WNBA Playoff Results August 18

Connecticut- 76
Washington-61

* Bad crowd in Washington. I'm sure the numbers won't show it but it was so empty on TV. I feel so bad about this.

* Connecticut wins, duh. I don't know though, maybe if Washington upsets Connecticut and we manage to get to the finals, we'd have a better chance to win.

Seattle- 84
Los Angeles- 72


* Aah.....this feels great. I'm literally on Cloud 9 right now. It's 1:15 AM, I have a long trip tomorrow, and I doubt I'll be getting any sleep tonight. I LOVE this team.

* Scary stuff again in the third quarter (rolls eyes). Maybe we should just stop playing that quarter or stop calling it the third quarter. Anything, really. But the fourth quarter saved us. The Storm played great in the fourth, you know, when it really mattered. YES!

* The crowd was incredible. I might be biased, but I saw all four games so far and Seattle's was the only one that looked full. The Mystics game awhile ago was so empty, it was scary. It's scary as a WNBA fan of course. Kudos to Storm fans for coming out and supporting your team. Unbelievable. I LOVE Seattle fans.

* Clayton Bennett was at the Key. He was in some kind of suite talking when they showed him. I guess it's good that he came and he saw the Key as full and crazy as that. He's probably not getting emotional but he could be going..."hmm, there could be profit here".

Stat time: (Sorry, I can only do this during the Seattle games)

Betty Lennox had 8 points, 2 Steals, 7 Assists and 3 rebounds. Really good numbers from Betty. In the first half she struggled with scoring and I was starting to get nervous but then she hit this one three and I immediately felt relieved. I don't even care she only had 8 points. 2 Steals and 7 Assists? I'd take this everyday. Congrats to Betty for recognizing open people and doing what she needed to do when her shot wasn't falling. I'm not her biggest fan but I can say that she's been doing so much for the team since she got here. She was only 3 of 10 from the field, but, man, those seven assists make me a believer.

Sue Bird had 15 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds. She was really shooting it well in the first half, then she kind of cooled off in the second. Bleh. Okay, she missed practically everything in the second half except for her free throws. Nonetheless, if she can make her shots in any half, she adds a scoring threat for the Storm. It was cool to see her and LJ so happy after the win.

Lauren Jackson had 22 points, 2 blocks, 2 Steals, 2 assists and 9 rebounds. I swear she's the MVP this year. She got to the line 8 times, which was awesome. Basically, LJ just dominated like only LJ can. Best of all, she only played 28 minutes! Heck, we beat LA without LJ going over 30 minutes. Woohoo. Now go sit down and rest for Sunday. Don't even walk anywhere.

Iziane Castro Marques had 11 points, 2 steals, 5 assists and 3 rebounds. She had some key plays down the stretch (steals and rebounds) and sealed the deal for us at the free throw line. She didn't shoot the ball really well or very much, but she did what she needed to do. I'm very impressed with her down the stretch when she made those steals and rebounds. Pure heart and intensity.

Janell Burse had 17 points, 1 block, 1 steal and 1 rebound. Ok, that one rebound thing surprised me a bit. But she was really scoring at will for us. It was so important for us to pound it into the paint and not just give the ball to LJ. JB shot well and scored a lot of points for us. I loved seeing JB at the end too when she hugged LJ. She was all excited and happy. Aww....okay, now JB, about that contract for next year....=)

Tiffani Johnson proved everyone, myself included, wrong by putting up a tremendous game. What the hell? Where has this been all year? Whatever, as long as it stays for the rest of the playoffs. I am so sorry now for doubting you pretty much all year. 10 points, a block, an assist and 4 rebounds. I guess experience really does count in the playoffs. Who would have thought? After I kept questioning Anne Donovan for wanting so many veterans.

Bleh nights for the other benchies though. I love Barbara Turner, but can anyone tell me what has happened to her game recently? She started out so strongly in the season. She's been fading...I really really want to know if anyone knows an explanation for it. Hang in there, Barb. Tanisha Wright is also worrying me, except, unlike Barb, she isn't a rookie. It can't be some kind of rookie slump from playing for so long. She's just been struggling like hell. At this point, I'm not sure if she's going to be on the team next year. It just seems like she's forcing it a bit. On another note, Anne said in an interview that she's probably going to use Ashley Robinson a lot because of the match-ups. Umm...she played the last 28 seconds. Maybe she was pulling LA's leg? Or maybe Tiff just played so damn good, she couldn't be taken out of the game.

Seattle was the only home team able to win. Hehe...good job Storm.

Now they go to LA. La's only lost two games at home this year. Yikes. The good news? One of those losses was to an LJ-less Seattle. I hope they can do it.

GO STORM! BEAT LA!

Detroit 1-0 Indiana
Connecticut 1-0 Washington

Sacramento 1-0 Houston
Los Angeles 0-1 Seattle