Stars at Shock June 16 Postgame Notes

June 16, 2015 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Tulsa Shock News Release


Final Score: Tulsa Shock - 88 / San Antoio Stars - 61

Records: Shock 4-1 / Stars 0-4

Attendance: 5,005

Game Leaders

Tulsa Shock

Points: Plenette Pierson (12)

Rebounds: Courtney Paris (13)

Assists: Brianna Kiesel (8)

San Antonio Stars

Points: Jia Perkins, Sophia Young-Malcolm (20)

Rebounds: Jia Perkins (6)

Assists: Danielle Robinson (4)

Game Notes

Tulsa Shock

- With the win tonight, Tulsa has secured a four-game winning streak for the second time since the team relocated to Tulsa in 2010. The team's last four-game winning streak lasted from June 6 to June 15, 2014.

- The Shock have had at least a 14-point lead in all of its first five games.

- Courtney Paris led all players with 13 rebounds. Paris has pulled down 32 rebounds for the past two games. As a team, the Shock have outrebounded the Stars 100 to 51 during the teams' past two meetings.

- The Shock bench outscored San Antonio's bench 41 to 25. Coming off of the bench, Riquna Williams scored a season-high 16 points, Jordan Hooper tied her season high of 11 points and Amanda Zahui B. scored a career-high 10 points in relief of the starters.

- Plenette Pierson scored a season-high 20 points, which was tied for first among all scorers in the game. Tonight's game marks the first time since 2013 that she has scored 20 or more points in a game.

- With tonight's victory, Tulsa is now 4-0 when leading at halftime. The Shock is now also 4-0 when shooting a higher three-point field-goal percentage than its opponent and is 4-0 when at least four Shock players have scored in double digits. Today's game also marks the first time that five Shock players have scored in double digits this season.

San Antonio Stars

- With the loss tonight, San Antonio suffered its first four-game losing streak since August of 2014. It is also the first time since 2005 and the second time in franchise historty that San Antonio has opened the season 0-4.

- The Stars have lost two consecutive games to the Shock for the first time since 2008 when the Detroit Shock defeated San Antonio in three games in the WNBA Finals.

- Jia Perkins and Sophia Young-Malcolm led the Stars with 20 points each. Perkins also led the team in steals with three and led the team in rebounds with six. She shot 8-20 from the field.

- Danielle Robinson led the team with four assists. She also scored six points and pulled down an offensive board in 28 minutes of action.

- San Antonio shot 86.7 percent from the free throw line in comparison to the Shock's 83.3 free-throw percentage. As a team, The Stars were 14-of-16 from the stripe.

Shock Quotes

Head Coach Fred Williams on the Win

"The team has really settled down defensively. They're starting to set the tone early for the games. We're finishing them out. I was very pleased with the overall play from our starters into our bench scoring and stuff. The players work hard, and that's all we want to do is play Tulsa basketball. If we do that early, we'll able to be a really good team in this league and always be a force to be reckoned with."

Forward Plenette Pierson on scoring a season-high 20 points:

"It feels amazing. You know, I think this city has been begging for some wins early and some success, and that's what we're trying to give."

Center Amanda Zahui B. on scoring a career-high 10 points:

"I was running the floor, and I was just hitting shots and playing with more confidence ... I'm playing with more confidence and not over-thinking."

Stars Quotes

Head Coach Dan Hughes:

"I think you have to give Tulsa credit. They played great. I thought they outplayed us in every way possible. I thought they played extremely well. I think we have to step back and look (at ourselves). At the first of the season, obviously the schedule challenged us. We started three out of four on the road. I haven't seen progress the last two games in some key areas. I think we have to take a self evaluation

Guard Jia Perkins on the Stars' offensive struggles:

"I think we got some good looks. We just didn't finish. I think we kind of get deflated after maybe they go on a run or something. Maybe, we lose confidence or whatever. We're getting some looks, but we just have to hit them. We still haven't gotten the most important thing we need, and that's the 'w.' We just have to find a way to just be better as a team, and I need to be better individually."

Forward Sophia Young-Malcolm on how San Antonio can turn it around:

"Well, the way we're playing right now; the positive thing is that there's no way to go but up. In the WNBA, it's not necessarily about how you start; it's how you finish. Getting off to a bad start, we're not going to look at it as an ending. We're going to figure out what we have to do to move on to get better."



Women's National Basketball Association Stories from June 16, 2015


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