Around the League: WNBA opening weekend recap, attendance figures and transactions
Attendance
- Los Angeles – 13,589 (June 3)
- San Antonio – 12,406 (June 4)
- Seattle – 11,548 (June 4)
- Minnesota – 10,123 (June 5)
- Atlanta – 8,038 (June 5)
- Indiana – 8,024 (June 4)
- Connecticut – 6,666 (June 4)
Connecticut had a disappointing turnout for their season opener, the lowest crowd total for the team’s first game in the franchise’s history. For San Antonio, the crowd of 12,406 marked the largest crowd for a home opener at the AT&T Center since the Silver Stars made their San Antonio debut in 2003. It was also marked the largest crowd at the arena since July 20, 2010.
The College Connection
The New York Times published a story on college coaches who are former WNBA players but failed to mention Penn State University’s Coquese Washington. The former Lady Lion has a law degree and played for the now-defunct Portland Power and the Houston Comets as well as the Indiana Fever. She was an integral figure in helping to create the WNBA Players Association (WNBPA), serving as the founding president of the WNBPA from 1999 until 2001. Washington is this year’s winner of the Black Coaches & Administrators (BCA) Coach of the Year award and has done a tremendous job of turning the team around after the disastrous last years of Rene Portland who created a hellish existence for players she suspected of being lesbian. Portland’s negative effect on the lives of several players is the subject of the award-winning documentary Training Rules.
The article lauded North Carolina-Wilmington’s Cynthia Cooper-Dyke but failed to mention the program’s numerous controversies from this past season. Even before the season began for UNCW, a player was severely mistreated by an assistant in a punishment drill. The player, junior guard Julia Finlay, ended up leaving the team. And recently, three players were dismissed from the team but the school’s official line is that they left on their own. UNCW did make the WNIT tournament after a 24-win season but the player defections and dismissals are troubling signs for first-year coach Cooper-Dyke who came to the school after a stint in Texas at Prairie View A&M. The NCAA sanctioned PVAMU for major violations during Cooper-Dyke’s tenure after a two-year review and the team was placed on a four-year probation that ends January 7, 2012. Violations include: out-of-season practice and observation, breakdowns in institutional control, extra benefits and breaking eligibility rules.
Weekend Recap
The WNBA’s 15th season kicked on Friday night with an audience of 13,589 watching the Los Angeles Sparks defeat the Minnesota Lynx at the Staples Center. The Sparks’ attendance was an increase from last year’s opening night figure of 13,154. It was the first-ever, yes ever, game for the new WNBA president Laurel Richie who helped out with the game introductions before passing the microphone to Sparks third-year forward Candace Parker to help get the crowd hyped before tipoff. The match marked the home court return of Parker after missing most of the last season with a shoulder injury. Parker led her team with a 19-point, 10-rebound effort, her 33rd career double-double. She was the league leader in double-doubles during her MVP season in 2008. Her performance narrowly outshined the hype of the WNBA debut of Maya Moore. The rookie phenom and UConn graduate did not disappoint on an individual level but her 21 points was not enough to help Minnesota overcome the Sparks and home court advantage. Unfortunately, the game’s visibility to home viewers outside of southern California, parts of Nevada and Hawaii was limited to a WNBA Live Access stream and NBA TV. Live Access requires the ownership of a computer and a high-speed Internet connection and NBA TV is only available to those who can afford a subscription to an expensive cable television package. Prime Ticket aired the game.
In the stands, former Sparks player and WNBA legend Lisa Leslie watched the game along with her family and sat next to Parker’s family. UCLA’s Jasmine Dixon and former player Darxia Morris also attended the game. Morris was in training camp in May for the Tulsa Shock but was waived on June 1.
On Saturday, the day kicked off with the reigning champs, the Seattle Storm, receiving their rings before handily beating the Phoenix Mercury 78-71. Camille Little led the Storm with 18 points and nine rebounds. For Phoenix, Diana Taurasi had 31 points. WNBA president Richie also attended the Storm-Mercury game and made an appearance during the introductions.
The Connecticut Sun paid tribute to Margo Dydek in a heartfelt and tearjerker pre-game video presentation then beat the Washington Mystics 89-73. Tina Charles led the Sun 18 points and six rebounds. Renee Montgomery contributed 15, Asjha Jones had 14 and Kara Lawson added 11. For the Mystics, Crystal Langhorne and Nicky Anosike both contributed 16 points and Kelly Miller added 10.
Pokey Chatman made her debut as a WNBA coach but her Chicago Sky could not trump the Indiana Fever. Veteran Katie Douglas led the Fever with 19 points, seven rebounds and three assists for the 65-57 win. Tangela Smith added 16 points. Epiphanny Prince lead the Sky with 20 points, three rebounds and two assists. This weekend Chicago was relieved to find out that Prince, a member of Russia’s National Team, would not have to leave the Sky this summer in order to compete in the European Championship in Poland from June 18 to July 3. The Russian Federation did not select Prince to play on the country’s Eurobasket team.
While most games featured tight competition for at least three quarters, the matchup between San Antonio and Tulsa looked like a preseason NCAA game between Baylor or UConn and some poor team that needs publicity and will get paid for making a road trip to get routed. Tulsa scored the first few points of the game and had a slim margin ahead of the Silver Stars but after a lead change at 5:02, they trailed for the remainder of the contest. San Antonio finished the quarter on a 20-2 run. At halftime, San Antonio led 51-26.
To Tulsa’s credit, they did manage to close the gap in the third quarter but still finished the game 20 points behind the Silver Stars, 93-73. Sophia Young led San Antonio with 20 points and Becky Hammon added 18. Rookie Liz Cambage provided some positives for the Shock and finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds to tally a double-double in her WNBA debut.
Sunday’s first game went into overtime as New York managed to outlast Atlanta 94-88 behind Plenette Pierson’s 25 points in a rematch of last year’s conference finals. The Dream won the conference finals in a sweep but this year the Liberty’s Sidney Spencer made a clutch basket with just 3.2 seconds left on the clock followed by a game-tying three-pointer by Leilani Mitchell. The Dream played without its leading scorer Angel McCoughtry who sat out of the game due to a sprained knee. Iziane Castro Marques scored a team-high 19 points for the Dream. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed participated in introductions for the game.
Minnesota got revenge and with a home court advantage defeated Los Angeles 86-69. Seimone Augustus stepped up and led the Lynx with 17 points. Rookie Moore continued to impress and scored 14 of her 16 points after halftime.
Transactions
The flurry of transactions in the league before Thursday’s deadline for opening day rosters was not without drama. The morning started with players tweeting their disbelief at being cut including Rashanda McCants who was waived by Tulsa. The North Carolina graduate played in all 34 games for the Minnesota Lynx during her rookie season but was traded to Tulsa for Alexis Hornbuckle on July 26, 2010. McCants was not the only Tulsa player cut that day. Along with Darxia Morris, the team also cut veteran Betty Lennox to the dismay, even outrage, of many fans. According to sources, Lennox was informed of her status via phone instead of in person, much like how Shock player and WNBA legend Sheryl Swoopes was informed of her status with the Seattle Storm when coach Brian Agler called to cut her from the team in a late night phone call in January 2009. Swoopes did not play in 2010 as no team would take a chance on the WNBA original. She had five points, two rebounds and two assists in 13 minutes Saturday night against San Antonio.
Since Thursday, teams have continued to make moves to solidify their rosters. Connecticut waived Kerri Gardin in order to acquire Jessica Moore on Friday. The Indiana Fever waived Moore on June 1 but her time on the waiver wire was limited. With team rosters limited to 11, it will be a repeat of the last few years of having good players miss the season because of limited spots. The Atlanta Dream started the week by cutting former Texas player Brittainey Raven to sign Kelly Mazzante. Unfortunately Raven never made a mark with the Dream, averaging 5.4 minutes per game to produce a 1.5 points per game average in her rookie season. Mazzante, six-year veteran out of Penn State, started out in the league with the now defunct Charlotte Sting before heading to the Phoenix Mercury in a dispersal draft in January 2007. She averages six points per game.
Missing in action? Janel McCarville of the New York Liberty is not suiting up this season for the team. The Liberty suspended McCarville after she failed to show up for training camp after requesting some time off to rest. The team did not approve her request. McCarville did not show up on May 15 at the beginning of camp and the Liberty, after days of media speculation and fan anger at the lack of communication the forward’s status, said “buh-bye†to McCarville for 2011.
TV Coverage and the dot-com
The site of WNBA.com carried Live Access for every game except for the ABC-televised game between Seattle and Phoenix. The site’s previews for some teams had misinformation as players that were waived were included in team season predictions as key contributors and in lists for probable lineups.
Results
Friday, June 3
- Los Angeles 82, Minnesota 74
Saturday, June 4
- Seattle 78, Phoenix 71
- Connecticut 89, Washington 73
- Indiana 65, Chicago 57
- San Antonio 93, Tulsa 73
Sunday, June 5
- New York 94, Atlanta 88 OT
- Minnesota 86, Los Angeles 69
Upcoming
Tuesday June 7
- Tulsa at Minnesota, 8 p.m. EST
Thursday, June 9
- Washington at Atlanta, 7 p.m. EST, TV: ESPN2/ESPN3.com
- Minnesota at Seattle, 10:00 p.m. EST
Friday, June 10
- New York at Indiana , 7: 00 p.m. EST
- San Antonio at Tulsa, 8: 00 p.m. EST
- Connecticut at Chicago, 8:30 p.m. EST, TV: CN100
- Phoenix at Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m. EST
More weekend coverage from Hoopfeed.com
- WNBA Opening Weekend: Day 2 recap and Day 3 schedule
- WNBA Opening Weekend: Day 2
- Game Updates: Minnesota at Los Angeles, June 3, 2011
- The Indiana Fever: A team in need of a tune-up
