One team finds itself on the cusp of playing for all the marbles, while another has made it a series against their semifinal foes.
It was anything but easy as the Seattle Storm faced the Phoenix Mercury in Game 2 of its semifinal series at KeyArena, but the result was a 91-87 victory for the homestanding Storm in overtime.
Heading into the fourth quarter, it had the appearance of the Storm cruising to a Game 2 victory as they took a 16-point lead into the final period. The Mercury outscored Seattle 28-12 in the final frame as this set up both teams being tied at 79 heading into overtime.
Seattle by virtue of outscoring Phoenix 12-8 got the victory in the period of free basketball.
Breanna Stewart finished her evening with 27 points and Sue Bird contributed 19 points and six assists to the Storm’s efforts. Jewell Loyd had 13 points. The Storm were also aided off the bench by 12 points from Jordin Canada and 10 rebounds courtesy of Crystal Langhorne. Natasha Howard also chimed in with 10 points.
For the Mercury, Diana Taurasi led all scorers with 28 along with eight assists. Brittney Griner scored 23 points and also grabbed 10 rebounds. DeWanna Bonner added 21 points.
The scene will shift as Game 3 will be in Arizona.
As for the Washington Mystics and Atlanta Dream, the big story coming out of this one is the health of Elena Delle Donne. She fell on the court and injured her knee late in the fourth quarter. She had to be helped off the court and did not return to the game.
Her status for Game 3 is still up in the air, and the heartbreak of said injury could not have come at a worse time for the Mystics. She had 27 points, 14 rebounds and six assists prior to the injury.
Without their best player, the Mystics suffered a 78-75 defeat to the Dream, evening the series at one apiece. For Washington, Kristi Toliver also had 16 points.
On the Dream’s end of things, Alex Bentley led Atlanta with 22 points on eight-of-14 shooting off the bench. Tiffany Hayes had 17 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. Jessica Breland finished with 10 points and 14 rebounds while Elizabeth Williams put up 10 points and pulled down 11 boards.
Game 3 of that series will be in Washington, DC. Only time will tell if Delle Donne will be able to suit up with her team two games shy of a Finals berth – or two games shy of an unceremonious semifinals exit.
