Black Bears

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) &mdash; Aliyah Boston missed the second half of No. 1 South Carolina&rsquo;s game against Hampton on Sunday with her right foot in a walking boot, but reserves Bree Hall and Ashlyn Watkins scored 14 points each in an 85-38 win.
Kamila Cardoso added 11 points and 14 rebounds for South Carolina. It was the 6-foot-7 forward&rsquo;s eighth career double-double.
Boston, the reigning Associated Press Player of the Year, took a hard fall on a drive to the basket late in the second quarter and needed several moments to stand up. Soon after, she headed to the locker room before the period ended.
Boston did not come out for the start of the third quarter, returning to the bench midway through the period with a walking boot on her right foot. Boston spent the rest of the game cheering on her teammates, who improved to 6-0 this season and 5-0 all-time against the Pirates.
No. 2 STANFORD 68, HAWAII 39
HONOLULU (AP) &mdash; Ashten Pretchel scored 12 of her season-high 17 points in the first half to help Stanford easily defeat Hawaii on the final day of the Rainbow Wahine Showdown.
The Cardinal (7-1) erased an early deficit and held the Rainbow Wahine (1-6) to a season-low scoring output.
Pretchel came off the bench and shot 6 of 10 from the field, including hitting five 3-pointers. She also grabbed 11 rebounds.
Lily Wahinekapu led Hawaii with 12 points.
NO. 3 UCONN 86, NO. 9 IOWA 79
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Azzi Fudd scored 24 points to rally UConn past Iowa in the championship game of the first Phil Knight Legacy women&rsquo;s tournament.
Fudd had plenty of help, with Aaliyah Edwards (20 points, 13 rebounds) and three other Huskies (5-0) scoring in double-figures. Edwards was named MVP of the tournament.
Iowa (5-2) star Caitlin Clark had 25 points, and Kate Martin added 20.
Edwards got UConn off to a strong start, scoring 10 points while the Huskies built a 20-14 edge.
Clark and the Hawkeyes then surged with a 13-2 run to begin the second quarter and led 41-35 at halftime. Clark scored 17 points in the first half.
NO. 4 OHIO STATE 105, NORTH ALABAMA 67
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) &mdash; Rebeka Mikulasikova scored 23 points and Cotie McMahon added 20 to lead Ohio State past North Alabama.
The Buckeyes (6-0) shot 58.6% from the field as all five starters reached double figures in scoring.
North Alabama (3-3) trailed by eight points with less than eight minutes to go in the second quarter, but Ohio State extended its lead on an 11-0 run keyed by five points from Madison Greene.
The Buckeyes held a 59-37 lead at halftime and stretched it to as large as 39 with less than three minutes remaining.
No. 8 NORTH CAROLINA 73, No. 5 IOWA STATE 64
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Deja Kelly scored 29 points to power North Carolina to a 17-point comeback over Iowa State and win in the championship game of the Phil Knight Invitational tournament.
Kennedy Todd-Williams added 17 points to help the Tar Heels (6-0) complete the comeback and remain undefeated on the season. Alyssa Ustby contributed 14 points, nine rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
Stephanie Soares led the Cyclones (5-1) with 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Ashley Joens had 18 points and nine rebounds as Iowa State suffered its first loss of the year.
NO. 11 VIRGINIA TECH 89, LONGWOOD 28
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) &mdash; Elizabeth Kitley had a double-double, Kayana Traylor added a double-double off the bench, and Virginia Tech rolled over Longwood.
Kitley had 23 points and 14 rebounds for the Hokies. Traylor had 11 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and two steals. Ashley Owusu scored 21 points, making 4 of 5 3-pointers.
The Hokies established a program record by holding South Carolina Upstate to 24 points on Nov. 14. Longwood passed 24 points when Adriana Shipp-Davis made a layup with 4:44 remaining.
Shipp-Davis had seven rebounds for Longwood (1-5). The Lancers shot 16.7% overall, which was also their 3-point percentage (3-for-18).
NO. 14 MARYLAND 87, PITTSBURGH 63
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Abby Meyers scored 12 of her 23 points in Maryland&rsquo;s 36-point third quarter and the Terrapins rolled past Pittsburgh to finish the Ft. Myers Tip-Off.
Brinae Alexander hit three 3-pointers in the Terps&rsquo; biggest quarter of the season and was 5 of 7 from distance to finish with 17 points. Lavender Briggs contributed 10 points as the three transfers had their biggest outputs of the season for Maryland. Shyanne Sellers added 13 points for the Terrapins (6-2), who went 2-1 in the tournament.
Maryland went 7 of 10 behind the arc and shot 55% in the second half.
Maliyah Johnson had 15 points for the Panthers (5-2), who only had one less 3-pointer but was outscored by 13 at the foul line where Maryland was 20 of 23.
No. 18 OREGON 86, MICHIGAN STATE 78
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Endyia Rogers scored 19 points, including critical back-to-back 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, Phillipina Kyei had a double-double with career highs and Oregon held off Michigan State in the third-place game of the Phil Knight Invitational.
The Ducks led 29-12 when Rogers scored the opening basket of the second quarter but the Spartans slowly came back behind Kamaria McDaniel, who had a season-high 28 points. McDaniel hit a 3-pointer and Matilda Ekh had a steal and layup and Michigan State tied the game with 7:17 to play.
That&rsquo;s when Rogers, who had a career-high five 3-pointers, scored from distance, the first coming after a timeout and the Ducks regained control.
Isaline Alexander scored 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting and Ekh 12 for the Spartans (6-2).
NO. 19 TEXAS 74, PRINCETON 50
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) &mdash; Sonya Morris scored 15 points, Taylor Jones notched a double-double and Texas breezed to a victory over Princeton.
Morris sank 5 of 10 shots from the floor with two 3-pointers for Texas (3-3). Jones finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Rori Harmon had 11 points and Aaliyah Moore scored 10.
The Longhorns picked up their second straight win after a three-game losing streak. Texas fell 16 spots in the AP poll.
Kaitlyn Chen topped Princeton (3-2) with 15 points. Julia Cunningham added 10 points. Ellie Mitchell came into the game leading the nation with 16.2 rebounds per game. She didn&rsquo;t score and had seven boards.
No. 22 MICHIGAN 84, No. 21 BAYLOR 75
ESTERO, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Emily Kiser scored 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds, Laila Phelia added 20 points and Michigan scored the final 11 points to beat Baylor in the championship game of the Gulf Coast Showcase.
Maddie Nolan scored seven of her 12 points in a 20-5 run over the final 4-plus minutes and Leigha Brown finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists forMichigan (7-0).
Ja&rsquo;Mee Asberry scored inside to give Baylor a 75-73 lead with 2 minutes to go but Brown made a layup and, after a missed 3-point shot on the other end, grabbed her own offensive rebound and kicked it out to Phelia for a 3 that gave the Wolverines the lead for good with 48 seconds to go.
Jaden Owens scored 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting for the Bears.
NO. 23 TENNESSEE 105, EASTERN KENTUCKY 71
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Rickea Jackson scored 15 points to lead a balanced attack and Tennessee coasted to a win over Eastern Kentucky.
Jordan Horston added 14 points for the Lady Vols (4-4), Jillian Hollingshead and Tamari Key 13 each and Karoline Striplin 10. Jackson and Horston both had five assists and joined Hollingshead with eight rebounds.
Antwainette Walker scored 18 points for the Colonels (4-3).
NO. 23 VILLANOVA 72, SOUTH FLORIDA 50
ESTERO, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Maddy Siegrist scored 25 points to surpass 2,000 for her career and Villanova used a hot start to beat South Florida in the third-place game at the Gulf Coast Showcase.
Siegrist scored 13 points in the first half and 10 in the third quarter as the Wildcats (6-1) took a 58-36 lead. Lucy Olsen scored 10 of her 13 before the break.
Siegrist became the third player in Villanova history to reach the 2,000-point plateau when she hit a jumper at 3:46 of the third quarter to put the Wildcats up 50-31.
Sammie Puisis scored 17 points for the Bulls (7-2). Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu had 14 points with 17 rebounds &mdash; matching her career high, and Elena Tsineke scored 11.

Boston, the reigning Associated Press Player of the Year, took a hard fall on a drive to the basket late in the second quarter.

Boston hurt in No. 1 Gamecocks’ win; No. 3 UConn tops Iowa

"We need a three!"
As head coach Becky Hammon calls out instructions for her players during a timeout, the desire for a three-pointer is repeated. The Las Vegas Aces, who have controlled things for most of the afternoon, find themselves down 89-85 with 11.3 seconds left in the game.&nbsp;
It would be easy to get lost in the "how" of the current situation. How a 15-point lead through the second quarter was suddenly a deficit in third. How Breanna Stewart, cold for most of the game, had hit three bleep-you shots in the past minute in a half to give the Seattle Storm a late-game edge.
There was no time for those thoughts though. The Aces needed a three, which means they needed to rely on Kelsey Plum.
Well, sort of.&nbsp;
You'd think the play was being called for Plum. She's one of the best shooters in the world, fresh off a season where she led the WNBA in three-pointers made (3.1 on average, 113 total) and doubled as one of five players to convert at least 40% of their threes while taking 5 or more attempts per game.
Hammon had different plans.
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Instead of using her shooting ability, Hammon leveraged Plum's gravity and toughness to help pry open Riquna Williams &mdash; an unabashed gunner off the bench who'd made several big shots in the quarter.&nbsp;
"You're screening for A'ja [Wilson]," Hammon tells Plum before the players break the huddle.
"Jackie [Young] is ripping through. KP screens [for] A'ja; A'ja, come around and screen for Bay (Riquna Williams)."
Sure enough, the Aces execute the play perfectly.
Young cuts through the middle of the floor and relocates to the right corner. Plum sets a solid screen on Ezi Magbegor. Stephanie Talbot, Plum's defender, is caught in a bind. She doesn't want to switch onto Wilson for obvious size and skill reasons, leaving a gap. Thanks to the Wilson screen on Sue Bird, Williams is able to run into that gap and fire up an uncontested three-pointer.
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From that point on, madness ensued.&nbsp;
Tina Charles missed a pair of free throws. Wilson gave the Aces a lead with a tough drive, though it's hard to look past the missed travel call. Bird nearly rendered the discussion moot by draining a go-ahead three with 0.8 seconds remaining. The Aces countered by drawing up a play for Young, who converted a layup over the outstretched &mdash; well, the not-stretched &mdash; arms of Magbegor to send the game into overtime.&nbsp;
The Aces would outscore the Storm by 12 in the overtime period to snag a 2-1 series lead.
If I can re-center the conversation on Plum, it's worth putting more spotlight on her. She's fallen by the wayside in a sense, though it's somewhat understandable due to the historic performances that Wilson and Gray are in the midst of.&nbsp;
Plum hasn't been at her regular season level; her per-game and efficiency numbers are slightly down. It's important to note that it hasn't shifted the way she's been defended. She's carefully watched off the ball, and occasionally trapped when she has it.
Despite her shot not falling at an elite clip right now, she's remained impactful because of her gravity. And as the play above showed, she hasn't been afraid to get her hands dirty when necessary.
The fun part? The rugged screening we saw from Plum in this game isn't a new development. It's been an under-the-radar staple of the Aces' half-court offense. I don't think it's hyperbole to call Plum one of The W's best screeners, regardless of position.
It would appear that Plum agrees.
"I feel like you see me," Plum told Basketball News with a laugh when asked about her screening after practice on Saturday.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Ask basketball questions and good things usually follow lol <a href="https://t.co/sUwQxFn3he">https://t.co/sUwQxFn3he</a> <a href="https://t.co/CotaVrj90J">pic.twitter.com/CotaVrj90J</a>
&mdash; Nekias (Nuh-KY-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NekiasNBA/status/1566176708528570368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 3, 2022</a></blockquote>

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When asked if there was a coach that pushed her to grow as a screener, she pinpointed former Aces head coach &mdash; and Detroit Pistons Bad Boy &mdash; Bill Laimbeer as an influence.
"Honestly, I learned that from Bill," Plum said. "We did a lot of block-to-block screens, so I was setting more Flex screens. Becky has me setting more back screens and cross screens."&nbsp;
We'll take a brief pause here to showcase some examples. Plum has done a tremendous job of prying her teammates open, from a variety of angles.&nbsp;
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Plum doesn't go half-speed when she's asked to screen someone open. She relishes the contact, and manages to toe that line without committing fouls that often.
"I definitely try to stick 'em," Plum says.
"I know, especially with Seattle, they're gonna stay on me. If I can give A'ja just a second, I really try to [make contact]. My family played football, so I feel like I have a little of that in me."
Plum likened herself to a linebacker trying to thump a ball carrier; I may lean more towards a fullback with the duality of lead blocking or slipping out and becoming a threat herself.
The Aces now find themselves in the red zone, if we want to carry the cross-sport comparison forward. With a 2-1 lead heading into Tuesday night's Game 4, they now have a pair of shots to punch their ticket to the WNBA Finals.
Following their overtime thriller, the momentum is certainly on the Aces' side right now.

Nekias Duncan breaks down the impact Aces guard Kelsey Plum is having beyond her scoring.

Screen time: Highlighting Kelsey Plum's not-so-hidden talent

With 6.8 seconds left in Game 1, the top-seeded Las Vegas Aces needed a bucket to stay alive.
Down three, 2022 Coach of the Year Becky Hammon drew up "Winner", a nifty end-of-game set most recently popularized by former Celtics head coach Brad Stevens, if you care about that kind of background.
The set calls for a big to receive a cross screen before receiving a long inbound pass from the opposite sideline. After the big receives the pass, a perimeter player is tasked with coming off a screen above the break. If timed and executed correctly, an open three-point shot should be created. <a href="https://youtu.be/c7i0Fs7QfgY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">When it's run well</a>, it looks like this:
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This is what happened when the Aces ran it.
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Jackie Young doesn't even set the cross screen for A'ja Wilson; she essentially "ghosts" the screen and jets to the corner. While that's being whiffed, Chelsea Gray -- one of the best passers on the planet -- throws the pass where Wilson is supposed to be. She wasn't, so that leads to some bobbling of the ball.
While&nbsp;that&nbsp;is happening, Kiah Stokes is setting the second of a pair of screens for Kelsey Plum. She sets one during the cross screen segment of the play to occupy Tina Charles (and bump Sue Bird), then flips the screen to the opposite side to free Plum for the actual shot. Stokes doesn't get a ton of contact on the first screen, and flat out misses on the second; the latter allows Bird to duck under Stokes and contest Plum's shot.&nbsp;
The look was still a solid one for Plum, a testament to how good the play call was. But the fact that it was a solid look instead of an open one speaks to a lack of thoroughness. The screening was off. The timing was off. Enough of the little things were mishandled to minimize the effectiveness of the play.
Would Plum have drained a three if the second screen from Stokes connected, allowing Plum to sip a cup of coffee due to being so open? We don't know. Great shooters miss great shots, and Plum very well could've missed it either way. It's just a shame that we didn't get a chance to find out.
Compare that to this clutch bucket by Jewell Loyd to give the Storm a 73-71 lead.
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The Storm set up a high ball screen because they know the Aces would switch the matchup. Once Breanna Stewart drives Young back and draws a double team, Stephanie Talbot cuts from the left wing to the right corner to distort Gray's help responsibilities. Sue Bird recognizes this and fires a pass to Talbot. She's able to attack a flustered Stokes from there, and the rotations to help on that drive free Loyd for a crucial shot.
Everything was done with intention.&nbsp;
The final score, a 76-73 win for the Storm, doesn't properly indicate how much better the Storm's execution was on both ends of the floor. That the Aces still had a chance to win is a testament to their talent and willpower. They'll simply need the execution and attention to finer details to turn things around in Game 2.
"I think the biggest thing we have to work on is our defense," Aces center Iliana Rupert said after practice on Tuesday.&nbsp;
"We made a lot of little mistakes, especially in transition. At one point, I think they scored six straight points, basically off of layups. When it comes to a game decided by a few points, you think about those actions."
Kiah Stokes offered similar sentiments.
"We only lost by three points, and we did&nbsp;so&nbsp;many things wrong," Stokes said.
"We gotta focus on cleaning up the little things, being a little sharper, and hopefully get rid of the stupid turnovers, fast break points, and things that we can control."
On the defensive front, the Aces never seemed to have a firm handle on the Storm's offense. They shot poorly, but their shot quality was pretty high. It especially stood out in the opening quarter, where the Aces reverted to their trapping style of ball screen coverage they displayed to begin the season.&nbsp;
"Our intention was to get the ball out of Jewell's hands when she was coming off a screen, but she did a great job of baiting the trap and getting rid of it early," Stokes told Basketball News.
"I think going forward, it's going to be more mixing things up and keeping her on her toes; keep her guessing between us trapping or short-hedging. Our focus point now is making the guards uncomfortable so they don't know what we're doing, make 'em think. It's easy, if you know we're going to trap, to one-dribble towards the screen, back away, kick it to Tina [Charles] and then they have open shots. Luckily for us, they missed those shots, but we don't want them to have those looks because they're a great team."
"They're smart players," Rupert told Basketball News.
"They know how to attack every defense, and I think they quickly understood the changes we made [to begin the game] and knew how to adapt. They had open looks -- luckily they didn't make them -- but that's why we changed a little bit [after the first quarter.]
You can get a feel for how quickly the Storm picked apart the Aces' aggressive scheme below. These aren't all makes, but they're all quality looks.
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Offensively, the Aces didn't have a ton of success. It's easy to point to their 6-of-23 clip from three and dub it as an anomoly. It may be, but the larger issue was the quality of those shots.
The offense as a whole didn't function particularly well. The Storm threw a wrench into the Aces' plans by flat-out ignoring Stokes away from the ball. That made it easier to load up on Wilson, who finished the game with eight points and a more-disturbing 10 shot attempts. Wilson only attempted one shot in the fourth quarter.
"The dunker or short corner is where I'm going to get most of my open shots," Stokes told Basketball News.
"One thing we did notice was that my defender wasn't really guarding me; they were acting more as a helper. So if I continue to cut and at least occupy the defense, it's either going to give me an easy layup or it'll allow A'ja to go 1-on-1 instead of 1-on-2; Kelsey [Plum] will be able to get downhill against one [player] instead of one and the big coming over to help."
"For me, it's just continuing to space [correctly], continuing to cut, catching passes and finishing at the rim."
The opening possession of the game was a great example of the opportunities that were, and will be, available for Stokes.
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It's a good design from the Aces. They stack the right wing with Young and Stokes while Gray, Wilson, and Plum occupy the left side of the floor. A Gray-Wilson ball screen with Plum in the strong side corner -- and Wilson rolling to Plum's side -- is a great way to put Bird in a bind as a helper.&nbsp;
Ideally, Bird would have to choose between tagging Wilson on the roll and leaving Plum open, or sticking with Plum and giving Wilson an open lane to roll into. It doesn't really work becuase Charles is parked at the free throw line to cut off a potential drive from Gray. Stokes does a great job of cutting behind the help, but misses the layup.
Stokes will have to capitalize on those openings. On a basic level, duh, you want players to make open shots. But Stokes has to nail those shots so the Storm aren't comfortable ignoring her. That will open the floor for everyone, which in turn will make life more difficult for the Storm.
Cutting will help. Flashing to the middle of the floor is another counter to keep an eye on. Stokes attempted a middle flash to set up a high-low with Wilson, but Stewart made a DPOY-level play by anticipating the entry pass and picking it off.
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It didn't work out, and it took a little long for things to set up for my liking. But it's more low-hanging fruit for the Aces to grab. If they're able to do so, we're going to have a fun series on our hands as things shift to Seattle.

Nekias Duncan breaks down some of the little things that plagued the Aces in their Game 1 loss, including insight from players.

Aces must clean up 'little things' to regain control of series

We've got chalk!
The Las Vegas Aces and Seattle Storm swept their opponents, and though the Chicago Sky and Connecticut Sun had to go on the road, they handled business with double-digit wins. That sets us up for a pair of thrilling second-round series including the top-four seeds.
Let's take a look at some of the key matchups and questions for each series.
(2) CHICAGO SKY VS (3) CONNECTICUT SUN
THINGS TO KNOW
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2">Sky won season series 4-0</li>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="3">June 10: 83-79</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="3">June 29: 91-83</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="3">July 31: 95-92 (no Candace Parker)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="3">Aug. 7: 94-91 (no Curt Miller)</li>
</ul>
</ul>
KEY QUESTION: Who will win the paint battle?
It would be easy to go with the "power vs. finesse" angle for this frontcourt battle.
Chicago's trio of Candace Parker, Emma Meesseman and Azura Stevens (off the bench) do plenty of perimeter-based work. Parker and Meesseman often operate from outside as high post or handoff hubs, influencing the Sky's interior attack by picking out cutters. No frontcourt duo averaged more assists than Parker and Meesseman (8.3) this season.
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Stevens was more of a spacer (36% from three on moderate volume) than hub; that spacing helped open the floor for others, and she provided her own value as the rare big with comfort attacking closeouts.
The Sun do more of the gruntwork inside. Behind the trio of Jonquel Jones, Alyssa Thomas, and Brionna Jones, the Sun led The W in post-up shot attempts per game (6.9, per InStat tracking) and offensive rebound rate (37.1%). No one embodies their physicality quite like Bri Jones. The list of players that can deal with her on the block or the glass is a short one.
There's versatility present, of course; Jonquel might be the best shooter on the roster, able to space, pick-and-pop, or run off screens. Thomas led all frontcourt players, and ranked 4th overall, in assists this season (6.1). She's comfortable bringing the ball up the floor and actually initiates a large chunk of the offense in the half-court.
This series may boil down to who can assert their style the most. While the Sun lack in pure shooting and improvisation, they could very well counter it by winning the possession battle. Due to their size and glass-work, a league-leading 37% of their shot attempts came at the rim this season.&nbsp;
The Sky, with their motion-based offensive attack and occasional mismatch hunting, ranked just behind the Sun in rim rate (35%) this season. Because of the skill-sets of their bigs, they could have success pulling the Sun's bigs out of the paint, thus opening the floor for their perimeter players to operate.&nbsp;
KEY MATCHUP: Natisha Hiedeman and Courtney Williams vs. Courtney Vandersloot and Allie Quigley
I have some serious questions about the Sun's backcourt. 
At their best, Natisha Hiedeman and Courtney Williams can provide enough shot-making to complement their stars. Hiedeman is a sniper beyond the arc, having drained 40.5% of her threes over the past two seasons. 
Williams has been more inconsistent as a three-point shooter &mdash; she's shot 45.7%, 23.5%, 38.3%, and 33.8% over the past four seasons &mdash; but she gives the Sun much-needed juice off the dribble. She led The W in mid-ranga attempts (6.6) by a wide margin and <a href="https://stats.wnba.com/players/shooting/?Season=2022&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;DistanceRange=By%20Zone&amp;sort=Mid-Range%20FG%20PCT&amp;dir=1&amp;CF=Mid-Range%20FGA*GE*3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ranked 6th in percentage</a> (40.9%) among 20 players who averaged at least three attempts.&nbsp;
But there are drawbacks in this matchup. As lethal as Hiedeman is with her feet set, she hasn't gotten super busy off of movement. Of her 168 three-point attempts this season, only 42 of them (25%) came via isolation, ball screen, off-ball screen, or handoff, per InStat tracking. That has allowed Allie Quigley to take on that matchup during the regular season meetings.&nbsp;
For Williams, her inconsistency from deep allows teams to "gap" her off the ball. The Sky bordered on disrespect when she didn't have the ball, opting to ignore her completely to dig down on drives or double post-ups. Williams is going to make a shot on the possession below (a key for this series), but look at how threatened Chicago is by her.
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There's also the matter of decision-making. Hiedeman and Williams can get buckets when they're on, but neither of them are natural playmakers. Part of the "why doesn't Jonquel get more touches" answer is their inability to find her in a timely manner. And as good as Thomas has been as a creator, she wouldn't have to do so as much if the guards could be trusted more to keep the offense flowing. Williams in particular has a penchant for taking tough, contested pull-up middies. She's good enough to make them, but the process can get murky sometimes.
The Sky's backcourt of Courtney Vandersloot and Quigley don't have those concerns. Vandersloot is one of the best decision-makers in league history, while Quigley is one of the best shooters the league has seen &mdash; though it's worth noting she got off to a rough&nbsp;start to begin the year.
I do wonder if the Sun take a page out of the New York Liberty's book from their first-round matchup with the Sky. New York found some success with ducking under picks, particularly against Vandersloot. When they were able to keep her out of the paint, Chicago's half-court offense sputtered some.
Beyond that, it'll be on the Sun's guards to stay connected off the ball. During the regular season series, I found they mostly did a good job of containing the Sky's initial half-court action. Trouble ensued once the possession went later in the clock, with impromptu jukes and backcuts leading to buckets.
If they're able to hold up, this series could swing.
STRAY THOUGHTS
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2">I wonder what coverage Kahleah Copper will receive. Teams have typically gone under picks against her, though the Sun went with more switching and, surprisingly, hedging to force the ball out of her hands. It's an interesting gambit to take away her drives, though I wonder if that'll open more things up for the Sky offensively.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="3">Keeping an eye on the backup guard minutes for Chicago. We know Rebekah Gardner is locked in, and may wind up closing games depending on how well Quigley shoots. I wonder how secure Julie Allemand's spot it. The Liberty found comfort trying to attack her in round 1, and the three-ball hasn't fallen at a high clip this season. Could we see Dana Evans pop up if necessary, or would James Wade simply shorten the rotation and give the Vandersloot/Quigley/Gardner triumvirate all the minutes?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="3">I'd like to see more Dijonai Carrington minutes for the Sun. Her defense may be needed more than usual in this series.</li>
</ul>
(1) LAS VEGAS ACES VS (4) SEATTLE STORM
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2">Aces won season series 3-1</li>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="3">May 8: 85-74 (no Tina Charles, Riquna Williams)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="3">June 29: 88-78, SEA</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="3">Aug. 7: 89-81</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="3">Aug. 14: 109-100 (no Dearica Hamby)</li>
</ul>
<li>Dearica Hamby (right knee bone contusion) will miss at least the first game of this series. She suffered the injury on August 11, and was given a 2-4 week timeline.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
KEY QUESTION: Who can flip the switch?
This is a star-studded matchup. If you haven't heard (or seen the 289347293482 graphics about it), there will be seven&nbsp;former No. 1 overall picks featured in this series: A'ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum, and Jackie Young for the Aces; Breanna Stewart, Jewell Loyd, Sue Bird, and Tina Charles for the Storm.
With the exception of maybe Bird at this stage, all of these players are comfortable going one-on-one and getting tough buckets. That may be necessary in this series considering where these teams are defensively.
The Aces were an aggressive pick-and-roll team at the beginning of the season, having their bigs play at the level (or higher) of ball screens. The Storm have dialed up the pressure on ball screens for years. As the season has gone on, and particularly during the regular season meetings, both teams have leaned a little more into switching.&nbsp;
Both teams generally do a good job of passing off their assignments when switching. The Storm, however, might be the gold standard in switching into a (perceived) mismatch, and quickly scram-switching their way out of it by toggling assignments off the ball. Look at how quickly Williams "scrams" Bird out of the Wilson matchup here:
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That is&nbsp;beautiful&nbsp;work from the Storm. Bird goes from defending Chelsea, to switching onto Wilson, to immediately switching off Wilson to take Plum on the perimeter. They nail those kind of quick-hitting rotations.
This feels like more of an Aces question than a Storm one. Offensively, they're going to need to be purposeful and decisive when trying to attack in the half-court. They can't afford to have possessions like this:
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The Storm served Bird up on a platter for Wilson early into the possession, and the Aces did nothing productive with it. What should've been a quick attack, or at least a dish and post-up opportunity, turned into&nbsp; a drive from the corner gained little traction and ended with a late clock contested triple.
On the other end, they have to be able to 1) contain drives and 2) get their smaller players out of trouble when needed. The scram-switching from this unit has been inconsistent, to be kind.&nbsp;
KEY MATCHUP: Kelsey Plum vs. Gabby WIlliams
Of course, this will depend on Williams' availability in this series. She suffered a concussion during the Storm's Game 2 victory over the Washington Mystics. <a href="https://twitter.com/hunter9h/status/1563541825901989900?s=20&amp;t=01p9RFnjUY2JJR9UPBzPRw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">At last check</a>, she hasn't cleared protocols yet, leaving her unavailable for Game 1 at the very least.
Assuming she makes a return during the series, this might be the most important battle of the series. Plum has been electric all season, but has seen a dip in production &mdash; or at least a dip in&nbsp;ease &mdash;&nbsp;when faced with lengthy defenders.
Williams just happens to be one of the best defenders in the sport, listed at 5-foot-11 and equipped with endless, active arms. The Aces want to make quick work in the half-court. That means creating early advantages with ball screens or with movement, something Williams does a wonderful job of preventing.&nbsp;
If she's able to keep a handle on Plum, you can expect Aces possessions to end much later in the clock. On top of Plum's shooting, she also led the Aces (and ranked third in The W) with 58 made shots off drives, per InStat. Rim pressure has been a question mark for the Aces all season; only the Storm generated a lower percentage of their <a href="https://www.pbpstats.com/totals/wnba/team?Season=2022&amp;SeasonType=Regular+Season&amp;StartType=All&amp;Type=Team&amp;StatType=Totals&amp;Table=Shooting" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shots at the rim</a> (23.9) than the Aces (24.6). If Plum can't get there, the Aces would have to rely almost entirely on tough shotmaking. They certainly have the talent to do it, but it's a diet they don't&nbsp;want&nbsp;to live on.
STRAY THOUGHTS
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2">Do we see the Aces go small at any point? They've experimented with a fun group -- Chelsea Gray, Plum, Riquna Williams, Jackie Young and A'ja Wilson -- but they've only played 14 minutes.&nbsp;I'm intrigued.&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="3">On the defensive scheme front, I wonder how many changeups we see. Both have shown comfort dialing up the pressure, and they both have a zone defense in their back pocket.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="3">If Gabby Williams isn't available for an extended stretch, where do they go? Stephanie Talbot would help spacing tremendously, though she can get picked on defensively (and throw the other perimeter matchups out of whack). Briann January would help maintain the defense, but you're getting smaller without helping the spacing that much. The jumbo option, with Breanna Stewart, Ezi Magbegor, and Tina Charles together, has only seen six minutes of burn all season. I don't know if Noelle Quinn would bust that out, but I'd get a kick out of it if she does.</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;

Nekias Duncan previews the second round of the WNBA playoffs.

2022 WNBA Playoffs: Previewing the second-round matchups

KHIMKI, Russia (AP) &mdash; U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner was convicted Thursday in Russia of drug possession and smuggling and was sentenced to nine years behind bars in a politically charged case that could lead to a high-stakes prisoner exchange between Washington and Moscow.
The 31-year-old Griner, a two-time U.S. Olympic champion and a eight-time all-star with the WNBA&rsquo;s Phoenix Mercury, listened with a blank expression as an interpreter translated the verdict by Judge Anna Sotnikova, but her lawyers said later she was &ldquo;very upset.&rdquo; Griner also was fined 1 million rubles (about $16,700).
U.S. President Joe Biden denounced as &ldquo;unacceptable&rdquo; the verdict and sentence, which came amid soaring tensions between the U.S. and Russia over Ukraine.
&ldquo;I call on Russia to release her immediately so she can be with her wife, loved ones, friends, and teammates,&rdquo; Biden said, adding that he would continue to work to bring home Griner and Paul Whelan, an American imprisoned in Russia on an espionage conviction.
Outside court, the U.S. Embassy&rsquo;s charge d&rsquo;affaires Elizabeth Rood called the outcome &ldquo;a miscarriage of justice.&rdquo;
Griner, recognized as one of the greatest players in WNBA history, has been detained since Feb. 17 after police said they found vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage upon landing at Moscow&rsquo;s Sheremetyevo Airport. She was returning to Russia, where she has competed since 2014.
As she was led out of court, Griner said: &ldquo;I love my family.&rdquo;
The nine-year sentence was close to the maximum of 10 years that Griner had faced under the charges. Most Russians possessing small quantities of drugs get at most five years in prison, lawyers said.
Defense attorney Maria Blagovolina told reporters later that Griner was &ldquo;very upset, very stressed. She can hardly talk. It&rsquo;s a difficult time for her.&rdquo;
Before the unusually swift verdict was reached, an emotional Griner apologized to her family, teammates and the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, where she plays in the WNBA offseason, &ldquo;for my mistake that I made and the embarrassment that I brought on them.&rdquo;
With her voice cracking, she added: &ldquo;I hope in your ruling it does not end my life.&rdquo;
Under Russian law, Griner has 10 days to appeal, and her lawyers say they expect a hearing in Moscow regional court next week. Asked if Griner could ask for pardon from President Vladimir Putin, Blagovolina said they would consider every possibility, but the lawyers said they were not part of any discussions about a prisoner swap.
Griner&rsquo;s agent Lindsay Kagawa Colas tweeted that the sentence &ldquo;was severe by Russian legal standards and goes to prove what we have known all along, that Brittney is being used as a political pawn.&rdquo; She added that she supported Biden&rsquo;s efforts &ldquo;to get a deal done.&rdquo;
A conviction is usually a prerequisite to arranging a prisoner exchange and also allows Griner to apply for a presidential pardon. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said last month that the &ldquo;necessary judicial procedures&rdquo; must be completed before other steps can be taken.
The disclosure in July that the U.S. government was seeking a prisoner swap involving Griner reflected the growing pressure on the Biden administration to do more to bring her home. The U.S. State Department had earlier declared Griner to be &ldquo;wrongfully detained&rdquo; &mdash; a charge that Russia has sharply rejected.
When she took the stand July 7, Griner said: &ldquo;I would like to plead guilty on the charges against me. But I had no intention of breaking any Russian law.&rdquo; She added that she brought the vape canisters into Russia because she had packed in haste for her flight.
Griner also described a confusing scene while being held at the airport, saying an interpreter provided by authorities translated only a fraction of what was being said to her and that officials told her to sign documents without explaining what they were. She also said she was not informed of her rights.
Her lawyers introduced evidence that Griner was using the medicinal cannabis for chronic pain and injuries sustained during her career and included a letter from her doctor. Griner testified she was aware cannabis oil was outlawed in Russia and had not intended to break the law or &ldquo;plan to smuggle anything into Russia.&rdquo;
Griner&rsquo;s case and her nearly six months behind bars have raised strong criticism among her supporters in the United States, including her wife, Cherelle, that Biden was not doing enough to win her freedom.
Griner sent a personal appeal to Biden, and more than 1,100 Black female leaders urged the administration to &ldquo;make a deal to get Brittney back home swiftly and safely and to meet with Brittney&rsquo;s wife Cherelle immediately.&rdquo; Biden later called Cherelle Griner &ldquo;to reassure her that he is working to secure Brittney&rsquo;s release as soon as possible,&rdquo; the White House said July 6.
Cherelle Griner, who also spoke with Vice President Kamala Harris, later said she was &ldquo;grateful to the both of them for the time they spent with me and for the commitment they expressed to getting BG home,&rdquo; using her wife&rsquo;s initials.
On July 27, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington has offered a deal to Russia aimed at bringing home Griner and Whelan in a sharp reversal of previous policy. Details of the proposal were not announced, though a person familiar with the matter said the U.S. has offered to trade convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout for Whelan and Griner. The person insisted on anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.
Russian media have speculated repeatedly that Griner could be swapped for Bout, nicknamed &ldquo;the Merchant of Death,&rdquo; who is serving a 25-year sentence in the U.S. after being convicted of conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens and providing aid to a terrorist organization. Russia has agitated for Bout&rsquo;s release for years.
The severity of Griner&rsquo;s sentence could give Russia leverage in a swap by increasing pressure on Washington to negotiate her release.
&ldquo;I think that the harsher the sentence, the more pressure there will be on the Biden administration to make a deal, and obviously they like leveraging that pressure,&rdquo; Tom Firestone, a lawyer who formerly served as the resident legal adviser at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, said of the Russians before the sentence was imposed.
Her detention was made public only after Russian troops moved into Ukraine, as relations between Russia and the United States hit new lows after Washington led the West in bringing sanctions against Moscow.
Griner&rsquo;s plight has been highlighted by her supporters at home, including top athletes, especially after little news emerged from her initial weeks of detention in Russia, where she had limited access to officials from the U.S. Embassy. It was only in May that the State Department designated her as wrongfully detained, moving her case under the supervision of its Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, effectively the government&rsquo;s chief hostage negotiator.
At the ESPY Awards last month, soccer player Megan Rapinoe referred to Griner as &ldquo;a political prisoner,&rdquo; and tennis great Billie Jean King said, &ldquo;First, bring BG home. Gotta do that.&rdquo;
NBA Finals MVP Stephan Curry wore Griner&rsquo;s jersey under his track suit at the awards show and urged &ldquo;the entire global sports community to continue to stay energized on her behalf. She&rsquo;s one of us, the team of athletes in this room tonight and all over the world. A team that has nothing to do with politics or global conflict.&rdquo;
Griner, a 6-foot-9 center, has 12 of the 15 regular season dunks in WNBA history and set the single-year record for blocks with 129 in 2014. She led the league in scoring twice. She was a two-time Associated Press college basketball player of the year and led Baylor to a 40-0 season and the 2012 NCAA title. She was the No. 1 pick by Phoenix in the 2013 draft.
The commissioners of the WNBA and NBA called the trial&rsquo;s outcome &ldquo;unjustified and unfortunate, but not unexpected and Brittney Griner remains wrongly detained. ... It is our hope that we are near the end of this process of finally bringing BG home to the United States.&rdquo;

An emotional Brittney Griner apologized in a Russian court, as her drug possession trial drew to a close, calling it "an honest mistake."

Russian judge sentences WNBA’s Brittney Griner to 9 years in prison

Tori Miller didn’t play college basketball, since she thought standing 5-foot-2 would be a bit of a drawback. Kelly German’s only college playing experience was a brief intramurals career. Janice Koon grew up on a farm in northern Canada, not knowing much about the game.
The College Park Skyhawks might be lost without them.
The Skyhawks — the Atlanta Hawks’ affiliate — are the hottest team in the G League headed into Tuesday’s start to the playoffs, carrying an 11-game winning streak into the postseason. And much of their success can be traced back to the work of those three women, who aren’t exactly dissuaded by the fact that most of their colleagues across the league are men.
“All it takes it that one NBA team, that one team to believe and maybe five years from now, we’re not having this conversation,” said Miller, the first female general manager in the G League. “Maybe five years from now, we’ll see more women have these jobs. That’s what keeps me going, the idea that one day, this can be commonplace.”
It isn’t, yet. But Miller, German and Koon all agree it will be, soon.
German is the athletic trainer for the team. Koon is a vice president tasked with much of the day-to-day operations. Miller and German are also both Black and both from the Atlanta area, which only deepens the ties they feel with the Hawks and now the Skyhawks.
“I think it’s tremendously important,” German said. “In the world that we live in today, the society that we’re in, a lot of things are being brought to light and so a lot of people — not just women and women of color, but people across the world — are saying, ‘You know what, I can do that too.’’ And I think that by seeing someone in our roles and kind of bringing attention to it, it lets the world know, ‘If they can do it, why can’t I?’”
The three women all said they’ve never sat together and discussed how they could be considered trailblazers. Quite the contrary, really.
For her part, Koon cringes at the notion.
“I just feel like I work with really, really talented people,” Koon said. “For most of my young career — I actually don’t know how to say this — but I almost downplayed my role. I just wanted to do the work. And I never thought about myself being a girl. I thought about myself doing the work. I didn’t focus on anything else at all.”
The G League is currently the last stop for numerous female referees on their way to the NBA, a path many women's officials have already completed. The league has a long history of women's involvement, going back more than two decades to when current NBA broadcaster Stephanie Ready was the first female to be a head coach in the league — and that was in 2001.
Koo spent more than a decade with the Hawks before joining the Skyhawks. She was the liaison between the Hawks and their food-and-beverage partners, along with parking. For the Skyhawks, she runs the game-day experience for fans.
Miller is in her second year as general manager, after spending the previous three years in basketball operations and as an assistant GM. German was an assistant athletic trainer for the Hawks last season before taking over as head athletic trainer for the Skyhawks this season.
On Tuesday, the Skyhawks will play the Capital City Go-Go in the first round of the playoffs. It’s a single-elimination game, win or go home. And it will feature the league’s only two female general managers — Miller for College Park, Amber Nichols for Capital City. Nichols was hired in January 2021.
“There’s a huge responsibility that I feel each and every day,” Miller said. “This is a position that I don’t take lightly. I want to do well, because I know that can impact future generations. So, it’s a responsibility, but it’s fun. I’ll say that. It’s challenging. It’s fun and challenging and rewarding, all in the same breath.”

The College Park Skyhawks might be lost without Tori Miller, Kelly German and Janice Koon.

Stephane