The Weekly Roundup: Seattle Wins in OT Thriller, Three Stars of the Week, and Week 2 Power Rankings!
Outstanding performances by Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, and Tina Charles led their respective teams to key wins in week 2.
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Game of the Week: Seattle squeaks by Dallas in overtime classic
Notre Dame alumnae Marina Mabrey and Arike Ogunbowale became just the second pair of teammates in league history to record at least 25 points, seven rebounds, and five assists in the same game. Isabelle Harrison and Kayla Thornton each posted a double-double. Dallas had a four-point lead with just 19.7 seconds remaining in regulation. The Wings seemed to have all the ingredients necessary to pull off the upset against the defending champion Seattle Storm.
Then, Seattle ran a beautifully designed pistol hammer to spring Jewell Loyd for the open three. After Thornton knocked down one of two free throws, Jordin Canada rattled home a floater with 4.4 seconds to knot the game up at 86. Dallas opted not to use its remaining timeout to advance the ball on the ensuing possession, and Arike Ogunbowale’s desperation heave at the buzzer missed its mark. Ogunbowale’s subsequent display of frustration indicated she knew that Dallas had squandered a golden opportunity.
They had. Breanna Stewart made sure of that. Whether it was through pick and rolls, high post screens, or direct entry passes to the post, Seattle made no secret about who its go-to player was in overtime. The 2018 league MVP delivered, scoring eight of the Storm’s 14 overtime points and helping Seattle escape with the 100-97 victory in Dallas.
Make no mistake, Saturday’s win required a total team effort. Yes, Stewart’s monster stat line Saturday night pushed her past the 2,500 point, 1,000 rebound career mark, becoming the fastest player in league history to reach that milestone. However, Loyd’s impressive line of 25 points, eight rebounds, and six assists has only been exceeded by one other player this season (Sabrina Ionescu’s historic triple-double). Also, Canada added 14 points and five assists, including the aforementioned game-tying shot in regulation.
Some say that there are no moral victories in professional sports. Wherever you may stand on this issue, it is undeniable that even without Satou Sabally, No. 2 draft pick Awak Kuier, and 2017 Rookie of the Year Allisha Gray, Dallas proved it could hang with the class of the WNBA. Between last week’s blowout win against Los Angeles; Saturday’s contributions from Ogunbowale, Mabrey, Thornton, and Harrison; and the future return and arrivals of Kuier, Sabally, and Gray; the Wings are increasingly looking like a playoff team.
Ogunbowale encapsulated this positive outlook following Saturday’s contest: “We could have won. Obviously, Seattle’s a great team, but we’re also a great team. We [went] to overtime with the reigning champs.”
Dallas returns to the hardwood tonight at the Barclays Center against New York. Seattle’s next game is tomorrow night when it hosts the Connecticut Sun.
Three stars of the week
The three stars tradition, which identifies the three best performances of the game, began as a way for Imperial Oil, the principal sponsor of Hockey Night in Canada, to advertise its Three Star brand of gasoline. Despite my not having anything to promote and this being more of a hockey tradition, it’s still a worthwhile way to recognize the three best performances in the WNBA this past week.
A quick point of clarification: The third star is the third-best performance of the week; the second star, the second-best performance; and so on.
Third Star: Tina Charles - 34 points, 9 rebounds vs. New York on 5/21
Yes, two-time league MVP Elena Delle Donne has been recovering from back surgery. Yes, Myisha Hines-Allen, last season’s runner-up for Most Improved Player, was playing overseas in France. Despite these valid excuses, Mystics fans must have been a tad nervous after 14- and 21-point losses against Chicago and Phoenix, respectively. Washington couldn’t buy a bucket from distance, shooting a combined 9-for-58 from beyond the arc. The Mystics’ 0.58 points per possession in their opener against the Sky was their worst in a game since the 2011 season.
Enter Tina Charles. Per her postgame comments, playing against her former team provided her with an extra dose of motivation. It showed. The former MVP, Rookie of the Year, and seven-time all-star spearheaded a rejuvenated Mystics offense with a 34-point, 9-rebound effort in a 101-72 blowout win over the previously unbeaten New York Liberty Friday night. As the shot chart below illustrates, Charles’ versatility was on full display, dominating the paint while also knocking down 4-of-7 shots from long range. Her effective field goal percentage of 66.7% was her best since 2018 in games where she attempted at least 10 field goals. Yesterday’s loss against Indiana was a setback; however, seeing Charles put up gaudy numbers like these and knowing the roster will (hopefully) soon return to full strength might be enough to convince Mystics fans that the sky isn’t falling in the nation’s capital.
Second Star: Sabrina Ionescu - 26 points, 12 assists, 10 rebounds vs. Minnesota on 5/18
Anytime you do something that only eight other players in league history have accomplished, you’re probably going to make this list. Sabrina Ionescu’s 26 point, 12 assist, and 10 rebound performance Tuesday night against Minnesota was also the first triple-double in New York Liberty history. It was just her sixth professional basketball game. To understand the extent to which Ionescu’s historic performance was a team effort, take a look at Gabe Ibrahim’s WNBA Minute below.
Do you know what’s truly frightening for the rest of the league? Even when Ionescu doesn’t have her “A” game, she still has the ability to put up triple-double numbers. She had arguably her worst game of the season when New York crashed back down to Earth after a 101-72 drubbing against Washington Friday night. And yet, with seven points, four assists, and four rebounds at halftime, I couldn’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, she could tie the WNBA record for career triple-doubles...in her seventh professional game. Finishing with 10 points, six boards, and five assists, Ionescu fell short of this accolade. However, if you’re setting the over/under at 1.5 triple-doubles this season, I’ll take the “over” every day of the week and twice on Sunday. This translates to Sabrina Ionescu, in a single season, tying (or perhaps breaking) Sheryl Swoopes’ record of two career triple-doubles.
First Star: Breanna Stewart - 36 points, 11 rebounds, 5 blocks, 3 assists @ Dallas on 5/22
Anytime you do something that only five other players in league history have accomplished, you’re probably going to make this list. Breanna Stewart’s exploits Saturday night at Dallas are well-documented in the game recap above. What gives Stewie the top spot isn’t just the impressive stat line that only a handful of WNBA players have matched, nor is it accumulating the most points in a game in this young season. It’s what she did in overtime. Stewie took six of Seattle’s eight field goals in the extra frame, scoring eight of the Storm’s 14 points en route to a hard-fought win against a gritty Dallas squad. In the words of DJ Khaled, all she does is win.
Indiana debuts Stranger Things jerseys
Much (deserved) praise has been heaped on the new WNBA team jerseys produced by Nike, particularly the Rebel Edition. One of the designs that garnered a lot of attention was the Indiana Fever’s Stranger Things-themed uniforms, a nod to the Netflix show’s setting in Hawkins, Indiana. Ever since the team unveiled these to the public last month, fans have been eagerly awaiting their use during an actual game. That wait ended Friday night in the Fever’s matchup against Atlanta.
Adam’s Week 2 power rankings
Check out the Her Hoop Stats Twitter page (@herhoopstats) Tuesday for our team’s week 2 power rankings! These will be based on the votes of a panel of Her Hoop Stats contributors. As a member of this panel, below is my ballot of power rankings. Fair warning: Since getting people to agree on power rankings is about as easy as obtaining universal agreement on the best movie of all time (The Shawshank Redemption would of course be the correct answer), my list will almost certainly differ from the group’s collective output.
WNBA schedule this week (All times Eastern)
Here is a full listing of this week’s games, start times, and where you can catch the action.
Her Hoop Stats content in case you missed it
Her Hoop Stats released the following new podcast content this week:
On the Her Hoop Stats podcast, John Liddle chatted with legendary coach Van Chancellor about his time at the helm of the four-time WNBA champion Houston Comets.
From New York’s red-hot 3-0 start to Washington’s woes, Christy Winters-Scott and Gabe Ibrahim broke down the major storylines from the first full week of WNBA action on the latest episode of Courtside.
Megan Gauer and Aaron Barzilai discussed Seattle’s thrilling comeback against Minnesota and other WNBA headlines this past week on Unplugged.
The Phoenix Mercury currently have three players signed to supermax deals; this makes things a tad tricky when trying to fill out a roster while remaining under the $1,339,000 salary cap. Kim Doss provided insight into Phoenix’s roster construction, including how they resolved this issue.
In the most recent installment of his series on WNBA betting, Calvin Wetzel wrote about the ins and outs of single-game betting.
Different name, same great insight. The column formerly known as the W Dozen has returned under the name WNBA Dissected! From the Commissioner’s Cup to lineup deep dives (and much more), Richard Cohen covered a variety of topics in this week’s edition.
In the WNBA Minute on Her Hoop Stats' Twitter and Instagram (@herhoopstats), Gabe Ibrahim previews and recaps all the day’s action in the W. While Gabe’s video analyzing Seattle's shocking comeback against Minnesota is great, my personal favorite is this gem Gabe posted just before the start of the WNBA season. Belated apologies to my wife who had to listen to me play this on repeat during opening night, but the excitement is just so infectious!
The free-agent acquisition of Candace Parker transformed the Chicago Sky into a title contender overnight for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is her ability to initiate and run the fast break. Calvin Wetzel broke this down here.
Other recommended content
Katie Lou Samuelson helped her team win a Spanish League title; started for the Seattle Storm; and is now on her way to 3-on-3 Olympic qualifying in Austria. For the Hartford Courant, Alexa Philippou chronicled Katie Lou’s busy year and discussed her struggle to find her identity as a WNBA player.
For Swish Appeal, Cat Ariail reminisced about Seimone Augustus’ amazing fifteen-year WNBA career.
This past Thursday, the New York Liberty waived Layshia Clarendon. Nets Republic’s Christine Salek and Dani Bar-Lavi discussed how Clarendon’s time in New York and openness with being nonbinary impacted them as fellow nonbinary people in the sports world.
Sue Bird joined host Amna Nawaz on PBS’ NewsHour to discuss the WNBA’s leadership on racial and social justice issues and the importance of investment in women’s sports.
WNBA trivia questions of the week
The answers to last week’s questions will be posted on Twitter @herhoopstats. This week, we’re going to try something a bit different. Below is a timeline of when certain players held the record for a given statistic. Your job is to identify the player who completes the timeline (i.e., who fits in the “???” spot of the timeline). For example, in the Easier question below, Cynthia Cooper held the career points record from 1997-2000; Lisa Leslie broke the record in 2001 and held it through 2009, and then the person in question held the record from 2010-2016. Good luck!
Easier: Career Points: Cynthia Cooper (1997-2000) → Lisa Leslie (2001-2009) → ??? (2010-2016) → Diana Taurasi (2017-Present)
More Difficult: Career Rebounds: Lisa Leslie (1997-2015) → Tamika Catchings (2016-2017) → ??? (2018-2019) → Sylvia Fowles (2020-Present)
Ken Jennings-Level: Career Win Shares: Cynthia Cooper (1997-2002) → Sheryl Swoopes (2003) → Lisa Leslie (2004) → Sheryl Swoopes (2005) → Yolanda Griffith (2006-2008) → Lauren Jackson (2009-2011) → ??? (2012-Present)
Thanks for reading the Her Hoop Stats Newsletter. If you like our work, be sure to check out our stats site, our podcast, and our social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.