The rise of Gabby Williams continues in the WNBA. After a clumsy start, the Blues' guard has had several good offensive games and, against the Los Angeles Sparks, she clearly achieved her best performance of the season with 22 points at 9/15 shooting, including 2/5 from afar, plus 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals!
This is her third career mark in the WNBA, after her 26 points on June 8, 2018 against the Phoenix Mercury and her 23 points on June 19, 2022 against the New York Liberty.
A final valuable defensive aid
The difference is that these were two defeats and this time, the Storm won (90-87). However, it was more complicated than imagined, as the team from the Emerald City led the race throughout the match. Behind a confident Gabby Williams, shooting 6/7 in the first half, Seattle had taken the lead, but became tense, like the American-French team, as the match progressed.
While her teammates lost ball after ball, the silver medalist from the last Olympics was unable to kill the match, and Los Angeles even took the lead as money time approached.
Fortunately, if Gabby Williams has her ups and downs in attack, she is always at full throttle in defense, and we will note her superb defensive help to prevent Odyssey Sims to go for a layup on the penultimate possession of the game. Enough to allow Skylar Diggins-Smith to intercept the ball in stride, then to widen the gap on free throws (90-87), before Rickea Jackson's shot bounced on the rim.
Seattle still aiming for 4th place
This is a fourth victory in a row for Seattle (24-14), which remains in 5th place in the standings, behind Las Vegas (25-13). The two teams should also meet in the first round of the playoffs.
It remains to be seen who will have home-court advantage in the duel, a particularly important point in the WNBA since the first-round series is played as a best-of-three game.
The Aces have the tiebreaker, having won the first two games against the Storm this season, but each team still has two games left in the regular season. The two franchises will face each other tomorrow night. If Seattle wins and returns to a tie in the standings, Gabby Williams' team can still hope to recover 4th place, and home-field advantage, by winning their last game (Phoenix). On the condition, of course, that Las Vegas also loses their last outing (Dallas).
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How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Shots made / Shots attempted; 3pts = 3-pointers / 3-pointers attempted; LF = Free throws made / Free throws attempted; O = Offensive rebound; D = Defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = Assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Steals; Bp = Loose balls; Ct: Blocks; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the court; Pts = Points; Eval: Player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
