2019 Opening Weekend Recap

Brian Martin

After a busy offseason that encompassed free agency, trades, injuries, draft picks, training camps, preseason games and roster cuts, the 2019 WNBA season finally opened this weekend with each team in action over the past three days.

Let’s take a closer look at what went down and which players and teams made the best first impressions after 72 hours of WNBA hoops.

Friday, May 24

Atlanta Dream 76, Dallas Wings 72

Dream

Last season, the Dream used their top-ranked defense to lead them to a franchise-record 23 wins. One game into the 2019 season and it was more of the same for Atlanta as they blocked 11 shots and held Dallas to 35.1% shooting – the top marks of any team in the league this weekend – en route to a 76-72 win.

The Dream needed that strong defensive effort after getting just five points from Tiffany Hayes – last season’s leading scorer. Picking up the offensive slack was Jessica Breland (17 points on 6-13 FG) and Renee Montgomery (15 points on 5-7 FG, 3-4 3P). Breland’s three-point play with 1:17 to play put the Dream up for good as they outscored the Wings 29-17 in the fourth quarter.

Wings

The Wings dug themselves a nine-point hole early in the game as their starters struggled. Sparked by their bench, the Wings used an 18-1 run spanning the first and second quarters to get back in the game and take a nine-point lead of their own. In a back-and-forth third quarter, Dallas’ lead dwindled a tie, but then pushed to a game-high 10 points, with the Wings again going to their bench.

Starters: 33 points, 13-41 FG (31.7%), 3-12 3P (25%)
Bench: 39 points, 13-33 FG (39.4%), 5-12 3P (41.7%)

Dallas led all teams in bench scoring during the opening weekend, but tied for last in points from its starters. The bench was led by Allisha Gray (who finished with a team-high 14 points) and Brooke McCarty-Williams (who had eight points and eight assists in a game-high 29 minutes). Rookie Arike Ogumbowale was the only starter to score in double figures as she had 12 points on 5-16 shooting in her WNBA debut.

Indiana Fever 81, New York Liberty 80

Fever

Last season, it took 11 games for the Fever to get their first win as they opened the year 0-10. This season, it took just one game as Indiana knocked off New York on the road 81-80 thanks to a game-winning buzzer-beating layup by rookie Teaira McCowan.

The No. 3 pick in the draft had 11 points, six rebounds, two blocks and five fouls in 14 minutes off the Fever bench, but was on the court in the game’s deciding possession. Many players can go their entire career with hitting a buzzer beater to win a game; McCowan did it in her first game as a pro.

In addition to McCowan’s game winner, the Fever also got a team-high 22 points off the bench from Tiffany Mitchell as she went 4-10 from the field but 13-14 from the free throw line.

Liberty

The Liberty were the only home team to lose on opening weekend as they were unable to get a stop in the game’s final possession after Tina Charles gave New York the lead with a pair of free throws with seven seconds remaining.

Charles was dominant as usual with a WNBA leading 32 points to go with 12 rebounds for the 149th double-double of her career. But after finishing last season as the Liberty’s only double-digit scorer, a major question for this team is which player(s) would help Charles and take some of the offensive pressure of her back.

New York had just two other double-digit scorers in this game – second-year guard Kia Nurse with 12 on 3-10 shooting and 10 from Reshanda Gray, who shot 5-7 in under 14 minutes off the bench. Rookie Asia Durr had eight points on 3-8 shooting in 25 minutes in her WNBA debut.

Saturday, May 25

Seattle Storm 77, Phoenix Mercury 68

Storm

The Storm received their 2018 championship rings and unveiled a championship banner in their temporary home at Angel of the Wings Arena in Everett, Washington before facing Phoenix in a rematch of last year’s epic five-game semifinal series. After trailing by as many as 11 points in the first half, the Storm rallied behind a 21-point, 16-rebound, five-steal performance from Natasha Howard and strong second halves from Jewell Loyd and Jordin Canada to earn a 77-68 win to begin their title defense.

After scoring just three points on 0-3 shooting in the first half, Loyd scored 14 in the second half on 4-7 shooting from the field and 4-4 from the line. Canada – starting at point guard for the injured Bird – had six turnovers in the first half and picked up her seventh less than a minute into the second half. However, she did not commit another turnover the rest of the way and scored eight of her 16 points in the fourth quarter as the Storm held off the Mercury.

Mercury

The Storm weren’t the only team short-handed on opening day as the Mercury started the season without Diana Taurasi and Sancho Lyttle. Phoenix got a combined 49 points and 16 rebounds from DeWanna Bonner and Brittney Griner, but just 19 points from everyone else, with rookie Alanna Smith accounting for all three of the Mercury’s bench points.

Bonner led all players with 31 points, including 15 straight for the Mercury during a four-minute burst spanning the third and fourth quarters to cut the Seattle lead to one, but the Storm responded with a 10-2 run to keep the Mercury at bay.

Connecticut Sun 84, Washington Mystics 69

Sun

Last season, the Sun were the only team in the WNBA with five players to average in double figure points. Even with leading scorer Chiney Ogwumike traded to Los Angeles, the Sun still have plenty of players that can provide that balanced scoring attack. In Game 1 of the 2019 season it was Alyssa Thomas who shined with 23 points on 11-15 shooting to go with eight rebounds and four assists.

The Mystics were locked in on slowing down Jonquel Jones – who still finished with 10 points and 14 rebounds, but her eight shot attempts were the fewest of any Sun starter. But that defensive focus opened things up for Thomas and others to take advantage as the Sun put up 84 points in the win over Washington.

Mystics

The Mystics opened the game shorthanded with Elena Delle Donne (knee soreness), Aerial Powers (gluteal injury) and rookie Kiara Leslie (torn meniscus) all out of the lineup. Then things got worse as Kristi Toliver had to leave the game and spent nearly the entire fourth quarter with ice on her right leg. On Monday, the team announced she has a quad contusion and is listed as day-to-day.

Washington’s offense struggled to get going, with Emma Meesseman leading the team with 14 points on 6-13 shooting. As a team, the Mystics shot just 37.5% from the field and went just 3-21 (14.3%) from beyond the arc. This was not the type of performance the team had envisioned when they opened camp with lofty expectations of making a return trip to the Finals. Of course, that was before this wave of injuries hit. Washington has to hope to get healthy quickly so they can live up to their team motto this season and “run it back.”

Minnesota Lynx 89, Chicago Sky 71

Lynx

A new era of Lynx basketball got off to a great start thanks to a brilliant debut from rookie Napheesa Collier, who had 27 points on 8-10 shooting, six rebounds, three blocks and two steals in her first WNBA game. Add a double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds) from Sylvia Fowles and 11 points and five assists from Odyssey Sims in her Lynx debut and it equaled the biggest win of the weekend in the WNBA, 89-71.

What makes Collier’s debut even more impressive is the fact that she’s playing a new position. After being a post player her entire collegiate career, the Lynx have moved Collier to the wing since she joined the team after April’s draft. Well the work she has put in over the past month has paid off as she looked comfortable on the perimeter – she hit 3-of-4 shots from three after shooting 15-53 from deep as a senior in college – but has the size and post skills to exploit mismatches on cuts and dives to the basket.

So without the mainstays from years past – Maya Moore (out for season), Lindsay Whalen (retired) or Seimone Augustus (knee) – or free agent addition Karima Christmas-Kelly (knee) available, the Lynx were just fine in their season opener.

Sky

In addition to not having an answer for Collier, the Sky could not keep pace with the Lynx offensively on Saturday. They shot 40% from the field as a team and just 3-13 (23.1%) from beyond the arc. Gabby Williams and Kahleah Cooper led the team with 11 points apiece, with Allie Quigley and newcomer Jantel Lavender both adding 10 points. The Sky starters combined for 33 points – tied with Dallas for the lowest total of the weekend.

One outlier is that Diamond DeShields finished scoreless on 0-7 shooting in just 11 minutes. The second-year wing played under four minutes in the first half as she racked up three personal fouls. In the second half, she missed all six of her shot attempts before exiting the game early in the fourth quarter.

Courtney Vandersloot was dishing dimes as she always does as she had eight of Chicago’s 19 assists, but she shot just 3-10 from the field and missed all three of her long-range attempts on the day.

Sunday, May 26

Las Vegas Aces 83, Los Angeles Sparks 70

Aces

Las Vegas made the biggest splash of the offseason by adding MVP runner-up Liz Cambage to its roster. And while the marquee outside of Mandalay Bay welcomed Cambage to Vegas, she was not in uniform for the season opener against the Sparks. The Aces didn’t need her on Sunday as reigning Rookie of the Year A’ja Wilson had 21 points and 11 rebounds and Kayla McBride added 20 points as Las Vegas earned an 83-70 win over L.A.

Top pick Jackie Young had eight points and has yet to miss a shot in her WNBA career as she made all four of her attempts on Sunday. Kelsey Plum added 11 points and six assists and Dearica Hamby had a double-double off the bench for Las Vegas. It was an impressive start to the season, but the question on everyone’s minds after the game was some variety of this: If the Aces look this good without Cambage, how good will they be once she gets back on the court?

Sparks

The Derek Fisher era did not get off to the start that the Sparks had hoped for as the team suffered its first season-opening loss since the 2015 season. The Sparks were without Candace Parker, who will be sidelined for a few more weeks after suffering a hamstring injury during the preseason.

Second-year center Maria Vadeeva had a career-high 24 points on 11-20 shooting for L.A. and Nneka Ogwumike posted a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. While those two players combined to shoot 18-36 (50%) from the field, the rest of the team shot just 10-41 (24.4%). Chiney Ogwumike had a Sparks debut she’d love to forget as she scored just two points on 1-10 shooting in 20 minutes off the Sparks bench.

The Ogwumike sisters shared the floor for just five minutes in their first game together in seven years. The Sparks were outscored by one point during those five minutes.

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