Guru’s WNBA Report: Seattle and Las Vegas Clinch the First Two of Eight Playoff Spots While Dallas Stays in the Hunt Topping Indy

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

 

The league-leading Seattle Storm became one of the first two teams to claim one of the eight spots for the WNBA playoffs going through both the front and back doors Saturday afternoon in one of the three games played at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., near Tampa/St. Petersburg as the remaining six teams returned to action after having a game postponed earlier this week in support of the protest over the police shooting in Kenosha, Wis.

 

Monday begins the start of the final two weeks of the shortened 22-game regular season because of the coronavirus.

 

In the other two games, the Las Vegas Aces stayed right on the heels of Seattle a half-game back and clinched a return to the postseason in second with an easy 80-64 win over the last place New York Liberty while in a game involving teams in the gridlock fighting for the final playoff spots, the Dallas Wings topped the Indiana Fever 82-78 to flip into eighth place over the Fever.

 

Seattle (13-3) is seven games in front of Dallas (6-10), which has seven left to play — one against the Storm.

 

 But a Wings win removes the first tie-break since the season two-game series would be split and the Storm is already well-armed on the second tie-break with wins against the five teams whose records are .500 or better.

 

Had Indiana won, the Fever would still be in mathematical position, if not reality, to catch the Storm by winning all remaining games if Seattle lost all theirs.

 

The Seattle win also put a dent in Chicago (10-6), which is in fifth but still close enough to grab one of the top two spots that will have double byes into the WNBA best-of-five semifinals.

 

The third and fourth teams get a first-round bye to a single winner-take all matchup to advance to the semifinals following the two games between the bottom four teams in similar mode to advance as opponents in the second round.

 

Seattle Handles Chicago

In the Seattle-Chicago game, former Connecticut star Breanna Stewart scored 21 points for the Storm, while Florida State standout Natasha Howard had a double double of 17 points and 15 rebounds.

 

Former Notre Dame sensation Jewell Loyd fired down 12 points, while Alysha Clark and reserve Ezi Magbegor each scored 11.

 

Chicago got 19 points from Rutgers graduate Kahleah Copper, while Allie Quigey out of DePaul and rookie Ruthie Hebard out of Oregon each scored 11, and Gabby Williams, another former UConn great, scored 10. Courtney Vandersloot had nine points and nine assists.

 

“I really liked the energy we came out with defensively,” said Storm coach Gary Kloppenburg, who is filling in for Dan Hughes, who opted out of the Florida wubble being cautious of avoiding the CVID-19 virus.

 

Kloppenburg also filled in several games early last season while Hughes underwent a cancer operation.

 

“It’s been an emphasis lately to be aggressive, which is why we got to the line so often. These last couple of games, we’ve played with more physicality, which is good for us.”

 

Veteran point guard Sue Bird has been out four straight games with a knee injury but the Seattle coach was hopeful of a potential return this week, ESPN women’s basketball writer Mechelle Voepel noted in her postgame report.

 

Vegas Rolls New York in Fourth Quarter to Clinch Playoff Berth

 

Still staying right behind, Las Vegas, moving a half-game in front of idle Los Angeles and staying a half-game behind Seattle, had an easy time downing New York to also clinch a postseason return.

 

Former South Carolina great A’ja Wilson had 20 points, seven rebounds and blocked five Liberty shots.

 

“You come into this thing and you never know what was going to happen,” said Aces coach Bill Laimbeer, the former Detroit Pistons bad boy who led the now defunct Detroit Shock to three WNBA crowns and later coached the Liberty. “So we’ll take it. Now it’s about seeding and trying to win every game that we can.”

 

Aces reserve Dearica Hamby had 17 points and 10 rebounds for a Vegas double double.

 

For New York, Amanda Zahui B had just six points but broke the franchise rebounding record with 21, including 13 in the first half, the best rebounding half for anyone in the WNBA this season, eclipsing 11 by Natasha Howard.

 

Minnesota’s Sylvia Fowles and Atlanta’s Glory Johnson co-hold the active rebounding mark at 22.

 

Paris Kea, recently arrived to the Florida complex, had career-high 14 points, including 11 in the first half. Former Connecticut (University) star Kiah Stokes added 12 points and nine rebounds.

 

The game was actually competitive the first three quarters and then the Aces wheeled and dealt domination in the fourth, outscoring New York 24-7.

 

New York has been without their top draft pick, Sabrina Ionescu out of Oregon, since the third game of the season with an ankle injury. 

This past week, doctors determined surgery is not needed but it is doubtful she’ll, return given the remaining time in the regular season and New York on the way to not qualifying for the playoffs.

 

Dallas Edges Indiana

In the closest game of the day in a battle among the gridlock teams from seventh to 10^th trying to grab two playoff spots, the Dallas Wings topped the Indiana Fever, 82-78.

 

Former Notre Dame sensation Arike Ogunbowale, who fired the two game-winners in the NCAA Women’s Final Four several seasons ago, scored 30 points for Dallas, including a second place  personal-best five three-pointers, while first-round draft pick Satou Sabally out of Oregon had 18 points and 11 rebounds.

 

Sabally had been sidelined with an injury but has now grabbed 22 rebounds over the last two games.

 

Allisha Gray added 13 points for the Wings, while Marina Mabrey, another former Notre Dame star, scored 10, including a key 3-ball near the finish to clinch the victory.

 

“I want to first say, I’m really proud of all the players in the WNBA,” Dallas coach Brian Agler, addressed the the situation earlier in the week when teams decided to refrain from playing Wednesday and Thursday. 

 

“They spoke as one, stayed united on all social justice issues, they’re unified. And I’m proud how they’re letting you guys, the general public show, their voices. And I’m hoping that will continue the rest of the season. They’ve got tremendous leadership, 

 

“All the players in the league are focused on this. It’s been an emotional spring and summer, and obviously the exclamation point was put on last week. This isn’t going to go away. This will continue. Future leaders of our country are playing in this league and that will play out the next 15-20 years.

 

“That said, I’m proud of our effort.”

 

Indiana had six players score in double figures, paced by former Ohio State standout Kelsey Mitchell’s 19 points. The Fever started the game with an 8-0 spurt and opened the fourth quarter ahead two points.

 

Former South Carolina star Tiffany Mitchell returned from injury and the Fever reserve scored 13 points, fueled by 11-of-12 from the line. Natalie Achonwa had had 11 points and eight rebounds, while former Temple star Candice Dupree had 11 points and nine rebounds, and rookie Julie Allemand scored 10, grabbed four rebounds, dealt three assists, and had two steals.

 

Teaira McCowan had 13 points and Kathleen Doyle scored 10.

 

“Well, we couldn’t get stops, when we needed to get stops, that really hurt us,” said first-year coach Marianne Stanley, a former Immaculata star who coached Old Dominion to three national titles and had been on Washington’s staff for a long stint leading to last season’s championship.

 

“We had really good looks at the basket, but just didn’t make shots. So you get in that time period in the last few minutes of the game and everything else being equal, you can’t get stops, you come  down the floor on your offensive end and you can’t score, and they get a stop, and it just takes two or three possessions to lose control of the game.

 

“Give them credit. They scored when they needed to, we couldn’t get stops when we needed to.”

 

Looking Ahead

 

On Sunday, the Los Angeles Sparks, with an eight-game win streak, can clinch a playoff spot and go back to a second-place tie with Las Vegas by beating the Atlanta Dream in a game that tips at 8 p.m. on Facebook.

 

Connecticut, holding seventh place, meets 10^th place Washington at 4 p.m. on twitter in a rematch from last season’s championship series. Both teams are battling for a playoff spot with the Sun currently in seventh, while the Mystics are 10^th.

 

Minnesota, trying to stay close to the leaders, in fourth, meets sixth-place Phoenix at 6 on Facebook.

 

Monday is normally an idle day on the frenetic schedule but two games will be made up from last week’s postponement, in a CBSSN doubleheader, as Indiana and Chicago meet at 6, followed by Minnesota and Los Angeles at 10 p.m. in a key battle involving the upper portion of the standings.

 

Both teams are in back-to-back mode, having played on Sunday.

 

On Tuesday, Connecticut and New York meet at 7 on CBSSN as the calendar flips to September, while Indiana and Atlanta meet at 8 on Facebook, and Las Vegas and Phoenix meet at 10 on Facebook.

 

And that’s the report.