With an undefeated home record, the Los Angeles Sparks move up three spots to lead all teams in this weeks Power Rankings. Despite two road loses this week, the Connecticut Sun only dropped two spots to remain in the top 3, while the Washington Mystics are this week's most improved team, moving up from the number six spot to the second due to their dominance over each opponent this week and their first road win of the season.
| 2006 WNBA.com POWER RANKINGS: Week Four | |||||
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TEAM (last) |
W/L |
NOTES | ||
| 1 |
| 8-3 | The
Los Angeles Sparks remain undefeated at the Staples Center after winning three
in a row at home last week. Behind Lisa Leslie's solid all-around performance
(27pts,7rebs,8asts), the Sparks rolled past the Mercury on Tuesday, and continued
their home court dominance by beating the Sun and Monarchs. Mwadi Mabika took
the leading role and tied a league record with seven 3-pointers while scoring
a season-high 27 points Sunday against the Monarchs. Upcoming: vs. Houston, at Sacramento | ||
| 2 |
| 7-3 | After
losing their first three road games of the season, the Mystics finally overcame
their homesickness when they blew out the Charlotte Sting 96-77 on Thursday. Washington
proved they belong in the top five after winning all three of their games last
week by an average of 18 points per game. Upcoming: at New York, at Detroit | ||
| 3 |
| 7-3 | The
Connecticut Sun started the week with a five-game win streak and a number one
spot in the Power Rankings, but ended the week on a two-game skid and a number
three ranking. It would be unfair to place too much doubt and skepticism as road
teams are beginning to struggle everywhere, but the Sun could not handle their
two opponents' star players as the Lisa Leslie dropped 32 and the Mercury's Diana
Taurasi turned in a 35 point performance. Upcoming: at Charlotte, vs. Minnesota | ||
| 4 |
| 8-4 |
With Sheryl Swoopes leaving the game early with an ankle injury
on Wednesday, Tina Thompson led the attack with a 26 point performance as the
Houston Comets won against Sacramento in OT. The Comets then went on to split
the first two games of their current three-game road trip with a win at New York
on Friday and a loss at Detroit on Saturday. | ||
| 5 |
| 8-4 |
The Fever won two overtime games last week as they finished
the week with a 2-1 record. Led by Catchings' 30 point 9 rebound performance on
Tuesday, the Fever avoided an upset in New York. On Friday Catchings was not as
impressive as she was in their prior game, only scoring an uncharacteristic 3
points on 1-10 shooting. Luckily for the Fever, their star player bounced back
as she joined Tamika Whitmore to provide a one-two punch and knocking out the
Sting in their second overtime of the week on Sunday night. | ||
| 6 |
| 6-4 | If
only the Silver Stars could play every game on the road.... After finally winning
one at home last week, the Silver Stars won their fifth in a row on the road over
the expansion Chicago Sky on Saturday to improve their road record to an incredible
5-0. Upcoming: at Sacramento, at Seattle | ||
| 7 |
| 6-4 | Cheryl
Ford continues to be a force in the league. Behind Ford's averages of 15 points
and 16.5 rebounds, the Shock beat up on the Fever and Comets to go 2-0 last week
and are starting to look more consistent. Upcoming: at Charlotte, vs. Washington | ||
| 8 |
| 6-6 |
The Storm ended their five-game road trip, their longest of
the season, with a 2-3 record, with losses coming at the hands of the Sun, Fever,
and Monarchs, and wins against the Sky and Lynx. If Seattle wants to be an elite
team in this league, they must find a way to beat the the better teams in the
WNBA, even on the road. | ||
| 9 |
| 5-5 |
The Monarchs finished last week 1-2 with their only win coming
on Saturday over the Seattle Storm. Led by Kara Lawson's 13 second half points,
the Monarchs rallied in the fourth to beat the Storm 76-74. On Sunday, Los Angeles'
Mabika was too much as the Monarch's lost 80-69 in LA in an attempt to win their
second in a row. | ||
| 10 |
| 5-6 | Seimone
Augustus and the Minnesota Lynx bounced back from back-to-back losses to the Storm
and Silver Stars earlier in the week by beating the Phoenix Mercury 94-82 on Sunday.
Augustus responded back from a 7-point performance with her second 32 point game
of the week on Sunday. Upcoming: at Connecticut, vs. New York | ||
| 11 |
| 3-6 | There
really is not much more Diana Taurasi can do to help the Mercury win. Taurasi
scored 32, 35, and 23 in the Mercury's three games last week, which only amounted
to a 1-2 record for Phoenix. However, the Mercury proved they could beat the leagues
best by defeating the Sun, 91-86. Upcoming: at Seattle, vs. Indiana | ||
| 12 |
| 3-6 | The
Sting played three games last week and lost all of them. After beating Indiana
the week before in their only win in their past six games, the Fever got their
revenge by defeating the Sting in overtime on Sunday, thus extending Charlotte's
losing streak to three. Upcoming: at Seattle, vs. Indiana | ||
| 13 |
| 2-9 | This
just isn't the year for New York basketball.... The New York Liberty went for
their first back-to-back victories of the season on Tuesday, but Tamika Catchings'
game winner at the buzzer in overtime saw the losing ways continue. The Liberty
could not bounce back from that heartbreaking loss as they lost to Houston at
home and Washington on the road to end the week 0-3. Upcoming: vs. Washington, at Minnesota | ||
| 14 |
| 1-8 | The
Sky now have not won a game since May 20th, their first of the season. The Sky
could not overcome a third quarter run by the Storm on Thursday as they lost 74-61,
and continued to have a difficult expansion year as they lost to the Silver Stars
69-65 on Saturday. Upcoming: at Indiana, vs. Connecticut | ||
