Amid the comings and goings elsewhere on the roster, the Storm still has Breanna Stewart, Sue Bird and Jewell Loyd. Defense of their fourth WNBA title begins Saturday.
Author: Jim Caple
The Mariners have some prodigious young outfield talents, but looks as if the first crack at the opening in left field will go to Taylor Trammell, 23, who’s had a good spring.
Finals MVP Breanna Stewart scored 26 points as the Storm won 92-59 Tuesday to sweep the Las Vegas Aces and bring home to Seattle a fourth WNBA championship.
The Las Vegas Aces are 2-0 against the Storm, but Brianna Stewart and Sue Bird are healthy. They make for a full house against single-high Ace A’ja Wilson.
Facing a team, Minnesota, they beat handily twice in the regular season, the Storm figures to advance from the WNBA playoff semifinals to a title clash with Las Vegas.
As the Mariners begin the season’s second half, Kyle Lewis is leading the club in most offensive stats, and has a good shot at the AL’s rookie of the year award.
A national telecast at noon Saturday on ABC will showcase the two best teams in the WNBA bubble, the Seattle Storm (11-2) and the Las Vegas Aces (9-3).
Tim Lopes looked like another Mariners’ position-player-draftee disappointment when he was traded in 2016. But he’s back, and seems the starter in left field Friday.
Disrupted by injuries, an ill coach and loss of the home court, the Storm had a hard 2019. Now it’s a pandemic and racial discord. Stewart and Bird say bring it on.
At 21, Emerson Hancock is enjoying life with the big club. The Mariners like the word their first-round pick from Georgia uses to describe his pitching style: “Attack.”