Final score: Storm 81 – Lynx 67 (W) (16-17)

Submitted by Norwester

I actually feel pretty good about this win. Sure, I would have preferred putting a bit more "hurt" on the Lynx after getting blown out by 20+ in Minnesota, and yes, I would have liked the starters to be able to get more rest. But despite seeming out of sync for much of the game, we never let up on the effort. Even when scoring only 10 points in the 3rd we still held the Lynx to 10 themselves. The defense overall perhaps wasn't great, but it was consistently there. This wasn't a pretty game to watch. In fact, it was curiously flat until some fireworks at the end, that frankly the refs set up by not calling any of the hard fouls underneath as the Lynx suddenly turned into Detroit or LA. With 1:30 left? OK, with Augustus on your team you may have a chance to rally, so I can understand going hard after every ball. But with 30 seconds left and down more than 10? Let it go. Except the Lynx weren't, and with 3.7 seconds left Stansbury got tangled up with Wendy again at the end of a play, and Wendy wasn't having any more of it. This is where Ashley flew out of nowhere to have her most important block of the night: separating the two players. I kind of wish something like it had happened earlier. Weren't we saying the Storm needed a good rumble to get the blood flowing? For a minute there it seemed like it would be Lauren vs the rest of the team her level of frustration was so high, but I much prefer a Storm vs Lynx match-up. Anyway, in the end, it was a win. Wendy was interviewed by Alan post-game and really kind of put it in perspective: they were out of sync, but just wanted to win any way they could; that's basketball; you gotta just keep plugging away, executing. To the team it's about finishing the season strong going into the play-offs, about getting "all you guys" (us) here. They realized all game that they needed a win, and everyone played hard. I agree. Earlier in the season we lost games like this, but we won this one, and it's more than just a moral victory. I'm actually pleased.

The Lynx chose to warm up in "defensive" formation, so the Storm were playing defense at our end 2nd half. LJ and Sue were at the scorer's table chatting with Adia early. Izi joined them and they all stretched. Doneeka had been sitting on some courtside seats, so she came out too. LJ and Sue both seemed to be in good spirits, laughing with each other. I was dismayed to see ref #15 listed. I remember a previous game where he and #10 reffed (you'd think it would be auspicious, at least based purely on numbers...but you'd be wrong). Happily, they were pretty evenly bad, until they let the game get totally out of control in the waning seconds. Note: calling ticky-tack fouls on the perimeter while ignoring a general melee in the paint is not a way to calm everyone down. #4 and #55 also joined him.

The anthem was well-sung by Sarah Raudinoff (I don't know if I wrote her last name down properly). She had impressive power, particularly on the low notes, and kept it at a good tempo. During intros the crowd tried to react and give Teresa Edwards some love, as a Lynx assistant coach, but the PA guy blew right through her name...his second such mistake of the season (Sandy Brondello being the first)...does he have no sense of history? Augustus got the lion's share of the Lynx applause. For a rather small, Tuesday night crowd, I felt like the fans got into it appropriately.

We (Betty) turned the ball over right away. Next play Betty fell down, but Ashley grabbed the defensive rebound and got it quickly ahead to Sue, who gave it back to Ashley assisting her bucket! Ashley's defense and offense were all you could ask for in the early going, though foul trouble and who knows what kept her on the bench for a distressing amount of the game. LJ also got in some early foul trouble (from my vantage I couldn't tell if it was a flop or a foul when Ohlde hit the deck on LJ's first) and was clearly frustrated much of the game. Her shot wasn't quite there, and she seemed more tired tonight than she did on Saturday. Perhaps it's all finally catching up to her. A lot of her shots she also seemed to miss long, perhaps overcompensating for how tired she felt. Her effort was still there, even if she did lag behind a bit running down the court to get on offense, and in one defensive series she got like 2 blocks and a steal. But then, we weren't pushing our offense like we did so well against the Mystics, running the floor and getting transition shots. I don't know if that's because we were tired, or if the Lynx played too much defense. That's all right, Izi was really on, and finished several times with contact here in the early going, often set up by LJ's defense. Ashley also hit a couple of sweet mid-range shots. Who knew? We built a small lead. Sue's eye ran into Ohlde's elbow to draw an o-foul on Ohlde. At least it was just her eye, though she did mess with it for a bit. Ouch! The refs were predictably whistle-happy in just the wrong way, and we kept leaving their 3-point shooters open. LJ got called for her 2nd foul before the quarter was over (another questionable call by #15, ironically), and grimaced at her play as she went to the bench to be replaced by Wendy. Izi also came to the bench for T, and had the trainer look at her arm. Happily, Betty got hot at the end of the quarter to keep us up. 1Q: 22-18

T, Ashley, Wendy, Katie and Betty started the 2nd, while LJ rested on the bench, and Sue spoke intently with Heidi. Tanisha had some brilliant defensive sets face-guarding Augustus. LJ went in for Ashley a few minutes in, and A-rob got good applause from an appreciative crowd for her efforts. Our tempo remained slower than that at which we play our best (in my opinion). With 3 minutes to go we had a pretty good lead. LJ was getting good rebounds, and our persistence was paying off; we seemed to really be getting in sync, up 38-26. Sadly, out of the time out the wheels kind of came off. LJ was clearly annoyed at her repeated misses (though she ended up 3-7 for the half, which isn't horrible for an average player), and was slow getting up and down the court, but played some excellent defense, at least. The crowd was in disarray as well, yelling scattered things to the team, but really just waiting for something to go our way while the Lynx kept hitting shots. Also, some suspect calls (though I'm sure some were legitimate ) kept putting Minnesota on the line. HT: 40-37 Polite applause into the locker room.

All right, so despite our uneven play, I didn't feel that anyone in the arena was worried that we might lose the game. I kept thinking if we had a good third quarter (even half as good as the Mystics game) that we could blow the game wide open. I mean, we were up by 12 or 14 or something in the 2nd. Anyway, the players trickled out onto the court at about the 4:30 mark. Izi and T...Katie 30 seconds later...Doneeka. Finally Wendy, Shyra and Sue came out, and at this point clapping for the returning team began. LJ trailed everyone. Stats were pretty even for the half. We shot a handful more free throws, but had more turnovers . And our woes didn't magically clear up to start the 3rd. Sue and LJ both missed good shots (within the flow of the offense), but despite playing pretty good defense and boarding decently, you need to score to protect a lead as well, and 2 and a half minutes in we were all still standing (waiting to score ) and the Lynx took the lead 40-41. Sigh. Happily, Betty responded by rebounding an LJ miss and scoring on a put-back, but play continued in a similar sloppy and flat manner. Despite clearly giving it her all in the effort category, LJ just seemed completely out of sync. After 6 minutes we were only up 44-43, and the only real positive is that we were controlling Minnesota to mitigate the travails of our offense. With just over 2 minutes to go LJ finally hit one of her patented turnaround jumpers, and that was probably the most (positive) reaction the crowd had that quarter. Everyone was pulling for her so much. There are just certain people on the team that you want to keep shooting no matter how much they miss, and LJ is firmly in that category. Also, I know we aren't tracking it, but that bucket also put her in double figures. T almost made a shot at the buzzer off a steal. (Hey, at this point it was whatever we could get). 3Q: 50-47 I think the score says it all.

Between quarters was a fan dance-off for the Ocean Spray Crazy Fan of the Game that surreally turned into two guys in different parts of the arena doing the robot. Huh. To get the weirdness out of our mouths Izi scored right away to start the 4th! Dampening our elation, the PA Guy randomly yelled "Lau-ren Jack-son!" to which the crowd responded by yelling "Izi!" He issued a correction, but that was kind of bizarre as well. The fans all audibly "oooh'd" in admiration when Betty fired a crazy pass over her head behind her to LJ. Things were looking good and we were creeping ahead. Whew. T threw a nice pass to Wendy for &1 that got much of the arena to their feet, then Sue checked in, recovered a Lynx turnover, Sue to LJ to Sue on a fast break and suddenly we were up by 10, 61-51 and the crowd was up and loud! Sadly, we didn't get to see much of Ashley due to foul trouble, though I thought she could have been played more to try and establish a rhythm. But Wendy was giving us good minutes, and hit a 3 to keep us up 10 (perhaps not the shot we wanted, but it went in, so hey!).

LJ hit a 3 to everyone's absolute delight, to put us up 70-59, but it was clear that her frustration was mounting as everything wasn't quite clicking for our MVP. With just under 3 minutes to go, still up 70-59, LJ really put forth some extra effort in grabbing a rebound, and when she came down with it Betty was under her and she lost control of the ball and it went out of bounds. Time out. LJ was not a happy camper. I don't feel that her ire was really directed at anyone specifically, unless it was herself, but was rather a general frustration with her game, and circumstances in general. Earlier she'd had words for Tanisha, who allowed a Lynx to shoot over her without even putting her arms up, but that's what she should be doing as team captain. She also had a long chat with Betty at one point on the court, but Betty was nodding, and they were pointing around the court, so clearly despite her own frustration, she wasn't taking it out on anyone in particular. Anyway, she kicked the end standard, at this point, didn't slap anyone's hands, and practically body-checked Anne Donovan as she brushed by and flopped down on the bench.

Anyway, Anne finally cleared the bench, basically (Ashley, Izi, T, Katie and Wendy). There was about a minute left, and we all got up on our feet to cheer our team to the finish line. Who knew the real fireworks were yet to come? Minnesota trapped Izi in the corner pretty roughly, slapping at her, and the refs called a jump ball to the crowd's displeasure because she was pretty well mugged. The Lynx were playing an extremely physical brand of basketball, and the foul-calls were numerous, really slowing down the end of the game. It started to get ridiculous, compounded by a curious lack of referee reaction on some of the more physical plays. With 18 seconds left Wendy was hammered to the ground as she went for a rebound, and the refs merely said the ball was out of bounds on the Lynx. This drew a spate of boos from crowd at the lack of a foul...but pretty soon another foul was called which didn't mollify the fans at all, judging by the continued scattered yelling and booing. It was getting ugly out there, and finally came to a head with Stansbury once again nearly took Wendy's head off and remained tangled up until Wendy shoved her off with 4 seconds to go! Give me the smallest break; the game is over! Wendy went after her, but Ashley stopped her and the respective teams gathered around to stop the altercation, accompanied by the vehement boos of the fans. It was actually kind of fun, and we could have used it earlier in the game to perhaps inject some spice into the bland proceedings. Anyway, foul on Stansbury, double technical...but the fault lies firmly with the refs for losing control of the game at the end. Wendy went to the line to BIG cheers, and the buzzer finally sounded. You have to give the Lynx some credit for playing hard at the end, but there has to be a line, too, and they kind of crossed it. But whatever.

Run-off

Not only did we get drink bottles with the Storm logo on them coming in the doors, but we could also pick up a snack pack of orange-flavored Craisins. I don't mind Craisins, but the orange flavoring was a bit much. For me.

Throughout the game now they play this "Are You In?" montage that's pretty cool, accompanied by the commercial exhorting us to renew our season tickets.

Betty has been on the AV a lot with her life-jacket PSA, and tonight was no different. It amuses me every time, though, because she's so enthusiastic in her delivery.

StormVision featured footage and interviews from the STH party Sunday at Woodland Park Zoo. I saw a bunch of people I know. Adia said it was especially fun to get outdoors and enjoy the great Seattle weather. She also mentioned how fun it is to see the same people year after year, living and dying with the Storm, a good core group of loyal fans. Sue said the fans help them win, and it's nice to actually meet some of them. JB echoed that sentiment, saying it's nice to get out and talk with people. KB and Anne both had some screen time. AD kissed a bunch of babies. Katie helped a little girl place in the sack race by picking her up and running with her.

Alan & Adia pre-game talked about how incredible Betty was last game, but also LJ had 16 in the 3rd, and really everyone chipped in in a total team effort. Against Minnesota it's important to turn on the defensive effort, especially given how we played recently in Minnesota.

Accessories: LJ, Betty and Astou all have black knee braces on their right knees, though Astou's is the most substantial by a bit. Izi had her black ankle braces on during warm-ups, but took them off for the game. And of course Betty had the big black brace on her left wrist. In addition, LJ seems to be sporting a new tattoo on her left triceps.

The All-State Peterson Agency presented the Ballard Boys & Girls Club with a $2,000 check pre-game.

There was a big ol' Mary Kay table set up outside the Key on the West side. I believe they also sponsored some events during the game. Maybe.

Junior Captains were presented balls signed by Sue, LJ, and Abrosimova & Tamika Raymond for the Lynx.

I love how the lights dim and the LED ring flashes bright white like lightning pre-game, accompanied by thunder sound effects. This really sets the mood, I think.

The customary Discover Card free-throw shoot-out contest was held between the 1st and 2nd, with the prize being a $50 Discover Card gift card. Both girls shot pretty well, but the one in front of the Storm bench won handily.

Storm Movie Magic by Izi: "Hasta la vista, baby." The girl guessing wanted to say Terminator, but everyone kept yelling that it was T2 (it had the little boy in the scene), and saying that she'd probably get lynched if she chose T1, she correctly stated her guess as "Terminator 2". The crowd was happy.

Towards the end of the 2nd quarter they held the Ocean Spray Craisins Crazy Lay-ups, that old classic where two little kids dress up in big basketball player jerseys, shorts and shoes and race to the other end of the court for a lay-up. The little girl in the Sue jersey easily beat the little boy in the Katie jersey. She just dressed faster.

Half-time entertainment involved the Ocean Spray $50,000 Shoot Out sponsored by Ocean Spray and Fred Meyer. Money was awarded for each of 4 shots made within 24 seconds, and contestants were responsible for getting their own rebounds: $100 lay-up, $500 free throw, $1000 3-point shot, and the big money $50,000 for a made half-court shot. Both contestants (Darwin and Jack) made off with $700 for a made lay-up and free throw. Better than a stick in the eye, that's for sure. Each was presented with a big check at center court.

Go Green Tip of the Game from Katie Gearlds: you can lower your CO2 emissions by about 1600 pounds per year by taking public transportation 2 days per week.

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