“Flat! Flat! Flat!” Interesting night, no?
Don’t see THAT too often. Connecticut had the lead over a rather discombobulated Atlanta, and then they went on and 0-20 run. Dream win by five (welcome back, Ms. Sykes).
Wings of BOOM! Top dog LA went into DFW and got their Sparks handed to them. Dallas by 29.
- Azura Stevens’ breakout night helps the Wings romp the Sparks 101-72
- Sparks routed behind Wings’ balanced attack
Tina got her 5000th, but L.V. was playing with house money. Aces pull away in the fourth to win by 10. (oh, and this was cool: Statue of Liberty on Las Vegas Strip dons Aces jersey).
“I’m not dead yet!” Minnesota got their groove back (for a game) and chilled the Merc with an 11-point victory.
- Notes & Quotes: Lynx Top Mercury, 83-72
- Mercury’s eight-game winning streak snapped by Lynx
- Defending WNBA champion Minnesota Lynx end Mercury’s 8-game win streak
The Boss, Sarah Spain showed up (cool) but so did Elena (30-10-6). Washington gets a 16-point win over a struggling Sky.
Shine bright like a diamond! Jewell goes off for 25 and the Storm keep the Fever at one win.
- Notes & Quotes: Storm Defeat Fever, 72-63
- Stubborn defense helps Storm beat Indiana 72-63
- Storm Defeat Fever Behind Loyd’s 25 Points
Catching up:
Thanks, Seth: The Liberty Try to Make Westchester Feel Like Home
After Tina Charles and Maya Moore exchanged go-ahead baskets in the final minute of the Liberty’s home opener against the Minnesota Lynx on May 25, a high-ranking W.N.B.A. official sitting courtside proudly remarked, “Who says women can’t play basketball?”
That question was tongue-in-cheek. But a more serious question emerged as Charles and Moore, both Olympic gold medalists and former league most valuable players, dueled inside the Westchester County Center in front of an announced crowd of 2,319.
What constitutes a proper environment for women’s basketball?
Washington Post: Elena Delle Donne took exception to Adam Silver. With that, a WNBA star found her voice.
Think Progress: The first WNBA player to join Kaepernick’s protest refuses to stop kneeling
Sumter Item: No. 1 pick Wilson adjusting to tough life in the WNBA
.com: A’ja Wilson’s Idols Becoming Her Rivals During Stellar Rookie Season
DieHards: Jordin Canada finding her stride in WNBA under mentor Sue Bird
Hero Sports: FanDuel and WNBA Partnership Taking Off
Hashtag Basketball: Evaluating the Dallas Wings through one quarter of the 2018 WNBA season
Hey, remember that time two weeks ago when I said that the Sun couldn’t be stopped?
Well, they were, and now the WNBA’s standings are a bit more complicated than they were at the beginning of the season.
The State: Dawn Staley’s hopeful message to Tiffany Mitchell after her WNBA team’s slow start
Cool: Former UConn Star Diana Taurasi Honored By WNBA For Supporting Single Mothers, LGBTQ Community
.com: Race to MVP (Week 5): Taurasi Joins Griner in Top Five
The Ringer: Diana Taurasi Plays Basketball in a Coat of Invincibility Armor
LVRJ: Bill Laimbeer has game plan for building Aces
Women’s Hoops World: Aces embrace Las Vegas in maiden season
“Our message was, women’s basketball is here, pro hoops has arrived,” said Christine Monjer, Executive Director of marketing for MGM Resorts. “We’re really staking that claim that we do know basketball as a community, and this is basketball you’re going to want to see.”
The Aces are currently in the midst of a rebuilding season, but have set their sights on creating brand awareness this year, without regard to on-court success.
High Post Hoops: Cheryl Reeve: The mileposts on the way to 200 wins
Minneaplois Star Tribune: Is Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve the most powerful sports figure in Minnesota?
Cheryl Reeve has achieved so much with the Minnesota Lynx that she’s now one of the most accomplished coaches in Minnesota sports history.
The journey to get there was not always easy — nor was the path always clear. A standout student and point guard at La Salle University in Philadelphia, Reeve went into coaching and moved her way up the college and professional basketball ranks.
She endured tough early years, with franchises she worked for folding or relocating, but Reeve was able to parlay her role as a well-respected WNBA assistant with Detroit into the Lynx head coaching job starting with the 2010 season.
Michelle: Inside the W with Michelle Smith:
It’s hard to believe that the WNBA season is just about a third of the way through.
Enough time to determine front-runners – teams such as Los Angeles, Phoenix, Seattle and Connecticut. Enough time to determine surprises, disappointments and teams that still have a lot of work to do.
But the breakouts, those players who have gone from being role players to marquee names, those are much easier to spot.
Hashtag Basketball: Facts And Figures: Miscellaneous Numbers From the First Month of the 2018 WNBA Season
Kvetch and be heard? A response from the league on Tuesday’s ‘Hoops Happening‘: A source from the NBA/WNBA reached out to address concerns raised in Tuesday’s column. Here’s a roundup of the points that were addressed.
Although this passage does not include intentional or unintentional critique of the league’s scheduling, I was asked to report that the number of back-to-backs in the WNBA for the 2018 season is 2 games per team, which is close to the all-time low for seasons condensed by international competition: World Cup (WC) and Olympic Games.
From Ray: Anne Donovan truly larger than life, both on and off court
NCAA
Wanna support history? Got an extra 19.82 hanging about? Maybe ya wanna support Rutgers/AIAW’s Forgotten Champions
Woot! ND women’s basketball nominated for three ESPYS
At the symposium, the participants took an active role in exploring many important areas of college athletics, such as: personal branding, individual strengths and values, resume building, interviewing and goal and vision setting.
“The symposium consisted of multiple sessions each day on a variety of topics,” Wall said. “All of the speakers were excellent and taught me so much that I didn’t know before. There was so much insight they had to offer.
So now what? I have a 9 month recovery, no more school, no more scholarship check to live on, no more training table every day… crap. When my family asked me my plan, my first idea I shot out was that I was going to be an Uber driver! Yes… a Duke graduate, business masters owning, WNBA draftee Uber driver. Heck, I bet I could get 5 stars and make a name for myself. I was hype about this idea and honestly still may do it in the fall… but luckily another gig panned out in the meantime. I was lucky enough to snag a summer sports marketing internship with an awesome company in Chicago called Intersport. Ask me how I got it if you want to hear a funny story.
