Final score: Storm 86 – Silver Stars 72 (W) (14-2)

Submitted by | LaurenRules

Officials
Denise Brooks, Scott Twardoski, and Jeffery Smith.

Attendance
7823

Pre-Game
Aside from the officious staff person, warm-ups seemed fairly normal. SASS team fussing with their warmups again. They seemed less energized and enthused than they did the last time they were here. The scoreboard actually listed Sue as starting and the jumbotron showed her in back, with the rest of the team, wearing full sweats (not just the tops and shorts like everyone else), but she didn’t come out and warm up. A few minutes later, the scoreboard shifted to show Svet starting. Poor Sue.

The community partner was the Detlef Schrempf Foundation. He wasn’t there to cheer us on, though.

Honorary co-captains
I thought I recognized one or both of Jilly’s little dudes? They were seriously cute.

Fashion Statement
Agler all in blue with a beige-olive tie. Nancy D in black, with a nice red top. She looks better in a little color. Jenny Boo in a white suit, with a pattern red and white top. She really is so soignee. On the other side, Sandy and Olaf were both in black suits; Sandy in a magenta top and Olaf in a casual-looking cream top that somehow looked very debonair. The award goes to Donna Orender, though, first for coming to our game, second for the black dress and periwinkle pashmina shawl ensemble, ( mainly because I just like to type the word “pashmina.” Otherwise, it would have been a tie between Olaf and Jenny).

Sue came out and sat on the bench, sporting her full sweats and an unhappy smile. During player introductions, Doppler came out, carrying a sign that was a huge photo depiction of his head, and other the other side said, “NOT IN OUR HOUSE.” I think he might have a touch of narcissism, if mascots can have personality disorders. NMD? Anyway. Highly tepid applause for the Stars, decent ovations for former Storm players Edwige and Sandy, but nothing special.

It was sad to see Sue walking out, very carefully, when our team was announced, but great that A-Rob and others sat beside her, talking and laughing and cheering her up. They actually made her laugh a few times (and not just at the unfortunate Appel spill). What a great team we have. Not just great players (although they are), but great PEOPLE.

First Quarter
LJ won the tip easily, but then it was airball city. Svet put one up, then Swin, then LJ, and then T as we went scoreless for nearly three minutes. On the plus side, Holdsclaw hit a jumper, but, other than that, we held them scoreless. Finally, T took matters into her own hands and drove right to the basket and scored. Relief! Fans sat down. More missed shots. T drove again and missed, but LJ put it back in. Svet picked up a foul, that really looked as though Edwige Lawson-Wade tripped and fell at her feet. Snow tried to put in a jumper, but LJ blocked her. Camille grabbed the board and T went coast-to-coast and hit another layup.

Snow hit a jumper. T kept her head and ran the offense, eventually feeding Camille who sunk a layup. ELW missed a three. Camille snagged the board again (her THIRD in the first five-plus minutes) and T drove AGAIN, pulling up for a jumper – and we were ahead 10-4 with 4:30 to go in the first quarter.

Clearly unhappy, Sandy called a timeout. During the interval, we had the usual product placement, which, this time, featured several items from the team store, at 25% off. Alaska Airlines seat upgrade.

Le’coe came in. Camille sat. Young hacked Lauren, who made both free throws. Not really the way you want to come out of a timeout, San Antonio. I’m just saying. Alison came in for Svet. On the very next play, Lauren stole the ball from Darling who fouled her. Tanisha missed a jumper. Le’coe snagged the rebound, but T was whistled for traveling. That looked a LOT like a foul to me. Not to be undone, Darling was whistled for traveling on the very next play, Alison doing a great job to force that turnover.

Lauren missed a jumper, but snagged her own rebound and put it back in. For such a tall team, San Antonio really doesn’t rebound well at all – although they do a great job hacking and slashing under the basket and NOT GETTING CALLED FOR IT. Anyway. Alison missed a three. Snow finally hit a jumper. Foul on Le’coe. Camille sat. A-Rob came in. Foul on A-Rob. Young hit both free throws. Foul on Young. Jeez, after letting them play for about eight minutes, the refs were whistling everything that moved. Weird. Alison missed another 3. Holdsclaw whistled for traveling, but stole it right back from T and missed the 3.

SEA 14 – 8 SASS

Interval
Go Green tip. Storm Dance Troupe. They’re getting a lot more acrobatic, doing aerials and walkovers. One little guy did a Russian Cossack dance move in mid-air. Very cool.

Second Quarter
San Antonio ball. Hodges missed a three, Appel grabbed the rebound and Lauren theoretically fouled her. Holdsclaw made a jumper. She must have been amazing in her prime, and still has some great moves. Agler put Tanisha back in and Alison sat. Camille missed a jumper. Hammon put up a layup that looked really kind of awkward and missed. Rebound Tanisha. She fed Camille who drove to the basket and drew a foul on Snow. Snow LANDED on her and then whined to the refs. Come on, Michelle. That was OBVIOUS. Camille split her free throws. Snow grabbed the rebound off of her second shot, but threw it merrily out of bounds. Offense reset. Camille hit a LONG two, off a feed from Lauren, who was getting mobbed under the basket.

Camille allegedly fouled Holdsclaw, who hit the “and one.” Lauren was smiling and chatting up the ref a bit while she waited for Holdsclaw to get set for the free throw. Very sweet and amusing. Judging from his grin, he thought so, too. Lauren, you flirt. The flirt hit a textbook layup, off of a feed from T, and, after ELW missed a three, she hit a textbook three – off a feed from T. Storm up by nine. Lauren scored eleven points during the first thirteen minutes of the game – and she spent over a minute of that on the bench. Wow.

Timeout
SA. Dow Constantine (King County Executive) and WNBA President Donna Orender announced to loud ovations. Donna was on her way to be interviewed by Dick and Adia, but detoured to the bench to give Sue a big (but careful) hug and wish her well. That was really touching. Sue looked very happy.

Hodges turned the ball over, thanks to a traveling call. Jana came in, Svet sat. Brief interval of missed shots on both sides, and Hammon sank a three. She might be a step slow this season, but she can sure shoot when she feels like it. T missed a three. Crazy rebounding fracas under the boards that ended up with Jana and Michelle Snow in a jump ball. Not surprisingly, Snow won.

Holdsclaw put up a jumper. SA rebound – Swin hustled out of position, very angry at herself.

Snow missed a jump shot. Swin SOARED above the basket and SNATCHED the rebound. I think the only way she wouldn’t have gotten that board was if she hadn’t been in the building. Remind me not to get in her way. T drove and scored. Hodges scored. Swin put down a three! Happy crowd. Young tried to answer with a three, but she missed, and Swin grabbed that board, too.

Timeout
Cute little video on Doppler scaring all of the Storm employees with an airhorn, although I’m sure they didn’t think so. Co-workers like that are so much more fun if they’re not your co-workers.

After a shot clock “violation,” during which Lauren got clobbered under the basket three times, Young hit a jumper. Svet answered right back with a driving layup. Darling scored. Le’coe missed a three, but Lauren grabbed the rebound. She was gorgeous on the boards. Darling fouled her and Lauren sank both free throws. Holdsclaw put down a beautiful three. Storm up by six. Swin brought the ball up, was mobbed and lost her balance, but still managed to call a timeout.

Le’coe missed a three. Holdsclaw grabbed the rebound, but Camille managed to pick Hammon’s pocket. After the way San Antonio always owned us in the past, that will never not be satisfying. Le’coe did that fabulous get into position, fake, and shoot thing I used to hate when she did it against us, which I now love. Score. Hammon inexplicably drove and scored with 7.9 seconds left, when the shot clock differential was only three. Bad choice as it turned out, as Le’coe put up a crazy three-point shot to end the half and it went in. Lauren erupted off the bench to congratulate her as the buzzer hit. Tired? Who's tired?

SEA 36 – 27 SASS

Halftime
Musical chairs with Doppler and kids. The determined little boy won a Beatles World package that was almost as big as he was. Dopper cheats.

Third Quarter
Snow made a hook jump shot with a nice little wrist-flick. Lauren missed a layup, but grabbed the rebound (her TENTH) and was fouled by Snow when she put the ball back up. Snow had this amusing, “QUI? MOI??” expression on her face when she was called on the foul. (Eye roll). Lauren at the line. Swish. Swish. Hammon hit another three. Silver Stars within six. Le’coe came in and Camille sat. Swin made a jumper off of a feed from Le’coe. Tanisha picked Hammon’s pocket (oh, happy day) and fed a ZOOMING Svet, who sank a driving layup. Storm up by ten.

Timeout
San Antonio. Storm Dance Troupe, in their “Bing” tank tops.

Holdsclaw drove, but Svet fouled her. Okay, that really was a reaching call. Holdsclaw hit both free throws. Swin missed a jumper, but Lauren hauled down the rebound. Svet made another driving layup. Lauren grabbed the rebound off of another missed SA shot. Swin hit a turnaround bank shot that was a thing of beauty. Lauren hit a layup, off of a feed from Swin. Hammon made another three. Le’coe missed a three and Young hit layup, for a small 5-0. They forget that we had Lauren, though, and she came roaring back to not only sink a jumper, but to draw a foul against Young – her fourth – and to sink the free throw. That’s how you stop a run.

Hammon drove again and put up a really feeble-looking shot. Foul on Le’coe. Hammon put down both free throws. Svet hit a running bank shot, that seemed to feature the “European step through.” Hammon turned the ball over and Appel fouled Camille, who split her free throws again. I wonder what’s going on with her free throws, because she used to be more consistent than that. Scoreless interval, with Alison picking up a foul, ELW turning the ball over, and Appel blocking Le’coe’s shot. Fortunately, Camille snagged the rebound, and kicked it back to T who found Swin for a running layup. Storm up by fifteen.

Short foulfest ensued – at least in theory – Svet picked up her third and Swin her first. Holdsclaw made both free throws. Lauren hit another beautiful fadeaway jumper. Lacey picked up her second foul on a made Hammon jump shot. Lauren scored again, on one of the most beautiful turnaround jump shots I’ve seen. Honestly, her game that night was a work of art. We’d seen Douglas on fire when we beat Indiana. Now it was our turn to see Lauren on fire and it was fabulous.

Holdsclaw hit a layup. Svet and Snow traded split free throws. Lauren hit a three. Lead back up to 15. Snow and Swin traded made free throws. Hammon scored five in a row – a three, plus two free throws off of a Camille foul (which was off of a T turnover). However, T hit a three at the very end of the quarter to push the lead back up to thirteen. Normally, she’s as impassive a player as you’ll ever see, but as the bench ran out to congratulate her, she was sporting a big grin. Good for you, T.

SEA 69 – 56 SASS

Interval
A kids “beat the buzzer” event. The first two kids won. The third didn’t. Doppler also stole her sandals, so she had to wait around midcourt to get them back. She didn’t look very happy. C'mon, Doppler, the girl just lost. She wanted to sit down. Steal the winners' shoes next time.

Fourth Quarter
Swin got the offense off to a roaring start by hitting a driving layup. Holdsclaw and Lauren traded missed shots. Hodges hit a layup. Camille turned the ball over and headed for the bench, looking annoyed at herself. Lauren fouled Young, who split her free throws. Lauren hit yet another layup off an assist from T – her tenth. Young missed a jumper and Hammon fouled Le’coe who sank both free throws. Hammon tried to hit a layup, but missed. Lauren grabbed her fifteen and final rebound of the game. Swin sank a three. Storm up by nineteen. The air started going out of the Stars at this point, although Hammon made an “and one” play off of a Le’coe foul. Lauren had a beautiful spin move right at Appel to score her thirty-first and final point, off of an assist from T. Young turned the ball over. Le’coe scored twice. ELW managed to grab a rebound, but turned the ball over.

The bench came in, first with Svet, then with Swin to keep them company. They didn’t play very well – Jana was curiously ineffective for someone who has been a real threat, both offensively and defensively. Abby looked to be a bit behind the plays, A-Rob had a few turnovers, a badly missed shot, and one gorgeous block. She looked annoyed at herself. Alison looked a bit more centered, but I remember worrying at one point, because ELW was literally running circles around her and she couldn’t keep up.

So, the SASS bench made some inroads into our lead, but the bench played some quite decent defense , including the Appel sprawl into the Storm bench, which occasioned all of the hilarity mentioned in other posts – and one very ticked looking Appel, who looked as though someone had knocked her over on purpose. Lots of fouls on us and some decent free throws from them.

Final score: SEA 86 – 72 SASS

Notes
T should be very pleased with herself. She had an AWESOME game – her THIRD in a row with over ten assists, hitting twelve this time, a career high. She was so modest in the post-game interview. She was also wearing another thin headband, a silver one this time that made her look like a super-hero. And EIGHT turnovers for the whole game? Holy cow. When I remember how she used to play under AD, I can’t help but think she was ABSOLUTELY ROBBED of MIP last year. I hope they put her on the WNBA team for All-Stars.

As mentioned before, Lauren was playing out of her mind. It’s just a pleasure to watch someone like that. She just floats all over the floor.

At one point, Swin dove for a loose ball, but lost it out of founds. She punched the padded matt on the hoop angrily. Even though we were way ahead at that point, she was annoyed at herself and wanted to get better. THAT’S the mark of an excellent team.

Svet more than stepped in – she, T and Le’coe all had eleven points. Swin had sixteen. Camille had a bit of an off night for her – only scored six points, but did get six boards. Agler seemed a bit annoyed with her, not sure why.

As for San Antonio, they really didn’t bring their game - either that or we just took it away from them. Hammon tried to get something going and they had these little spurts, but we just managed to put them away. They didn’t seem to have a lot of confidence in themselves or each other.

As I mentioned before, it was really sweet how the bench kept chatting with Sue and cheering her up. She really wanted to play, from what I could tell. But, we really did make adjustments, and compensate, which, to me, is the difference between a good team and a great team. What a pleasure to see such great basketball. Outstanding defense, few turnovers, and multiple threats on offense - plus the best player of the world playing at the peak of her game.

GREAT game, ladies. Way to focus. On to LA.

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