 14 points, while Mariah Powell, a senior out of Rustin High for the Golden Rams, had 10 points and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the line.

Navy Blue 45, Black 36 -- Chelsea Woods and her 10 points for Navy Blue (3-5) have aready been mentioned. Lauren Gold, a Shippesnburg sophomore from Abington Friends, scored 10 points, shooting 4-for-4 from the line and nailing a pair of three-pointers.

Philadelpia U. senior Najah Jacobs out of Central High scored 12 points for Black (4-4), while senior Jacqueline McCarron out of Lansdale Catholic scored nine points.

Gold 74, Sky Blue 63 -- Saint Joseph's senjor Natasha Cloud out of Cardinal O'Hara had 18 points for the unbeaten Gold (8-0) group, while Ashley Wood, the daughter of Gold coach Keith Wood and recent Division II Kutztown graduate out of Spring-Ford, scored 17 points.

Lauren Crisler, an American U. sopomore out of North Penn High, and Jasmine Elum, a 2012 Bethune-Cookman graduate out of Bodine High, each scored 11 points for the winners.

Alyssa Isler, a recent Division III Gettysburg graduate out of New Hope-Solebury, scored 12 points for Sky Blue (4-4) as did Avery Marz, an incoming Saint Joseph's freshman.

Jessica Pongonis, a Saint Joseph's sophomore; and Stephanie Schultz, a Colgate senior out of the Hill School, each added 11 points to the Sky Blue total.

Hunter Green 68, Maroon 57 -- Sarah Fairbanks, a Saint Joseph's junior out of Elizabethtown High, scored 15 points in a balanced attack for Hunter Green (6-3), which also got 14 points from Sarah Sherman, a Division III Juniata College sophomore out of Methacton High, 11 from Taylor Walker, an incoming Division II Holy Family freshman out of Delsea Regional High, and 10 points from Simone Jacques, a New York Univrsity sophomore out of Plymouth-Whitemarsh.

Maroon, which fell to 6-3, had 14 points from Taylor Bryant, a Penn player from Upper Dublin High, who nailed three 3-pointers, while Courtney Brown, an East Stroudsburg sophomore out of Council Rock South, scored 10 points.

Purple 72, Royal Blue 51 -- Four players scored in double figures for Purple (4-5), which stayed in the playoff hunt as Lia DiSciascio, a Division III Scranton senior out of Cardinal O'Hara collected 14 points, Lindsay Fluehr, another Scranton senior but out of Naxareth Academy, scored 11 points, while Samantha Stipa, an incoming Lafayette freshman out of Spring-Ford, scored 10 points, aa did Sarah Payonk, a Scranton sophomore out of Spring-Ford.

Royal Blue (0-8), still winless, got 19 points from Adashia Franklyn, the incoming Saint Joseph's freshman who, as previously mentioned, is former Temple star Marilyn Stephen's daughter.

Hawks sophomore Ciara Andrews out of Cheltenham High, scored 11 points, and Stevens junior Megan Petuskey scored 10 points.

Kelly Green 45, Pink 37 -- The winners (3-5) stayed in the playoff hunt while Pink (4-5) got in danger of falling out.

The Villanova duo of incoming freshman Alex Louin out of Mount St. Joseph's and sophomore Megan Quinn out of Episcopal Academy each scored 11 point for Kelly Green.

No one scored in double figures for the Pink squad, which is also the University of the Sciences of Philadelphia team.

Brianne Traub, a sophomore, scored nine points, while Isabella Ross, a sophomore out of Central, scored seven points.

Individual Scoring Performances
(20 or more points)

35 pts. -- Sarah Fairbanks, Hunt. Grn(W) vs. Orange, July 17
31 pts. -- Jasmine Elum, Gold (W) vs. Maroon, July 1
27 pts. -- Samantha Stipa, Purple (W) vs. H.G., June 26
26 pts. -- Mariah Powell, White (W) vs. Red, July 17
26 pts. -- Courtney Brown, Maroon (W) vs. R. Blue, July 2
25 pts. -- Meghan Gibson, Gold (W) vs. Navy Blue, July 17
24 pts. -- Jasmine Elum, Gold (W) vs Hunter Green, June 24
24 pts. -- Erin Fenningham, Hunt. Green (W) vs. N.B., July 1
24 pts. -- Alexis Smith, Gold (W) vs. Maroon, July 1
24 pts. -- Brianne Traub, Pink (W) vs. Royal Blue, July 10
23 pts. -- Lexi Scrivano, Kelly Green (L) vs. White, June 24
22 pts. -- Mariah Powell, White (W) vs. Kelly Green, June 24
22 pts. -- Alex Smith, Gold (W) vs. Orange, June 26
22 pts. -- Brianne Traub, Pink (L) vs. Sky Blue, July 1
21 pts. -- Alex Smith, Gold (W) vs. Hunter Green, June 24.
21 pts. -- Jasmine Elum, Gold (W) vs. Orange, June 26
21 pts. -- Chelsea Woods,Nav Blu (L-OT),vs.Kelly Grn, July 8
21 pts. -- Amanda Fioravanti, Orange (L) vs. Maroon,July 10
21 pts. -- Natalie Stella, Pink (W) vs. Royal Blue, July 10
21 pts. -- Sarah Fairbanks, Hunt Grn (L) vs. White, July 14
21 pts. -- Ciara Andrews, Royal Blue (L) vs. Gold, July 14
20 pts. -- Brittany Sicinski, White (W), vs. R.B., June 26
20 pts. -- Lauren Crisler, Gold (W), vs. White, July 10
20 pts. -- Natasha Cloud, Gold (W), vs. Royal Blue, July 14
29 pts. -- Chelsea Woods, Navy Blue (W), vs. Black, July 22

Running Tracker for Playoff Seeds and Tiebreakers
Placements now reflect seeds (in front of team name) if the season ended today, which it doesn't

1-Gold (8-0): H.G. (W), Orange (W), Maroon (W), Purple (W), White (W), R.B. (W), N.B.(W), S.B. (W)

2-White (6-2): K.G.(W), R.B. (W), Purple (W), S.B.(W), Gold (L), H.G.(W), Red (W), Orange (L)

3-Hunter Green (6-3) Gold (L), Purp. (L), N.B. (W), Pink (W), Red (W), vs. Black (W), White (L), Orange (W), Maroon (W)

4-Maroon (6-3): Red (W), K.G. (W-F), Gold (L), R.B. (W), S.B. (L), Orange (W), N.B. (W), Pink (W), H.G. (L)

5-Black (4-4): Pink (L), Red (L), Orange (W), K.G. (W-F), R.B. (W), H.G. (L), Purple (W), N.B. (L)

6-Orange (4-4): Gold (L), Black (L), Purple (W-F), Pink (W), Maroon (L), S.B. (W), H.G. (L), White (W)

7-Sky Blue: (4-4) R.B.(W), Pink (L), White (L), Maroon(W), Purple (W), Orange (L), K.G. (W), Gold (L)

8-Purple (4-5): N.B.(W), H.G.(W),White (L), Orange (L-F), Gold (L), S.B. (L), K.G. (W), Black (L), R.B. (W)

9-Pink (4-5): Black (W), N.B. (L), S.B. (W), H.G. (L), Orng (L ), R.B. (W), Red (W-OT), Maroon (L), K.G. (L)

10-Kelly Green (3-5): White (L), Maroon (L-F), Black (L-F), N.B. (W-OT), Red (W), Purple (L), S.B. (L), Pink (W)

11-Navy Blue (3-5): Purple (L), Pink (W),H.G.(L), Red (W), K.G. (L-OT), Maroon (L), Gold (L), Black (W)

12-Red (2-6) Maroon (L), Black (W), R.B.(W), N.B. (L), H.G. (L), KG (L), Pink (L-OT), Gold (L)

13-Royal Blue (0-8): S.B. (L), White (L), Red (L), Maroon (L), BLack (L), Pink (L), Gold (L), Purple (L)

Standings (Thru Monday, July 21)

Team, W-L, Pct., G.B., Pts., Opp Pts.

Gold, 8-0, 1.000, --, 630 489
White, 6-2, .750, 2.0, 592 431
Hunter Green, 6-3, .667, 2.5, 558 581
fw-Maroon, 6-3, .667, 2.5, 496 349
w-Black, 4-4, .500, 4.0, 356 343
Orange, 4-4, .500, 4.0, 407 443
Sky Blue, 4-4, .500, 4.0, 513 446
fl-Purple, 4-5, .444, 4.5, 460 452
Pink, 4-5, .444, 4.5, 467 479
fl(2)-Kelly Green, 3-5,.375, 5.0, 334 397
Navy Blue, 3-5, .375, 5.0, 481 498
Red, 2-6, .333, 6.0, 444 537
Royal Blue, 0-8, .000, 8.0, 428 624

fw -- includes forfeit win, fl -- includes forfeit loss

Past Results

Tuesday (July 22) Results

Purple 72, Royal Blue 51
Orange 67, White (D2-West Chester) 58
Navy Blue 45, Black (D2-Phila. U.) 36
Hunter Green 68, Maroon 57
Gold 74, Sky Blue 63
Kelly Green 43, Pink (D2-USP) 37
Bye: Red

Thursday (July 17) Results

White (D2-West Chester) 102, Eed 62
Black (D2-Phila. U.) 56, Purple 39
Hunter Green 78. Orange 62
Gold 83, Navy Blue 83-62
Maroon 55, Pink (D2-USP) 36
Sky Blue 70, Kelly Green 55
Bye: Royal Blue

Tueaday (July 14) Results

White (D2-West Chester) 89, Hunter Green 37
Gold 79, Royal Blue 64
Pink (D2-USP) 64, Red 59, ovt.
Purple 62, Kelly Green 59
Orange 73, Sky Blue 72
Maroon 68, Navy Blue 61

Black (D2-Phila. U.), Bye

Thursday (July 10) Results

Maroon 53, Orange 47
Sky Blue 59, Purple 36
Kelly Green 59, Red 45
Gold 69, White(D2-West Chester) 47
Hunter Green 51, Black (D2-Phila. U) 43
Pink (D2-USP) 70, Royal Blue 50

Tuesday (July 8) Results

Black (D2-Phila. U.) 58, Royal Blue 56
Kelly Green 74, Navy Blue 70, ovt.
Orange 50, Pink (D2-USP) 49
Sky Blue 52, Maroon 47
Hunter Green 75, Red 60
Gold 77, Purple 57

Wednesday (July 2) Results

Hunter Green 51, Pink 47
Maroon 98, Royal Blue 48
White (D2-West Chester) 59, Sky Blue 48
Navy Blue 78, Red 52
Black 2, Kelly Green 0, forfeit
Orange 2, Purple 0, forfeit

Tuesday (July 1) Results

Hunter Green 69, Navy Blue 59
White (West Chester) 54, Purple 45
Gold 85, Maroon 68
Black (Phila. U.) 54, Orange 38
Pink (USP) 59, Sky Blue 56
Red 70, Royal Blue 57

Thursday (June 26) Results

Red 55, Black 54
White 84, Royal Blue 59
Gold 79, Orange 68
Purple 80, Hunter Green 50
Navy Blue 62, Pink 46
Maroon 2, Kelly Green 0 (forfeit)
Bye: Sky Blue

Tuesday (June 24) Results

Purple 69, Navy Blue 44
Maroon 48, Red 42
Sky Blue 93, Royal Blue 43
White (West Chester) 99, Kelly Green 44
Pink (USP) 59, Black (Phila. U.) 53
Gold 84, Hunter Green 59
Bye: Orange

Looking Ahead

Maroon (6-3) will be looking to stay in the upper part of the standings and Black (4-4) will be looking for an upset to move higher when the two meet at 7 p.m. on Court 2 on Thursday night.

Likewise the same situation on Court 1 at 8:15 for Hunter Green (6-3) and Sky Blue (4-4) as the opponents have the same records as the ones mentioned for the 7 p.m. game.

Orange, the third of the teams at 4-4, will bw trying to avoid being the first victim of the summer of Royal Blue (0-8) when the two meet at 7 p.m. on Court 3.

Gold (8-0) can clinch a playoff berth by staying unbeaten with a win over Kelly Green (3-5) or if Black loses because right now Gols can not lose more than four games the rest of the way and it already has tie-breaking head-to-head wins over Orange and Sky Blue if either ran the table with wins and Gold went winless over its final four gamea.

Upcoming Schedule

Thursday, July 24

7 p.m.

Kelly Green (3-5) vs. Gold (8-0), Court 1
Maroon (6-3) vs. Black (4-4), Court 2
Orange (4-4) vs. Royal Blue (0-8), Court 3

8:15 p.m.

Sky Blue (4-4) vs. Hunter Green (6-3), Court 1
Navy Blue (3-5) vs. White (6-2), Court 2
Purple (4-5) vs. Red (2-6), Court 3
Bye: Pink

Tuesday, July 29

7 p.m.

Red vs. Orange, Court 1
White vs. Maroon, Court 2
Hunter Green vs. Kelly Green, Court 3

8:15 p.m.

Royal Blue vs. Navy Blue, Court 1
Black vs. Sky Blue, Court Court 2
Gold vs. Pink, Court 3

Bye: Purple

Thursday, July 31

7 p.m.

Gold vs. Black, Court 1
Kelly Green vs. Royal Blue, Court 2
Maroon vs. Purple, Court 3

8:15 p.m.

Pink vs. White, Court 1
Sky Blue vs. Red, Court 2
Navy Blue vs. Orange, Court 3

Bye: Hunter Green

Tuesday, August 5

7 p.m.

Sky Blue vs. Navy Blue, Court 1
Purple vs. Pink, Court 2
Hunter Green vs. Royal Blue, Court 3

8:15 p.m.

Orange vs. Kelly Green, Court 1
Red vs. Gold, Court 2
Black vs. White, Court 3

Bye: Maroon

Regular Season Ends

Playoff Schedule

Quarterfinals

Thursday, August 7

7 p.m.
8th aeed vs. 1st seed, Court 1
6th seed vs. 3rd seed, Court 2

8:15 p.m.

7th seed vs. 2nd seed, Court 1
5rh seed vs. 4th seed, Court 2

Semifinals

Tuesday, Aug. 12

7 p.m.

Highest surviving seed vs. lowest surviving seed, Court 1

8:15 p.m.

Remaining quarterfinals survivors, Court 1

Championship

Thursday, Aug. 14

Semifinal survivors, Court 1

That's it for this report.

-- Mel


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