If the Tulsa Shock were happy just to be in the game against the first place Minnesota Lynx the other day, they should be about as happy with being down only three points at halftime against the Seattle Storm tonight at KeyArena.
After holding the Storm without an offensive rebound in the first quarter, the Shock committed eight of their 13 first half turnovers in the second quarter and only got up nine shots. But the shots they did put up went in at about a 45 percent clip and the Shock found themselves with an opportunity to tie at the buzzer before heading to the locker room down 28-25.
Shock forward Tiffany Jackson has been carrying them in the paint with game-highs of 10 points and six rebounds. Guard Ivory Latta complemented Jackson with six points and some admirable defense on Storm point guard Sue Bird, who tied center Lauren Jackson and guard Katie Smith with a team-high five points in the first half.
While the Shock struggled with turnovers in the first half, the Storm struggled with both turnovers and, more importantly, shooting: the Storm shot just 3-for-16 from the field in the second quarter after shooting 50 percent in the first quarter. Although the Storm's rebounding improved in the second quarter to make the halftime margin closer, they still allowed the Shock to get back 2 of their 5 misses, which marks the second consecutive game where a team has been able to outrebound them. But Tulsa outrebounding the Storm isn't particularly surprising either - the Shock have beaten the Storm on the offensive boards in each of their three meetings this season.