Saturday marked the end of the regular season in the WPBA with two teams not advancing to the playoffs and seedings very much on the line, resulting in four excellent games as teams locked in rosters. The playoffs will start on Friday with games at 6pm and 8pm. The top two teams get a bye until Saturday, when games will be at 6pm and 8pm too, and the championship game will be at 4pm on Sunday.
Wolves 65 Blaze 61
The day started with two teams chasing second place and the bye to the semifinals. The Wolves would need a near-perfect performance in a win and certainly got off to the right start with a 24-9 advantage after the first quarter. The league rules that award points for quarter wins came into focus down the stretch in the second quarter when both teams had to settle for the split. The Blaze cut into the lead early in the third quarter with a quick 10-0 run, which let them get the important 22-12 quarter win. They also picked up the fourth quarter and were content to let the game finish out with a 65-61 loss. Michelle Onyiah led the way in the win as her being on the bench during the critical run hurt the Wolves. Ameela Li led the Blaze, which tried to push their advantage in the backcourt as they faced a major size disadvantage in the frontcourt.
Wolves: Onyiah 21/11r Parnell 13/6r Thomas 11/16r Huggins 9 Woo 7/7r Bulaya 2 Glass 2 Hester 0
Blaze: Li 22/7r/6a Mauricio 14 Horstmeyer 9 Pace 8 Ennis 4 Demetre 3 Randhawa 1 Moore 0
Phoenix 77 Titans 67
The next game was not expecting to be close with the undefeated Phoenix facing a Titans team that had just picked up their first win last week. That apparent mismatch did not stop the Titans though as they took the first quarter 22-16. The Phoenix looked more like championship contenders in the middle quarters with 25-16 and 17-5 wins. Timely three-point shooting from Lauren Richter and Zhane Duckett powered the Titans, which also won the fourth quarter for a respectable 77-67 final losing margin. Erica McCall led Phoenix, which will be the top seed.
Phoenix: McCall 18/12r Gallegos 16 Moore 11/11r/7a Garrett 10 Cain 8 Givens 6/9r White 4 Michelis 2/8r Choice 2 Johnson 0
Titans: Duckett 17/7r Richter 15 Jackson 14 Ojide Boiko 9 Huffhines 9 Stanton 3 Arnoldi 0 Donnelly 0 Tarasow 0
Royals 70 Reign 68
The next game certainly had playoff implications with both teams definitely being dangerous matchups for the top teams. Both teams battled throughout with the Royals doing what they needed to do by narrowly getting both quarter points in the first half. The Reign took the lead with a 24-16 advantage in the third quarter, but the Royals did enough in the fourth quarter for the win. The points system certainly does not describe how this game went as the Royals get six out of the seven points despite only winning 70-68. As has been the case most of the season, their offense was driven by Salimatou Kourouma while Mo Bennett led the Reign.
Royals: Kourouma 36/7r Mizukawa 10 Stephens 10 Young 8 Hart 6/9r Guinn 0 Shafer-Gaad 0 Haynes 0 Newell 0
Reign: Bennett 21/15r Primm 17 San Juan 12 Samuel 10/6r Jackson 5 Monteleone 3 Hoyem 0 Yniguez 0
Swish 76 Riptide 72
The last game of the day had the Swish looking to continue rounding into form while the Riptide were looking to complete a big step forward this year. The Riptide looked strong early, taking the first quarter 21-15. The Swish picked it up in the second quarter, getting the lead by halftime and then winning the third quarter by a point. The Riptide had the chance to tie the score late, but missed before the Swish hit a free throw to win 76-72. Jada Lewis hit key three-pointers to secure the win while Angel Jackson made the difference on defense late. Abby Cooper led the Riptide in scoring and they also got a standout rebounding effort from Taylor Linzie.
Swish: Lewis 21 Jackson 18/6r/8b Holland 15 Clark 10 Avent 8 Berry 3 Jones 1 Cash 0 Myers 0
Riptide: Cooper 17 Criner 16/6r Armendariz 13 Smith 11/9r Linzie 9/18r Mahoney 4/10r Aubry 2
Playoffs
Standings:
1. Phoenix 8-0
2. Blaze 5-3
3. Wolves 6-2
4. Swish 5-3
5. Royals 3-5
6. Reign 2-6
7. Riptide 2-6
8. Titans 1-7
Even though the Blaze lost one more game than the Wolves, their general dominance during the season meant that they collected enough quarter points to offset the three point difference in the wins, earning them the other bye. The Reign would have needed a decisive win in order to climb above the Royals and change the other seeds in the playoffs.
Tournament of Champions:
Friday:
Wolves vs Reign, 6pm
Swish vs Royals, 8pm
Saturday:
Blaze vs winner Wolves vs Reign, 6pm
Phoenix vs winner Swish vs Royals, 8pm
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