Six games with one occurring after the other. What more could a WNBA fan ask for after an offseason that felt like it would never end.
That was the essence of the spectacle that was #WNBAAllDay. All 12 teams were in action in an event that many W observers would probably consider the real tip off to the season.
Photo Credit: Carlos Gonzalez/Minneapolis Star-Tribune
The marquee matchup of the six on tap featured the Los Angeles Sparks taking on the defending champion Minnesota Lynx, who were getting their championship rings and banner at a refurbished Target Center. Cheryl Reeve’s team definitely had their mindset on closing out the day of celebration with a victory over their arch rival.
Except the Sparks defense created problems for the Lynx all game long. Los Angeles forced Minnesota into a grand total of 24 turnovers.
In spite of the Lynx’s inability to take care of the basketball, they still made runs late to make it a game. They took a 76-75 lead late in the fourth quarter after a pair of Lindsay Whalen free throws.
But on the Sparks’ final possession of the game, Chelsea Gray gave Minnesota flashbacks of last year’s Finals Game 1 as she stepped up and played hero again via a driving layup to the basket, sealing the deal on Los Angeles’ 77-76 victory over Minnesota.
The Sparks were without Candace Parker as she was dealing with back issues, but they were with the 21 points of Odyssey Sims, the 19 points and nine rebounds of Nneka Ogwumike, and the 18 points of Gray.
Whalen scored 17 points for the Lynx and Seimone Augustus and Sylvia Fowles added 15 points each. Fowles also pulled down 12 rebounds. Maya Moore contributed 11 points.
Photo Credit: Gary Dineen/NBAE/Getty Images
Fresh off an opening game victory on the road at the Indiana Fever, the Chicago Sky looked to improve their record to 2-0 as they played their first game at the brand new Wintrust Arena.
Their opponent – the New York Liberty, who only suited up nine players as Epiphanny Prince, Brittany Boyd, and Kiah Stokes were all sidelined with injuries and Kia Vaughn was still fulfilling her overseas commitments in Turkey.
Along with the game being the first under new head coach Katie Smith, Another Kia was making her WNBA regular season debut as Kia Nurse donned the black and statue green for the first time in her basketball career. Nurse came off the bench, and added a notable presence of energy and toughness for New York on both ends of the floor.
Chicago’s bench also rose to the occasion – most notably Jamierra Faulkner, who helped out the Sky’s cause with 14 points and five assists as the Sky christened their new South Loop digs with an 80-76 win over the shorthanded Liberty.
Faulkner’s production off the bench definitely helped – but so did the performance of Allie Quigley, who scored 22 points and went 7-of-13 from the field. Gabby Williams, in her WNBA debut scored 12 points.
Along with Tina Charles’ 19 points, 32 of the Liberty’s 76 points came via its bench. Nurse had 17 and Amanda Zauhi B added 15.
Photo Credit: AP/Elaine Thompson
The Sky were one of the two teams that earned a victory prior to #WNBAAllDay. The other was the Phoenix Mercury, who hope the return of DeWanna Bonner will pay major dividends as they are a championship-caliber team with a litany of veteran talent.
The Mercury’s first win came over the Dallas Wings at home, then it was time to travel to the Pacific Northwest where Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart, Jewell Loyd, and the Seattle Storm were awaiting.
If one were to judge this game from the early results of the first quarter, the roadtripping Mercury looked like a squad poised to blow out the Storm. Late in the first frame, Phoenix led by a 26-12 score over Seattle, but the Storm slowly, but surely, began to claw their way back into the game.
The game was one where the Mercury would build up a lead, then the Storm would make a run. With Phoenix ahead 83-82, Alysha Clark fouled Diana Taurasi who made both of her tries to put her team ahead 85-82. An inbounds pass on the next Seattle possession would have given the Storm a chance to tie the game with a three, but the Storm did not get that chance as Stewart was out of bounds on that inbounds attempt.
A 29-point effort out of Brittney Griner will win one a lot of basketball games – particularly when it is a double-double with ten rebounds sprinkled in. Briann January scored 15 and Taurasi and Bonner each finished with 12.
Speaking of double-doubles, Stewart (22 points, 15 rebounds) put in one of their own. Natasha Howard would also score 15 off the bench and the Storm were the beneficiary of 10 each from Bird, Clark, and Loyd.
Photo Credit: Stephen Gosling/NBAE/Getty Images
Four of the six #WNBAAllDay games had close finishes. Indiana Fever vs. Washington Mystics was the fourth of the four.
Emanating from Capital One Arena in the District, it was a matchup of an Indiana Fever team that had a notably eventful draft which included the selections of Kelsey Mitchell and Victoria Vivians.
As for the Mystics, it is a team that is looking to take that next step after making the playoff semifinals last season. They are also hoping the signing of Monique Currie will help a lot in filling the void left by Emma Meesseman.
When all was said and done in the nation’s capital, Washington sent the Fever to an 0-2 hole to begin the season by way of an 82-75 victory at home.
The Fever would shoot nine more free throws than the Mystics, but the Fever also missed nine out of the 25 tries from the charity stripe that they took. Meanwhile, Washington made 15 of their 16 free tries.
Four players for the Mystics finished in double-digits in the points category led by Kristi Toliver, who finished with 16 points and made four of her six three-point attempts. Elena Delle Donne added 13 points and seven assists. Currie as well as Tierra Ruffin-Pratt each had 11 points.
Both Natalie Achonwa (21 points, 12 rebounds) and Candice Dupree (13 points, 10 rebounds) each had double-doubles along with Mitchell’s 16 off the bench.
Photo Credit: Sean D. Elliott/The Day
After all of the anticipation and the build-up, it was finally time for the WNBA’s new team to hit the court as we saw the first impression of the Las Vegas Aces.
Unfortunately, for Aces fans, the result looked more like last year’s San Antonio Stars than what Nevada basketball aficionados were hoping for their new WNBA squad.
Granted, it was a tough task for the Aces matching up with the Connecticut Sun, a team that arguably took the biggest jump from 2016 to 2017 and were looking to take that next step this season.
Sun fans were treated to a 13-point 17-rebound double-double outing courtesy of Alyssa Thomas and another 18 points off the bench from Alex Bentley. Jasmine Thomas scored 12 and Shekinna Stricklen finished with 11 points. Chiney Ogwumike had nine points in her regular season return to the Sun.
Along with 23 points from Tamera Young, first overall pick A’ja Wilson began her WNBA career with a double-double as she tallied 14 points and pulled in 10 rebounds. Nia Coffey added 11 points.
But, as the old saying goes – one game does not make a season or a franchise.
Photo Credit: Ari Talton/Dallas Weekly
The sixth of those contests featured a pair of teams that had, arguably, the two most active offseasons of any of the 12 WNBA teams in the Atlanta Dream and Dallas Wings.
On the heels of those offseasons that took place in North Texas and North Georgia, on paper they look like the two teams that should take the biggest steps toward the top this season.
If their first contest against each other was any indication, one may be a bit more bullish on the Wings than the Dream.
The Wings defeated the Dream with the final being 101-78.
There was simply too much offensive firepower for Atlanta to handle—including Skylar Diggins-Smith who had 25 points, Liz Cambage and her 21 points and nine rebounds, and Karima Christmas-Kelly whose double-double of 15 points and ten rebounds was big help to the Wings’ efforts. Kaela Davis also had 15 of her own off the bench.
Tiffany Hayes, Renee Montgomery, and Brittney Sykes each scored 14 points and Angel McCoughtry, in her return to the W, added 13. Jessica Breland scored 11.
By: Akiem Bailum (@AkiemBailum on Twitter, Instagram)
