ASIA, A'JA AND ACES ASCEND 66-63
The Las Vegas Aces overcame a 13 point first quarter deficit last night to win Game Five in the WNBA Semifinals and they did it by employing two basic fundamentals of basketball:
1) Keep the opponent from scoring. 2) Hitting your free throws.
A 13-0 run in the third quarter gave Las Vegas the lead in a stretch where Cardinal Forever Angel McCoughtry and A'ja Wilson carried the offense and erased a 10-point deficit to regain the lead.
Consider that Connecticut only scored 33 points in the final three quarters after putting up 30 in the first ten minutes. Beside Alyssa Thomas, the Sun couldn't do what almost basketball coach would put at the top of their keys to winning games -- putting the ball in the basket and preventing the other team from scoring. Give Thomas credit for battling to keep the Sun in the game, though, and she was doing it with a bad shoulder. She never left the court in the 40 minutes and had 22 points for the Sun
But...give huge credit to A'ja Wilson. The Aces got her the ball in the final quarter, after McCoughtry carried the team for the first 30 minutes. Wilson did what she does best, go to the basket and create offense. Connecticut couldn't stop her, so they fouled her...and Wilson made nine out of ten free throw attempts in the fourth quarter. Wilson finished with 23 points and played all 40 minutes of the game.
"Playoff Angel" logged 32 minutes and sparked the offense in the comeback attempt in the first half with 15 of her 20 game points. She also hit two of her three three-point attempts. She also made six of her seven free throws.
So, we are down to two teams. The top two seeds going into the playoffs and the best two teams in the WNBA will meet Friday for the finals. In a year of unpredictability and change, the WNBA ran true to form. The top two teams all season long will battle it out for the crown.
Angel and A'ja vs. Sue and Stewie. This should be fun...
MERCEDES PASTOR NAMED ACC FIELD HOCKEY OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK.
You can call her Mercedes the Magician. Call her "Mechi" if you want. But, you can also call her the ACC Field Hockey Offensive Player of the Week.
The University of Louisville's Mercedes Pastor has been named the ACC Field Hockey Offensive Player of the Week as announced by the league office today.
Pastor, a forward/midfielder from Buenos Aires, Argentina, helped the Cardinals to a 2-0 record with wins over visiting Duke in their opening weekend. The 2020 preseason All-ACC selection tallied a pair of goals in Saturday's conference game that keyed a 3-0 victory and dished out an assist to give Louisville a 1-0 lead in Sunday's 3-1 win over the Blue Devils. For the weekend, Pastor led the team's attack with eight shots, five of which landed on goal.
UofL (2-0, 1-0 ACC) returns to action this weekend with a pair of ACC contests. The Cardinals will play host to two-time defending national champion North Carolina Friday at 4:30 p.m. followed by a matchup with 2019 NCAA semifinalist Boston College Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Both games will be televised on the ACC Network.
Have a wise Wednesday!
paulie
Wow, and I missed the final few minutes in stupid fashion switching channels to watch two morons interrupt and shout at each other. I miss my old split screen TV. That wasn't a debate, it was a damn debacle.
ReplyDeleteBut, the Aces did what they need to, in a sloppy fourth quarter (in my opinion) that came down to making free throws because Connecticut couldn't hit shots and fouled Las Vegas so they could take shots.
Kiddies, practice your free throws every day so you'll grow up big, successful and strong like Ms. Wilson and McCoughtry
A "W" is still a "W, though and Las Vegas advanced.
My appreciation, admiration and acknowledgement that Angel McCoughtry is a national treasure. She overcame the thuggish tactics employed by Connecticut and her Aces advance.
Hey, anyway we could run A'ja and Angel for President and Vice President?
Nick O
Angel and A'sa proved too much for the Sun and this should be a fun final in the WNBA. And Pastor picked up another award, too, being named NFHCA DI Offensive Player of the Week.
ReplyDeleteThis UNC visit should be a great one on Friday.
Curtis "Be Kind" Franklin