Welcome to the Basketball Hangover. I write about what’s happening in the WNBA daily as we try to heal from this pandemic.
The Storm held off a tenacious Dallas Wings team in overtime.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Seattle Storm.)
The Seattle Storm held off another team in their title defense. They went to Dallas and received quite a challenge.
It was really a close game throughout. Dallas did their thing behind Arike Ogunbowale‘s overwhelming scoring, Marina Mabrey‘s shooting, and Isabelle Harrison‘s rebounding. It looked like we were headed towards a Wings win when they led, 85-81, with 19 seconds left.
Jewell Loyd, however, made a corner three to cut the deficit to one. The foul game worked in favor of the Storm after Kayla Thornton split her free throws. It set the stage for Jordin Canada, who was able to tie the game with a floater. We went to overtime.
We continued to go back and forth. Breanna Stewart took over for a few minutes (well, to be fair, she kind of took over the whole game on both ends). Mabrey made a long three to give the Wings the lead. Ogunbowale, Loyd, and then Harrison exchanged buckets before Stewie and Loyd made important foul shots to give Seattle a 100-97 lead. Dallas had two shots to tie but Ogunbowale and Moriah Jefferson‘s threes never hit rim.
I love that Dallas fought and kept up with the champs. A little curious that Charli Collier didn’t play much after making the first basket of the game for Dallas but Harrison did well in her stead. We know what Ogunbowale can do and her college teammate, Mabrey, had an awesome shooting game.
But hey, what can you say about Breanna Stewart? 36 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 blocks. Loyd had a 25-8-6 performance herself and Canada, who we’ve mentioned several times can be a starter anywhere else, went for 14 points and 5 assists.
Like I said, if you want to win the WNBA championship, you’ll have to get through the Storm.
WNBA Scoreboard
May 22, 2021
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Stewie was so mean to Isabelle Harrison when they met.
STEWIE 🛑🛑🛑@breannastewart x #TakeCover pic.twitter.com/fXLtHppyJQ
— Seattle Storm (@seattlestorm) May 23, 2021
As mentioned, Breanna Stewart went for 5 blocks. What a game she had.
Everyone, please take care of yourselves during this pandemic. And that goes for everyone involved with the WNBA as well.
You can find Rey-Rey on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
You can also check out Rey-Rey’s podcast, Rey-Rey Is Fundamental, for more basketball content and, really, whatever else.
R.I.P. Nala.