Three Competitive Games, August 16th WNBA Recap
The first game of the day was between the Chicago Sky and the Seattle Storm. The first quarter was dominated by the Sky behind the likes of Kamilla Cardoso and Natasha Cloud. The score was 23-11 at the end of the first quarter, and that continued through the second quarter as the Sky led 46-29 at the break. A very quiet third quarter from the Sky helped the Storm get back into this one as they trailed 60-55 at the end of the third quarter.
A very competitive fourth quarter is what this game brought us. It ended up being a one-point lead for the Sky with ten seconds remaining in the game. Vandersloot made a free throw to extend the lead to two, and the Storm had a chance to tie it and force overtime, but the shot missed. Sky won 82-80. The Sky were led by Kamilla Cardoso (22 points and 12 rebounds), Natasha Cloud (20 points and eight rebounds), and Courtney Vandersloot (15 points, five rebounds, five assists, and four steals).
The second game of the day, and arguably the best, was between the Indiana Fever and the Atlanta Dream. The first quarter was very even, but Makayla Timpson's name stood out throughout the game. The second quarter was when the Dream managed to get a little lead heading into the half. The third quarter was similar to the second, where the Dream managed to extend the lead further, as they led by 8 heading into the fourth quarter.
That between-quarters talk by the Fever must have been clearly a good one because they held the Dream to only nine points in the fourth quarter. The Fever tied it with a three by Kelsey Mitchell with a minute left. The Dream had three chances to win it in the last seconds but could not make any shots. We headed to overtime tied at 81. This is where the name Makayla Timpson comes up because she scored six straight to push the Fever lead to 89-83 during overtime.
Kelsey Mitchell put the dagger in as she made a layup to push the lead to five with 13.6 seconds left. Rhyne Howard made three free throws, but Caitlin Clark made two free throws to end this one as the Fever won 95-91. Caitlin Clark led the way with 26 points and nine assists. She had a ton of help from Kelsey Mitchell (20 points), Aliyah Boston (18 points, 14 rebounds), and Makayla Timpson (20 points and seven rebounds). On the Dream's side, Allisha Gray showed up with 32 points, seven rebounds, and five assists.
The final game of the day was between the Portland Fire and the Phoenix Mercury. A one-point lead that was turned into a four-point lead at the end of the first quarter by the Mercury. The Fire had a good run to take the lead in the second, and then the Mercury took control and led 42-36 at halftime. In the third quarter, Mercury had a good start, extending the lead to nine halfway through the quarter. The Fire responded to that and had the lead cut to three (64-61) by the end of the third. The Mercury held the lead through the fourth quarter until the Fire took the lead with 1:53 left.
The Mercury did not give up as they kept making shots besides the one that would have taken this one to overtime. Fire won 88-85. The two names that stood for the Fire were Carla Leite (23 points and five assists) and Megan DiLeo (15 points and five rebounds). Multiple players from the Mercury looked good today, including DeWanna Bonner (23 points and six rebounds), Kahleah Cooper 19 points and seven rebounds), and Alyssa Thomas (17 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists).
There will only be one game tonight as the Dallas Wings play the Golden State Valkyries.
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