Saturday
Wolves 99 Reign 78
This week’s schedule returned to the full set of games on both Saturday and Sunday. The Wolves opened the action again as they were looking to continue their playoff seeding push, relying heavily on their starters. They had a strong first half with Connie Clarke and Nevaeh Asiasi turning in extremely efficient scoring games. The Reign were looking to climb out of last place and won the third quarter point with Kharyssa Richardson leading the way. The Wolves put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter though and got the 99-78 win.
Reign: K. Richardson 26/6r D. Richardson 16/11r Williams 15 Alvarado 8 Thomas 4/9r Afeaki 4 Jackson 3/7r Ramirez 2
Wolves: Clarke 32/8r/7s Asiasi 21/8r Webb 19/10r McGee 14 Gray 13/6r/8a Harris 0 Yniguez 0
Swish 93 Royals 84
The Swish continued to push for the playoff bye and had a fantastic start with Andriana Avent leading the way. The Royals were trying to hang on to the last playoff spot and did make some headway going into halftime. Ayanna Mazyck took the initiative for them on offense, but they could only manage a tie in the third quarter before taking the final quarter point, still losing 93-84, but minimizing the potential damage in the standings.
Royals: Mazyck 32/9r Hart 13 Jackson 10/14r Hanna 10 Carter 9 Mizukawa 6/9a Ikeora 2 Roberts 2
Swish: Avent 21 Holland 16/8a Ogele 15 Jackson 14/11r Lewis 9 Doumbia 6 Ugass 5 Harris 4/7r Contreras 3
Blaze 92 Riptide 77
The Blaze were looking to bounce back from their first loss, but they did not have the advantage after the first quarter with Alexis Whitfield and the Riptide taking the lead. The champions edged their opponents in each of the next two quarters as IImar’I Thomas and Chandler Prater led the offense. They continued to push that lead out in the fourth quarter, getting the 92-77 win.
Blaze: Thomas 21/7r Prater 21 Walker 15 Mauricio 12 Range 11/16r Li 8/6r/9a Gamble 4 Howard 0
Riptide: Whitfield 24/8r Richards 16 Sterling 15 Armendariz 14/6r Smith 4/8r McDonald-Perry 4/7r Hamilton 0 Woods 0
Phoenix 90 Titans 78
The Phoenix were looking to continue their momentum from last weekend and quickly put the game out of reach with excellent scoring balance. The Titans continued their push to sneak into the playoffs though, salvaging both quarter points in the second half while still losing 90-78 as Chance Bucher led them.
Phoenix: Lawson 16/17r/6a Duckett 16 Ma 16 Cain 15/7r McCall 14/6r Sadler 7/6a Wilson 6/13r Michelis 0
Titans: Bucher 25 Napoleon 16/11r Woo 12/8r/9a Hiraki 11/7r Dunn 6 Harvey 6 Andersen 2
Sunday
Wolves 91 Royals 89
The first game of the day was critical for both teams as they were looking to build some cushion in trying to secure playoff spots. The Wolves looked ready to get a big win early, controlling the first half. Jamia Carter and Miyu Mizukawa helped the Royals race back in the second half. That set up a fantastic fourth quarter that had both teams making moves, but Micah Gray took over for the Wolves and made sure that they came away with the win even though the Royals did get one more quarter point to help themselves in the standings.
Wolves: Gray 36 Clarke 18 Webb 16/10r McGee 15/6a Harris 2 Asiasi 2 Fitzgerald-Greer 2 Yniguez 0
Royals: Carter 26 Mizukawa 20 Mazyck 10/9r Ikeora 8/9r Hart 8 Jackson 8 Roberts 7/6r Hanna 2/11r
Blaze 116 Reign 82
The teams in first and last place played with each side only having six players available. The start of the game was further delayed when there was some initial confusion on which team was shooting on which basket in the first half. The restart took a Reign basket off of the board, but they repeated the feat when the game officially started. The Blaze eventually established control of the game with a fantastic performance from Chandler Prater and a big shooting day from Isabella Mauricio. Both teams pushed to get the final quarter point with Kharyssa and Diamond Richardson each doing enough to get the Reign something in the end.
Reign: K. Richardson 30/10r Richardson 24/7r Thomas 14/9r Alvarado 14 Jackson 0/7r Ramirez 0
Blaze: Prater 39/22r Mauricio 23/6a Walker 17 Li 16/9r/11a Gamble 13 Range 8/15r
Phoenix 84 Swish 70
The playoff bye was very much in play in the next game between the teams in second and third place. The Phoenix continued their strong second half of the season with an early lead, but the Swish did narrow the gap in the second quarter. There was a tie in the third quarter, but the Phoenix closed out strong for the 84-70 win. Jess Lawson led them again, but they also got a strong debut from Tess Amundsen, a Northern California native who has had a successful professional career so far overseas.
Swish: Lewis 14 Doumbia 11 McPhaul 9/6r Ogele 7/6a Jackson 7 Avent 7 Harris 6 Holland 6 Contreras 3 Ugass 0
Phoenix: Lawson 23/11r Amundsen 18 McCall 13/7r Wilson 5/9r Duckett 5 Cain 5 Ma 5 Michelis 5 Sonnier 5
Riptide 77 Titans 72
The last game of the weekend was excellent as the Titans were looking to spring the upset and help their chances of making the playoffs, starting well to take the first quarter point. The Riptide took a narrow lead at halftime only for the Titans to grab the advantage back after the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Riptide went on the comeback trail again and managed to leave with the 77-72 win.
Riptide: Whitfield 17/8r McDonald-Perry 14/9r Richards 14 Armendariz 13 Sterling 7 Smith 6/8r Woods 6
Titans: Napoleon 17/12r Bucher 16/7r Woo 10/8r Arnoldi 10 Harvey 6 Hiraki 5/7r/6a Dunn 5 Andersen 3 Love-Sangco 0
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