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With plenty of off-court drama the WNBA returned to play on Tuesday with four games.
Atlanta Dream new head coach and general manager Fred Williams had suspended Angel McCoughtry indefinitely soon after taking the post over from Marynell Meadors. Future status of McCoughtry will be determined on Wednesday as Williams will meet her to have a talk. The Dream opened up a 17 point lead in the second quarter before letting most of it slip by halftime as they went in it leading by just 7. In the second half Tulsa came out having made some adjustments and they had all momentum in the world as they outscored Atlanta by 12. In the final minutes Atlanta got as close as down just one and even had the ball down two with 11 seconds remaining, but they turned the ball over on the ensuing possession and that was the game. Without the obvious absence of McCoughtry the Dream also suffered from Sancho Lyttle having fallen in love with three pointers – she was 2 of 9 which brought her season shooting percentage to 28%.
Strong second half propelled Indiana Fever past the Washington Mystics. Fever were carried by the usual suspects – Katie Douglas and Tamika Catchings – as well as the re-emerging Jessica Davenport, who appeared to be in coach Dunn’s doghouse. Part of that has to do with Erlana Larkins cooling off a little bit. Washington Mystics starters were soundly beaten their bench – starters were 10/26 from the field were the bench scored on 19 of 33 field goal attempts.
Playing still without Sylvia Fowles who remains out with a “Personal reason” Chicago Sky weren’t able to limit Tina Charles for the second game in a row. Charles went off for 24 points and 14 rebounds. Kara Lawson and Renee Montgomery added 18 and 16 points respectively. Sky point guard Courtney Vandersloot appears to be playing much better without Sylvia Fowles demanding the ball inside – in two games without her, Vandersloot has combined for 17 assists and 6 turnovers. She also led the Sky with 17 points.
Two of the WNBA’s top teams clashed on Tuesday, what could have been a very fun Western conference playoffs preview. Minnesota allowed San Antonio to erase a 6 point deficit with more than 2 minutes to play. The Silver Stars even had the ball for the final possession of the regulation only for Becky Hammon to miss the last second shot. As the game went to overtime Minnesota suddenly got hot, scoring 10 unanswered points in the first half of OT and didn’t allow San Antonio to get any closer. Taj McWilliams apart from scoring 19 points for Minnesota also became the league’s all-time leading offensive rebounder with 1052, surpassing Yolanda Griffith’s 1049. Another milestone for the Lynx was set by Rebbekah Brunson who reached 2000 rebounds, the second youngest and seventh fastest (via pilight at Rebkell’s).
Tulsa Shock – Atlanta Dream 84-80
Shock: Hodges 20, T.Johnson 17, Latta 14, G.Johnson 10
Dream: de Souza 16, Lyttle 14, Price 13, Kraayeveld 11, Hayes 10, Harding 10
Washington Mystics – Indiana Fever 68-83
Mystics: Quinn 13, Wisdom-Hylton 10, Snow 8, Bobbitt 8
Fever: Douglas 18, Catchings 17, Davenport 16, Zellous 13, Phillips 10
Connecticut Sun – Chicago Sky 83-72
Sun: Charles 24 (14 reb), Lawson 18, Montgomery 16, Griffin 9
Sky: Vandersloot 17, Cash 15, Swords 10, Prince 10, Petrovic 10
San Antonio Silver Stars – Minnesota Lynx 84-96 OT
Silver Stars: Young 19, Perkins 19, Hammon 13, Robinson 10
Lynx: McWilliams-Franklin 19, Augustus 19, Brunson 17 (20 reb), Whalen 15, Moore 14
