SB Nation Seattle - WNBA Finals: Storm Top Dream, 87-84, To Take 2-0 Series Leadhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48997/seattle-fave.png2010-09-15T12:47:13-07:00http://seattle.sbnation.com/rss/stream/14523582010-09-15T12:47:13-07:002010-09-15T12:47:13-07:00Video: Seattle Storm Attracts 'A Different Type Of Professional Sports Crowd'
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<p>No sports fan can walk into KeyArena for a Seattle Storm game and ignore the fact that the atmosphere is markedly different than that of any other professional sporting experience.</p>
<p>Not just the big red furry mascot running around during stoppages in play, but the kid-friendly activities -- most clearly represented by the late game train dance on the court with Doppleer -- and the fact that there are so many young girls there.</p>
<p>As Chris Daniels of King 5 Sports describes in his brief segment from last night's game (above), if the WNBA has any cultural impact on the Seattle community, it's for those young female sports fans.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.king5.com/sports/Seattle-Storm-Bring-Out-Young-Fans-102931739.html">Seattle Storm brings out young fans | KING5.com | Seattle Sports News and Information</a><br>"I am just really happy to have this opportunity to give them a role model to look at, to give them people to aspire to and people to be proud of," said Trudeau.</p>
<p>Trudeau says now, with local ownership, the franchise is secure in Seattle. More than a year ago, the franchise signed a 10-year-lease to play its games at KeyArena.</p>
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<p>We can debate whether <a href="http://www.swishappeal.com/2010/4/15/1425120/on-facebook-icon-the-role-model">the role model theme </a>will ever effectively sell tickets for the WNBA. But it is unique among professional sports leagues in that it's hard to make a case that it's just about basketball: while some will appreciate the game strictly as a different type of basketball, it's impossible to deny that the longest running women's sports league doesn't mean a little extra for young female sports fans.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.swishappeal.com/2009/07/human-value-of-wnba-how-positive.html" target="_blank">Why "Money Isn't Everything": How the WNBA Represents an Opportunity to "Release the Imagination" - Swish Appeal</a><br>...the value of the WNBA is not just in inspiring female basketball players or even female athletes more broadly. What it represents is a small departure from a world in which women were once told there were things they cannot do. It lets them know that there is something beyond what some people still espouse as common sense about women’s limitations.</p>
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<p>It's hard not to watch those videos -- or be at a game for that matter -- and not acknowledge that a Storm championship will mean a lot more value to the city than the hardware that comes with it.</p>
https://seattle.sbnation.com/2010/9/15/1690897/video-seattle-storm-attracts-aNate P.2010-09-15T11:45:46-07:002010-09-15T11:45:46-07:00WNBA Finals Game Two Photos: Matt Hasselbeck Makes An Appearance At KeyArena
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<p align="center"><a href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/440399/58454_431362693228_302789878228_5149534_5394177_n.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="58454_431362693228_302789878228_5149534_5394177_n_medium" class="photo" src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/440399/58454_431362693228_302789878228_5149534_5394177_n_medium.jpg"></a> <br><i>Photo by <a target="_blank" href="http://www.kailasimages.com">Kailas Images</a>.</i><br id="1284575836801"></p>
<p>Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck has been to a couple of Seattle Storm games during the regular season and last night he came out on the court during the fourth quarter along with Chester Pitts and Lawyer Milloy to toss some shirts into the crowd.</p>
<p><i>For more game photos, check out<a target="_blank" href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=237052&id=302789878228&saved#!/album.php?aid=237052&id=302789878228"> Swish Appeal's Facebook Page</a>.</i></p>
https://seattle.sbnation.com/2010/9/15/1690832/wnba-finals-game-two-photos-mattNate P.2010-09-14T22:54:06-07:002010-09-14T22:54:06-07:00Storm Just Make Plays To Win Game Two
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<p>Nobody will tell you that the Seattle Storm’s 87-84 win over the Atlanta Dream in KeyArena tonight was an example of how beautiful basketball can be.</p>
<p>“Sometimes, especially in final games of any sort, championship games, it’s never going to be — you can’t expect it to be — pretty,” said Storm point guard Sue Bird, who finished with eight points and four assists. “You’re not going to go out there and win by 20 and everything’s going to be honky-dory; it’s just not going to happen. You gotta grind it out.”</p>
<p>Grinding it out in Game 2 meant the Storm had to withstand the Dream’s pressure defense that forced costly turnovers throughout and led to unforced turnovers in the latter stages of the game as well as the Dream successfully setting the pace once again.</p>
<p>“I think everybody was just focusing on leaving early and looking out ahead — rebound and run, that’s our game plan all the time,” said Dream guard Iziane Castro Marques who tied Angel McCoughtry for a team-high 19 points. “Tonight anytime anybody got a rebound, we were saying ‘push the ball’ and we were fortunate in doing that.”</p>
<p>While the Storm did seem to get caught up in the pace of the game, got badly out-rebounded 11 to 4 on the offensive glass, and struggled to ever fully put the Dream away, the bottom line is they won this game. And in a championship series, all that matters is that the Storm are now within one win of achieving their ultimate goal of a <span class="caps">WNBA</span> championship.</p>
<p>“It’s almost like everybody is disgusted with how we played the last two games,” said Storm coach Brian Agler. “The point is we’re up 2-0 and we’ve made plays; we’ve made basketball plays. We have not played perfect, we haven’t played our best, granted, but we’ve made basketball plays.”</p>
<p>Most important is that some of the biggest plays of the night came from players who were less productive in Game 1, demonstrating the Storm’s impressive balance once again.</p>
<p>After having a quiet scoring night and more turnovers than she’d like, Tanisha Wright got going early with a jumper from the top of the key mid-way through the first quarter and then visibly more confident and decisive got hot in the second quarter. With the crowd on edge and the Dream countering every Storm basket with a run of their own, Wright made play after play to keep the crowd involved in the second quarter and help the Storm maintain their lead: a three pointer as the shot clock expired to put the Storm up seven with three minutes left in the quarter, a steal that led to a Camille Little layup to maintain that seven point cushion, and another steal with under a minute.</p>
<p>“She played better, shot the ball at a high percentage,” said Agler of Wright, who finished with 17 points and a <span class="caps">WNBA</span> Finals record 5 steals. "We put her in pick-and-rolls quite a bit and she made great plays. She played great defense, she was poised out there, and, you know, it was good. We needed that secondary ball handler tonight."</p>
<p>Meanwhile, forward Swin Cash showed that she was going to be no less aggressive after foul trouble in Game 1. Cash scored from all over the court with a combination of jumpers, post plays, and fast break layups to finish with 19 points on 6-for-10 shooting.</p>
<p>Yet the biggest contributor should be no surprise: Lauren Jackson came up with a team-high 26 points once again and showed her versatility by putting it up in a different fashion than Game 1. Jackson went 13-for-17 from the free throw line and finished with seven rebounds to help the Storm keep pace with a 37 to 23 advantage from the free throw line.</p>
<p>All the Storm did tonight is demonstrate what fans have known all season — even in an ugly game, they have enough weapons to find ways to win. They don’t have to play perfect basketball, but they find ways to make plays when they need them.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, Jackson is no more confident about beating the Dream now in Atlanta than she was prior to mounting their two game lead.</p>
<p>“At this point in time, I don’t feel overly confident in going to Atlanta,” said Jackson. "I think that home court advantage plays a big part in the series and going back to Atlanta it will be difficult for us to get the win. So I think we’re going to have to keep doing what we do, play defense, better defense all game, and then try to get the win down there."</p>
https://seattle.sbnation.com/2010/9/14/1689973/storm-just-make-plays-to-win-gameNate P.2010-09-14T20:52:01-07:002010-09-14T20:52:01-07:00Jackson's Free Throw Shooting Helps The Storm Win Game Two
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<p>In a nationally televised championship series game between teams who have been playing otherwise exciting basketball this season, you hate to see the referees dominate the game.</p>
<p>And it was almost impossible to ignore the refs in this one.</p>
<p>Of course, when the calls are so arbitrary that the amped up KeyArena crowd ceases booing or applauding and instead responds to fouls with bewildered silence, I suppose you can say that ultimately it was a wash.</p>
<p>Somewhere in between whistles, there was a game of basketball played and the Seattle Storm managed to win that 87 – 84 in Game 2 of the <span class="caps">WNBA</span> Finals to take a 2- 0 lead and sit one game away from the <span class="caps">WNBA</span> title that they’ve been working for all season.</p>
<p>Once again, the Dream did manage to establish their style of play early in the game, pushing the tempo with quick shots early in the shot clock and hitting the offensive boards hard – the Storm went into the half up 49-47 after the Dream held them to one offensive rebound and none in the second quarter.</p>
<p>Although the Storm never really overcame their rebounding struggles against an aggressive and athletic Dream squad, the game never really escaped the influence of the refs with the Storm winning on the strength of free throw shooting: the Storm had 37 free throw attempts to the Dream’s 23 and made 27. Storm center Lauren Jackson was the biggest beneficiary of those free throws going 13-for-17 and finishing with 26 points and seven rebounds. Forward Swin Cash rebounded from a Game One marred by foul trouble with 19 points on 6-for-10 shooting and going 5-for-7 from the line.</p>
<p>Iziane Castro Marques and Angel McCoughtry tied for a team-high 21 points and McCoughtry added nine rebounds but shot a rather inefficient 7-for-23.</p>
<p>The Storm now head to Atlanta for Game Three on Thursday with an opportunity to pull off a sweep for the franchise’s second title.</p>
https://seattle.sbnation.com/2010/9/14/1689827/jacksons-free-throw-shooting-helpsNate P.2010-09-14T20:38:55-07:002010-09-14T20:38:55-07:00WNBA Finals: Storm Take 2-0 Series Lead With 87-84 Win Tuesday
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<p>The Seattle Storm defeated the Atlanta Dream 87-84 in Game 2 of the <span class="caps">WNBA</span> Finals to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series. The Storm took care of business at home, winning both games at Seattle’s KeyArena.</p>
<p>Lauren Jackson, <span class="caps">WNBA</span> <span class="caps">MVP</span> and Storm forward, led all scorers with 26 points. Forward Swin Cash added 19 points and guard Tanisha Wright had 17 points for the Storm.</p>
<p>Iziane Castro Marques and Angel McCoughtry each had 21 points for the Dream.</p>
<p>The <span class="caps">WNBA</span> Finals head to Atlanta for Games 3 and 4. Game 3 is scheduled for Thursday night at 5 PM and will be televised on ESPN2.</p>
https://seattle.sbnation.com/2010/9/14/1689794/wnba-finals-game-2-score-storm-dreamBen Golliver2010-09-14T20:00:16-07:002010-09-14T20:00:16-07:00WNBA Finals Game 2 Score Flash: Seattle Storm Lead Atlanta Dream, 69-65, At End Of 3rd Quarter
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<p>After three quarters of Game 2 of the <span class="caps">WNBA</span> Finals, the Seattle Storm lead the Atlanta Dream, 69-65.</p>
<p>Seattle’s Lauren Jackson continues to lead all scorers with 22 points. Storm forward Swin Cash and guard Tanisha Wright have chipped in 16 points and 11 points, respectively.</p>
<p>Atlanta has been paced by forward Iziane Castro Marques, with 17 points, and Angel McCoughtry, with16 points.</p>
<p>The Storm withstood a solid Atlanta run early in the third quarter to regain control of the game near the end of the period.</p>
<p>Storm guard Sue Bird has 4 fouls, as does Dream forward Sancho Lyttle.</p>
<p>The Storm are one quarter away from holding serve at Seattle’s KeyArena and taking a commanding 2-0 lead in the <span class="caps">WNBA</span> Finals.</p>
https://seattle.sbnation.com/2010/9/14/1689700/wnba-finals-game-2-score-flashBen Golliver2010-09-14T19:13:23-07:002010-09-14T19:13:23-07:00WNBA Finals Game 2 Halftime Score Flash: Seattle Storm Lead Atlanta Dream, 49-47
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<p>At halftime of Game 2 of the <span class="caps">WNBA</span> Finals, the Seattle Storm lead the Atlanta Dream, 49-47.</p>
<p>Seattle’s Lauren Jackson and Atlanta’s Angel McCoughtry lead all scorers with 14 points each.</p>
<p>McCoughtry shot just 1-10 from the field in the first quarter but shot 4-5 during the second quarter, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer right before the half.</p>
<p>The Storm are hoping to hold serve at Seattle’s KeyArena and take a commanding 2-0 lead in the <span class="caps">WNBA</span> Finals.</p>
https://seattle.sbnation.com/2010/9/14/1689584/wnba-finals-game-2-score-seatle-atlantaBen Golliver2010-09-14T18:40:22-07:002010-09-14T18:40:22-07:00WNBA Finals Game 2 Score Flash: Atlanta Dream Lead Seattle Storm, 21-19, At End Of 1st Quarter
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<p>The Atlanta Dream lead the Seattle Storm after the first quarter of Game 2 of the <span class="caps">WNBA</span> Finals, 21-19.</p>
<p>Seattle’s Lauren Jackson leads all scorers with 9 points.</p>
<p>Atlanta Dream star Angel McCoughtry shot just 1-10 from the field in the first quarter. Seven different members of the Dream scored during the opening period.</p>
<p>The Dream are looking to steal a road win in Seattle's KeyArena and even the WNBA Finals series at 1-1.</p>
https://seattle.sbnation.com/2010/9/14/1689517/wnba-finals-game-2-score-seattle-atlantaBen Golliver