Tulsa vs. Seattle June 28 Postame Notes and Quotes

June 28, 2015 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Tulsa Shock News Release


Game Notes

Tulsa Shock

- The Shock combined for five three-pointers in the first quarter, tied for a season high for a quarter. Skylar Diggins and Riquana Williams each went two-for-three. Plenette Pierson drained one three-point shot during the quarter.

- Plenette Pierson scored her 3,500th point on a free throw with 3:49 left in the second quarter. Pierson scored 19 points in the game but only needed eight to reach the milestone.

- Skylar Diggins led the Shock with a career high for points in the first half (21). Her previous first half high was 16 at San Antonio which occurred July 22, 2014. Skylar's career high for any half is 24, which occurred at Atlanta on August 15, 2014. She finished the game with 31, which is a season high for points.

The Shock is 5-0 at the BOK Center this season. The five-game home winning streak is the Shock's first since the franchise relocated to Tulsa. The last time the franchise won five straight home games was in 2009 when the Detroit Shock reeled off eight straight home wins.

The Shock has won eight games in a row, which ties the franchises' highest all-time winning streak achieved in 2003.

There were 16 ties and 21 lead changes throughout the contest, which are the most at the BOK Center this season for both statistical metrics.

Seattle Storm

Seattle lost its fourth consecutive game at the BOK Center. Seattle has fallen at the BOK Center by an average score of 82-72 during the four losses. The last time Seattle beat the Shock in Tulsa was Sept. 12, 2013.

- Four Storm players scored in double figures for the game - Clark (11), Langhorne (10), Loyd (19), and Tokashiki (13).

- Rookies Ramu Tokashiki (21) and Jewell Loyd (21) each scored career highs for points.

- Angel Goodrich played her first minutes of the season with (11) and scored her first points of the season with (8) in tonight's matchup. This is Goodrich's first season with the Storm, she played her first two seasons for the Shock.

Storm veteran Sue Bird did not start tonight's game. The 13th-year guard out of Connecticut didn't start for just the second time in the last 42 games. Bird did not play in the game.

Shock Quotes

Head Coach Fred Williams on tonight's close game:

"Close is scary. You know, you want to have close games, but you'd like them to be on your side of things. You want to make it exciting for the fans, too. I know that for us, you know, we can't blow teams out anymore because the way it happens is that teams know a lot of plays that you run now, and you see a lot more close games. That's in the books all the way around the league ... Close games are good but it's also a learning experience, too, for both teams. We learned a lot from that last year, and it's carried over this year to give us some wins."

Head Coach Fred Williams on tonight's crowd energy:

"They rocked the BOK. They were rocking in there real loud. The crowd was doing a great job really keeping us energized. I talked to them about that in the huddle. If you get a break, let's push it. Let's keep the crowd in with us. Our crowd did a fantastic job of pushing us through a tough game."

Center Courtney Paris on what winning means to Tulsa:

"This franchise, these fans, they deserve this. These players, we've stuck it out being positive. It's so much fun. It's not just about winning the game, but every day in practice just the development off the court. I think we have a good thing going on in Tulsa."

Guard Karima Christmas on key basket late in the game, and tying franchise record for win streak:

"I knew the shot clock was running down so I had to get it up kind of quick, but to see the ball go in is always a great feeling. And you know I struggled in the first part of the game but I just try to keep pushing and stay on the boards. That helped me out a lot, just being active out there. Hitting that shot was really big and I'm glad P saw me on the side. I think we are clicking on all cylinders, you know we started off a little slow today, but I think we're working together as a team. We're getting better together as a team, we can do some great things and we just try to keep pushing and keep getting better as the games progress."

Guard Skylar Diggins on the team:

"It's all about team, right we are playing like a team, in these tough, tough games, where we had to face a lot of adversity, I think it's going to help us in the long run. And for us to be able to finish these games, we had three games, other than this one, where it could have gone either way, and we kind of locked down in the fourth quarter and focused."

Storm Quotes

Guard Angel Goodrich on return to Tulsa and first game of the season:

"It did feel good, I mean, it's like coach keeps telling us it's a work in progress, it's not what our result is, it's about growing and learning each and every game. I know we have fallen the last couple games, but I think we are making progress, and that's really what it's all about is progressing."

Guard Jewell Loyd on scoring her career high points and having to guarding Skylar

"We obviously played against each other in college back at Notre Dame, but it felt good to see the ball go in. It was great having my teammates believe in me and get me the ball."

Guard Sue Bird on not being able to be out there with her team in a close game:

"Yeah, that's never what you want the case to be, but to be honest, getting to watch our team play, was probably good for me. You know I saw how hard we are working and the strides we are making. I know it's not showing up in the win column but we are playing teams very tough."



Women's National Basketball Association Stories from June 28, 2015


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