Your Day in Women’s Basketball, October 8: The Storm are WNBA champions. What’s next?
Seattle and Stewie are champions again. How high can they go?
In case you’ve been living under a rock, you know that the Seattle Storm won a WNBA Championship this week. And man, will it be fun to watch Breanna Stewart GOAT-chase over the next decade.
In Game 1 of the Finals, Stewart put up 37 points, 15 boards, five three-pointers, and four blocks. Here are four lists that put those numbers in perspective.
WNBA players who have put up 37/15/5 threes/4 blocks in a game: Breanna Stewart.
WNBA players who have put up 37/15 in a playoff game: Breanna Stewart.
WNBA players with at least 37 in a Finals game: Angel McCoughtry and Stewart.
NBA players who have put up 37/15/5 threes/4 blocks in a game: None.
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Stewart unanimously won Finals MVP, obviously. If we go back through college, when Stewart won four straight championships at UConn, this is her SIXTH title in eight years. She and the Storm are just getting started.
Seattle’s GM Alisha Valavanis will have to continue surrounding Stewart with top-end talent. She has constructed a wrecking ball of a roster, with 2019 Defensive Player of the Year Natasha Howard, 3-and-D superstar Alysha Clark, an All-Star guard in Jewell Loyd, and Sue Bird, the best 40-year-old athlete on the planet (no disrespect to Udonis Haslem).
We have to appreciate everything that WNBA players did this season to fight injustice while in the bubble. They are our leaders, even when they shouldn’t have to be.
“When we decided to come down here to Bradenton, we knew the message that we wanted to put out, and we knew — we knew the reason for this season. You know, I’m going to continue to give Angel [McCoughtry] the credit, because it was her idea to get Breonna Taylor’s name on the back of our jerseys to play this season,” Clark said. “You know, so we had a bigger purpose this season coming out here, and so when our team collectively had the discussion about coming down here, we knew it was much bigger than us and we knew it was much bigger than tonight.”
Down in the NCAA, West Virginia’s Jayla Hemingway received immediate eligibility to play this season after transferring from Mississippi State. While Hemingway didn’t see much game time down South, she brings a playmaker-spirit and a penchant for hard work.
Meanwhile across the South, Texas picked up the No. 24 recruit in the class of 2021, Kyndall Hunter. Hunter is a do-everything guard who can operate on or off-the-ball, which could be vital for a Longhorns squad that looks to make a deep postseason run.
She’s Got Next, Episode 9 is out! Pepper talks to Chicago Sky forward Gabby Williams on social justice issues, hoops advice for young women’s basketball players, and what it’s like to play alongside Courtney Vandersloot.