Two days does not a season make, but there might be a few things that can be learned after the first five games of the WNBA season.
The first should be something that anyone who follows the WNBA already knows — Diana Taurasi is really, really good.
Taurasi, the Phoenix Mercury guard,
shot 11-for-20 with 31 points in Saturday’s 78-71 loss to the defending champion Seattle Storm. The Storm appeared to have the game put away in the fourth quarter, with a commanding 19-point lead. Taurasi had other ideas, scoring 11 points in the final two minutes to cut that lead down to five before losing by seven.
If the Mercury had another two minutes, who knows?
The second thing to be learned is that Minnesota Lynx rookie Maya Moore is going to be a star — if she isn’t already. Moore shot 7-for-17 in her WNBA debut, which doesn’t jump off the stat sheet, but 21 points in her first game is not to shabby. The Lynx will be much improved with Moore, but still have some growing to do after falling 82-74 to the Los Angeles Sparks in each teams’ opening game.
Which brings me to the Sparks. Los Angeles struggled last year, falling in the first round of the playoffs to the Storm. But this year could be different. The Sparks have a healthy Candace Parker and got nice contributions from Tina Thompson, Noelle Quinn and Ticha Penicheiro in their opener. But Parker could give the Sparks a chance to make a deep playoff run. Her 19 points, 10 rebounds and three assists were the key in the Los Angeles win.
Rounding out the remaining games — the San Antonio Silver Stars looked impressive, scoring a 93-73 win over the Tulsa Shock. The Connecticut Sun were just as sharp, defeating the Washington Mystics 89-73. The Sun had five players score in double figures.
In Saturday’s other game, the Indiana Fever defeated the Chicago Sky 65-57. Gonzaga’s Courtney Vandersloot, who went to Kentwood High School in Kent, scored seven points on 2-for-5 shooting in her debut game. She saw 28 minutes and 55 seconds of action.
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