Oakwood Live From Press Row - Storm vs. New York
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Oakwood Live From Press Row Archive
It is a Final
Second Half: Storm 87, New York 78
Seattle indeed hits its free throws and time runs out on the Liberty in an 87-78 Storm win. Seattle gets its third straight win and gets back above .500 on the season at 11-10. The Storm continues to have fun and play with confidence, and when this team does that, it's going to be very successful. Great games for Iziane Castro Marques (career highs of 20 points and four 3-pointers) and Janell Burse (15 points, 11 rebounds) lead the way as the Storm did a great job defensively and in transition in the first half to take an insurmountable lead.
Time On Our Side
Second Half: Storm 78, New York 69
The teams trading scores a little bit, with Suzy Batkovic scoring seven points in a row to push the Storm's lead to 12 but New York getting a 3 and now at the free-throw line. But the big issue is the clock, and that reads 1:03 right now. If the Storm hits its free throws, this will be a win.
LJ Update
Second Half: Storm 74, New York 66
Jackson has a sprained right ankle. Her return is questionable.
On the court, Jackson's Australian mate Suzy Batkovic is trying to get the Storm going. Batkovic's 3-pointer pushes the lead back to 10 temporarily, and now she'll go to the free-throw line with the Storm leading 74-66 with 2:40 left and The Train going on on the court during the timeout.
Insult to Injury
Second Half: Storm 71, New York 64
Taking advantage of whistle-happy referees and the momentum break of Lauren Jackson's injury, the New York Liberty has gone on a 13-0 run to get back within seven at the 4:12 mark, 71-64. The Storm needs a couple of momentum plays to turn this game around in their favor.
Downer
Second Half: Storm 68, New York 48
The only thing that could interrupt a great night for the Storm is injury, and Lauren Jackson has gone off the court with assistance from Storm trainer Annmarie Henkel and equipment manager Skyler Young. She appeared to injure her right ankle and was putting light but not complete pressure on the ankle. We'll pass along an update if there is one.
Storm Cruising
Second Half: Storm 68, New York 46
With Seattle up 22 and just under eight minutes to go in the game, not a lot of game-related stuff to talk about (except a quick mention that Janell Burse has 13 points and 10 rebounds, her second double-double of the season and the third of her WNBA career). On the New York side, Oregon product Catherine Kraayeveld, a native of the East side, is making her WNBA debut.
Izzy! Izzy! Izzy!
Second Half: Storm 58, New York 36
Storm getting a big lift right now from Iziane Castro Marques. She's got eight of the Storm's last 11 points and is up to 17 on the game on sizzling 6-for-9 shooting. That puts her a bucket away from tying her career high. Not really big games for Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson, but Izzy, Janell Burse (nine points, eight boards) and Betty Lennox (14 points) have been big.
Storm Sloppy
Second Half: Storm 47, New York 32
Not the start to the second half Anne Donovan wanted. After an LJ layup on the first play of the second half, the Liberty has scored six straight points, including two straight Vickie Johnson layups off of Storm turnovers. Seattle has three turnovers in as many possessions.
The Rookies, Part Two
Halftime: Storm 45, New York 26
To answer the question David Locke posed earlier (and I repeated on the blog): Yes, one other WNBA team has four rookies. That's the Sacramento Monarchs. But their four rookies have never even all been active at the same time (at least one has been on the injured list), let alone all played together.
Up Big at Half
Halftime: Storm 45, New York 26
The New York Liberty has to be the only group in this arena happy to see a pause in this game. The Storm finishes the first half on a 28-6 run to take a 19-point lead to the locker room, Seattle's largest of the season. Really, the last 10 minutes were about as close to perfection as you're going to get. The Storm scored on nine straight possessions at one point and held New York scoreless for a 6:24 stretch. Friday's win over San Antonio looks increasingly more and more like the turning point of the Storm's season.
Running
First Half: Storm 41, New York 22
KeyArena is rocking right now and David Locke is absolutely losing his mind a foot to my left. Why? The Seattle Storm is on one of its 2004 trademark runs. Seattle is on a 24-2 run right now, including 15-2 since New York point guard Becky Hammon picked up her third foul and was replaced by rookie Loree Moore. Everything going the Storm's way right now. Seattle is shooting 60.0% while New York has missed eight of its last nine shots and has committed 10 turnovers (the Liberty averages 13). Surprising Pattie Coyle went so long without taking a timeout.
The Rookies
First Half: Storm 24, New York 20
Since Tanisha Wright checked into the game, the Storm has reeled off a 7-0 run to take their first lead of the game. During the run, Suzy Batkovic also checked in to give the Storm four rookies on the court with Lauren Jackson. As David Locke points out, how many other teams play four rookies at all, let alone together? (Let alone play well with them together.) Francesca Zara is really getting it going, scoring three points. Here's what Donovan had to say about Zara pregame:
"Her experience is really starting to come through for us, and she's a great shooter, so against zones like we saw against L.A. … If she's not hitting - she doesn't have to be hitting - she moves the ball very well against the zone."
Bird/LJ Quiet
First Half: New York 18, Storm 15
Only two Storm players have scored points in the first 8:18 - Betty Lennox has 10 and Izzy Castro Marques five. That means neither Sue Bird nor Lauren Jackson has gotten on the board yet. That's a particular surprise in LJ's case, as she's being single-covered by the Liberty defensively. Yet LJ has missed her first three shots. The Storm needs to get her going and cut off the Liberty backcourt, which has 12 points combined.
3s Wild
First Half: New York 12, Storm 11
Already four 3-pointers, two a side, as we head to our first media timeout. The Storm has stayed hot from downtown from the last two games, while New York may be getting the run Anne Donovan expects them to go on any time now (but hopefully not tonight).
"They're very much like us in that they're not shooting the ball well out there, but we know they're very capable," said Donovan. "I think they're barely at 30% and they're so capable. They're like us; if they get hot, we're in trouble."
Betty Lennox very active early for the Storm and has eight points already.
Chelle Likely Out
Pregame
Storm forward Alicia Thompson looked 100% better today than she did yesterday, when she was stuck in street clothes during the Storm's practice. Thompson was in her jersey and warm-ups before the game, but she'll still probably watch from the sidelines tonight despite no serious back injury being discovered yesterday.
"Nothing came up in her MRI, so we're thinking she sprained her SI joint," said Anne Donovan. "We're hopeful that Saturday she'll be able to go."
Signing On
Pregame
A couple of .500 teams square off tonight at KeyArena, but they're going in different directions. The Seattle Storm feels like it may have turned a corner after wins this weekend over San Antonio and Los Angeles. New York, meanwhile, starts a four-game West Coast trip off of a loss to Minnesota. Can the Storm keep the hot 3-point shooting going and get a third straight win? We'll find out tonight.
