All Star Game
Additional players were added to the All Star Game ahead of the event. Cordasia Harris and Da’ja Hamilton joined the Black team captained by Jess Lawson and Ameela Li joined the Gold team captained by Chandler Prater. Each team had one representative in the three-point competition and Jolene Armendariz prevailed in a field that included Micah Gray, Ashley Hart, Ashley Hiraki, Jada Lewis, Sabrina Ma, Isabella Mauricio, and Brandi Williams. The game itself was extremely competitive and was only decided at the end when Gold edged Black 89-88.
Round 8
Swish 90 Wolves 88
The second half of the season started on Sunday with a full set of games. The Wolves had an excellent start as they were looking to move into a more secure playoff position. The Swish made some headway before halftime, but looked to be in a tough position after the third quarter as Aaniya Webb led the Wolves. They did have a big comeback in the final quarter though, getting the 90-88 win with a balanced effort.
Wolves: Webb 25/7r Asiasi 19/6r Gray 17/7r Clarke 13 McGee 10 Harris 2 Yniguez 2
Swish: Harris 17/8r Jackson 16/6r Lewis 15/6r Ogele 14/9r Contreras 11 Holland 11 Doumbia 4/6a Ugass 2
Riptide 111 Reign 72
The next game ended up being the only game that was not close as Chloe Sterling and the Riptide had the lead early and were even more dominant in the second quarter. Even though the Reign knew that they were too far behind to get the win, they did push to win at least one quarter point in the final frame, falling short and getting swept out of all of the points.
Riptide: Sterling 23/8r Finau 16 Richards 16 Whitfield 14/7r Armendariz 13 Linzie 11/9r Hamilton 8/7r Cooper 7 McDonald-Perry 2/7r Smith 1/6r
Reign: Williams 19 Richardson 12/6r Richardson 10 Afeaki 9 San Juan 9 Thomas 8 Jackson 5 Alvarado 0
Titans 70 Royals 69
After a narrow advantage in the first quarter, the Royals had a pair of more comfortable quarter wins to build up their lead. The Titans were looking for something to stay in the playoff hunt and they got it in the fourth quarter with a massive comeback to force overtime and then prevailed by a point for the 70-69 win. Ashiala Jackson led the Wolves, which added league returner Sandra Ikeora in time for this game.
Titans: Jackson 18 Napoleon 16/12r Woo 14/8r Hiraki 12/6r Dunn 6/7r Arnoldi 4 Faasolo 0/11r Love-Sangco 0 Andersen 0
Royals: Jackson 21/16r Hart 11 Mizukawa 10 Carter 8 Mazyck 6/8r Hanna 6/8r Ikeora 5 Roberts 0/11r
Phoenix 79 Blaze 76
The last game of the day was between teams widely predicted to meet in the championship game at the end of the season and this matchup was expected to be closer than the encounter at the start of the season. Chandler Prater and the Blaze took the lead again early and looked to be in good shape even with a narrow loss of the second quarter point. The Phoenix had other ideas in the second half though and made it consecutive overtime games. Each team managed one basket in the extra frame so the game went to a sudden-death second overtime period. Jess Lawson scored immediately to walk it off and get the Phoenix a statement win, handing the league leaders their first loss. They got even bigger news with Erica McCall making her season debut and having a huge game immediately.
Phoenix: McCall 26/13r Lawson 22/12r/8a Duckett 13 Cain 9 Ma 4 Sadler 3 Wilson 2/10r Michelis 0 Sonnier 0
Blaze: Prater 24/7r Thomas 15 Walker 10/6r Range 10 Mauricio 8 Li 4 Howard 3 Gamble 2
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