Seattle Storm’s record-breaking night
The Seattle Storm routed the Tulsa Shock 111-65 in a game filled with record-breaking feats in front of a crowd of 9,686 Saturday night at KeyArena. The Storm (24-4) exacted payback on the Shock after losing to the team with the worst record in the league earlier in the week. Tulsa (5-24) beat Seattle 84-75 on Tuesday.
Before the game, the Storm celebrated forward/center Lauren Jackson’s tenth season with the team and presented her with a jewel-encrusted bracelet and a huge jersey signed by fans. The Australian star is the frontrunner for this season’s Most Valuable Player accolade.
Notes and quotes from last night’s game
- The 46-point margin of victory was the largest in WNBA history. The Houston Comets held the previous record at 45 set at Washington on Aug. 17, 1998 (110-65).
- Previously, the Storm’s largest margin was 41 points against Phoenix on June 19, 2002.
- The Storm tied the team scoring record (previously against Phoenix on Aug. 4, 2007 and at Phoenix on July 14, 2010 in three overtimes). It was the fourth time in team history the Storm scored triple-digits and first not against the Mercury.
- Seattle’s 57 rebounds were a new WNBA record, surpassing San Antonio’s 56 against Minnesota on June 16, 2006.
- With 23 offensive boards, the Storm tied a team record (previously accomplished against Phoenix, June 11, 2008).
- Svetlana Abrosimova (20 points) led the team in scoring for the first time in 2010. Her eight assists were a season high.
- The Storm remained undefeated at KeyArena (15-0). Only the 2001 Sparks (16-0) have started the season with more consecutive home wins.
- The Storm’s 56 bench points crushed the previous season high (32). Three reserves were among seven storm players in double-figures.
- Seattle led by as many as 52 points.
- The Storm’s 60 first-half points were a season high (previously 55).
Coach Remarks
Seattle Storm’s Brian Agler
I thought our bench played well and did a lot of good things out there. What I liked, and that’s not the easiest team to play against when they’re pressing, and we did a good job of handling their pressure. We still had 17 turnovers, but the ball was so much movement.
On the game after losing to Tulsa earlier in the week: I just think it’s mentality and a little bit of the pressure team that we are. They’re a little more tired. They played last night. There are a lot of variables that go into it. They got their win against us and I think that satisfied them, and I think they knew it was going to be tough in here. I don’t think they got mentally ready to go. And this game meant something to us. We could secure some things today and I think everybody took that to heart.
I was surprised that this was the largest margin of victory in the WNBA. That shocked me. I didn’t think that. And we weren’t trying to go there. We were just trying to play, and they were pressing, and we were just trying to attack. That’s about the extent of it.
Tulsa Shock’s Nolan Richardson
On the game: Well, we played the best team and they just spanked us. It was the worst spanking we’ve had to tell you the truth. Coming away from L.A., playing as hard as we could there, then getting on a plane at 4:30 in the morning and playing again against the best team – nothing good happens usually when you do that. [Seattle] played excellent basketball – shot the ball well, rebounded exceptionally well and did everything they had to do to beat us the way they did.
On Seattle’s rebounding edge starting the game: Rebounding was totally the difference, not only in the first quarter, but throughout the entire ball game. We couldn’t get a second shot and they could get two and three shots. They were quick to the ball and in the game we played before, we were quick to the ball. Tonight we had nothing left – no legs, balls were short, couldn’t make a shot. We just didn’t have anything tonight to play with.
Seattle players
Sue Bird
I think losing to them at Tulsa definitely motivated us – the way that they were celebrating. I think there’s a saying, “Don’t wake a sleeping giant.†And that’s basically what happened. I think everyone on our team was motivated for this game. It’s nothing personal. You never want to lose a game and have another team celebrate like that. I know it probably affected everybody and we should probably thank them.
We just came out aggressive. Obviously defense is where we get everything – for this team to get going. That’s how we get started. Our defense was great and from there we just built on it.
Lauren Jackson
It was just a really fun night. It was special for me. I wish my family was here to see it because that would have been awesome for them. It was great, an unreal night.
On Tulsa celebrating their victory earlier in the week: I don’t really care. People are going to say what they’re going to say. To be honest, I think I would have had the same response if I was in their position beating a top team.
Swin Cash
Obviously we came out very focused and did what we were supposed to do. We knew what we wanted to get done on the floor and I was really proud of how we played collectively as a team. A team beats you on their floor and we came back. I told the team to keep their foot on the gas and not take it off. I thought we got a lot of points in transition and I don’t remember running that much offense. I give a lot credit to our defense. We did an excellent job of, when we double-teamed, getting our hands on a lot of balls.
Tulsa Players
Shock Guard Ivory Latta
On the game: It was very tough (after a back-to-back), especially against a team like this. But that’s no excuse. We could’ve fought more than we did. We just have to stick together and move on. We have about five or six games to go and we’ll try and get some wins there. We just have to stay positive and keep our heads up. Congratulations to Seattle – they’re a great team. Congratulations to Lauren (Jackson) on her success in the WNBA. For us as a team, we have to regroup, practice hard and…just have to stay tough mentally.
On the difference between tonight and the last time the teams played: To be honest, I think the difference was [last time] we had a day or so to prepare. But like I said, we can’t make any excuses. It’s definitely very tough because we battled so hard last night against L.A. and then we come in here and they came out on fire. We can’t do anything with a team like that. We just need to refocus, stay positive and continue to work hard.
Shock Forward Nicole Ohlde
On the game: There’s not much you can say when you get beat by 50. No legs. They came out with a ton of energy to begin with and they had a great crowd. We knew they were going to want to play well being at home again. Some of our shots didn’t go down when we needed them to and we just got ourselves in a hole and it just kept getting worse and worse.
On the rebounding difference: Like everyone, it was frustrating. We just didn’t go get them when we needed to and we didn’t box out when we needed to. It’s just one of those things you can’t say a whole lot about.
On the difference between tonight and the last time the teams played: We played really, really well at home. We came out with a lot of fire and a lot of energy. I think we caught them by surprise at home so once you get on a roll, good things happen and it makes the game easier. That’s what happened to us at home and then here you get down and it makes it harder to make a shot.
