Tanisha Wright’s 16 help Seattle Storm beat San Antonio Silver Stars 63-55 – WNBA Recap
On Tuesday night, Tanisha Wright scored a game high 16 points as Seattle Strom beat San Antonio Silver Stars 63-55 at the Key Arena. It was fourth straight defeat for the Silver Stars and second consecutive victory for Storm.
Wright also added seven rebounds and dished out two assists. The 27-year-old guard went 4 for 8 from the field and a perfect 8 for 8 from free throw line. Lauren Jackson punctuated six of her 13 points in the last quarter, pulled down seven rebounds and blocked two crucial shots. Jackson was 6 for 11 from the field, including 3 of 4 shots in the final period.
Sue Bird added 12 points and in doing so, she became the 16th WNBA player to reach 4,000 points. Bird also dished out five assists and grabbed four rebounds. Camille Little also chipped in with 12 points for Storm, who are third in the Western Conference with a 15-12 record.
Sophia Young led San Antonio with 14 points on a 7 for 14 shooting from the floor, eight rebounds and two steals. Jia Perkins came off the bench with 11 points and six rebounds in the loss.
Seattle’s defence against San Antonio’s guard Becky Hammon was impressive on the night as she ended with 2 of 10 from the field, including 0 of 4 from 3-point range. The six-time WNBA All-Star, who put in an excellent performance against the Phoenix Mercury in the last encounter, finished the game with only four points that is 12.8 below her average so far in this season.
Strom’s guard Wright said of their tough defence against Hammon, “Our team defence is amazing against her,” “We really focus in on her and make her give the ball up and let other people make plays.”
The Silver Stars displayed one of their worst performances so far in this season, shooting 32.4 percent (24 for 74) from the field, including just 15.4 percent (2 for 13) from three-point range. San Antonio did not do a good job of containing Seattle either, allowing their opponents to shoot 43.6 percent (24 for 55) from the floor and 92.9 percent (13-14) from free throw line.
Seattle entered the home court on the back of an 11-2 home record and outscored the visiting team 16-9 in the first quarter, taking a seven-point lead into the second. San Antonio turned it on in the second quarter and limited Seattle to 10 points, converting their deficit into a 28-26 lead at halftime.
Trailing by two after first half, Storm went ahead by 41-40 with 01:58 to go in the third quarter before Jayne Appel drove to the rim in the closing minute of the quarter to put San Antonio ahead by one, 42-41.
Seattle opened the fourth quarter on a 6-0 run to take a 47-42 lead early and then maintained their hold until the final buzzer.
With this victory, the Storm are now are only half game behind the Mercury who currently hold second spot in the West. They will suit up next on August 25, when they face the WNBA-worse Tulsa Shock.
Tags: