South Carolina women's basketball: Gamecocks in the WNBA - Week 3

Last week, A’ja Wilson did A’ja Wilson things, and Raven Johnson scored a career-high. Catch up on all the action in this week’s Gamecocks in the WNBA.

Atlanta Dream (5-2)
Allisha Gray
7 games (7 starts), 33.5 mpg, 20.4 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.3 apg
at Minnesota (96-81 loss): 31 minutes*, 21 points, 3 assists, steal
at Portland (86-66 win): 30 minutes*, 13 points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals, assist

Madina Okot
7 games, 8.8 mpg, 4.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg
at Minnesota (96-81 loss): 5 minutes, 4 points, rebound
at Portland (86-66 win): 7 minutes, 7 points, assist

Te-Hina Paopao
7 games (1 start), 17.5 mpg, 6.7 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 1.9 apg, 41.7 3P%
at Minnesota (96-81 loss): 11 minutes, 3 points, assist, 1-1 3PT
at Portland (86-66 win): 14 minutes, 5 points, assist, 1-3 3PT

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Gray continues to be rock-solid for Atlanta. Paopao didn’t play big minutes last week, but after a slow shooting start to the season, she is back to hitting over 40% from three. Atlanta doesn’t seem to trust Okot to play heavy minutes yet. Okot probably hasn’t been consistent enough to earn more playing time, but she is producing in limited minutes.

This week:
Tuesday, June 2 vs Connecticut (7:30 ET, League Pass)
Thursday, June 4 at Indiana (7:00 ET, Amazon Prime)
Saturday, June 6 vs Washington (6:00 ET, League Pass)

Chicago Sky (3-5)
Kamilla Cardoso
8 games (8 starts), 25.7 mpg, 12.9 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.3 bpg
vs Toronto (111-104 loss): 22 minutes*, 2 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists
vs Minnesota (79-58 loss): 28 minutes*, 12 points, 13 rebounds, 2 blocks, assist

Chicago still hasn’t won since losing Rickea Jackson to a torn ACL, one of four players who missed last week due to injuries. It didn’t help that Cardoso was one of several players who was playing sick last week.

This week:
Tuesday, June 2 at Washington (7:30 ET, League Pass)
Friday, June 5 vs Connecticut (7:30 ET, Ion/League Pass)
Sunday, June 7 at Toronto (3:00 ET, League Pass)

Golden State Valkyries (5-3)
Laeticia Amihere
8 games, 14.3 mpg, 5.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.0 bpg
vs Connecticut (97-70 win): 19 minutes, 9 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks
vs Indiana (90-88 win): 14 minutes, 3 points, 5 rebounds, assist, block
vs Las Vegas (91-81 loss): 7 minutes, 2 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists

Arguably, for the first time in her WNBA career, Amihere has a clearly defined role: small-ball center. She gives up a lot of size and takes a beating, but the results work. She drew two (questionable) charges against Aliyah Boston in that win, and her versatility on offense keeps the ball moving.

This week:
Tuesday, June 2 vs Portland (10:00 ET, League Pass)
Thursday, June 4 at Minnesota (9:00 ET, Amazon Prime)
Saturday, June 6 at Las Vegas (3:00 ET, ABC)

Indiana Fever (4-4)
Aliyah Boston
7 games (7 starts), 24.0 mpg, 15.9 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.1 spg, 0.6 bpg
at Golden State (90-88 loss): 22 minutes*, 13 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists
at Portland (100-84 loss): 26 minutes*, 18 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists

Bree Hall
Has not appeared in a game
at Golden State (90-88 loss): Inactive
at Portland (100-84 loss): Inactive

Tyasha Harris
7 games (1 start), 12.4 mpg, 2.6 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 1.9 apg
at Golden State (90-88 loss): DNP-CD
at Portland (100-84 loss): 12 minutes, 5 points, 2 rebounds, assist

Raven Johnson
8 games, 13.3 mpg, 4.9 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 1.3 apg
at Golden State (90-88 loss): 21 minutes, 16 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, block 
at Portland (100-84 loss): 10 minutes, 3 points, rebound, steal

Where to begin? Boston and Johnson are playing well, but they are hamstrung by Indiana’s pitiful defense, which was terrible at the beginning of the season and has gotten worse. 

Cailtin Clark can’t stay in front of a lawn chair, and Golden State and Portland attacked her on every possession. Indiana started sending a double to help Clark, but that just left wide-open shooters to knock down open shots.

Boston is playing at her All-WNBA level from last season, but she is in constant foul trouble because she has to try to bail out her perimeter defense. 

Johnson has taken over as the backup point guard because she can actually play defense. Against Golden State, she scored a career and team-high 16 points while also leading the Fever in plus/minus, and played so well that Indiana was subbing her and Clark defense for offense on every possession in the fourth quarter. 

Harris has ceded the backup point guard position to Johnson because of Johnson’s superior defense. She only played against Portland because Johnson got in foul trouble.

This week:
Thursday, June 4 vs Atlanta (7:00 ET, Amazon Prime)
Saturday, June 6 at New York (8:00 ET, CBS)

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Las Vegas Aces (5-3)
A’ja Wilson
8 games (8 starts), 30.5 mpg, 24.8 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 2.9 apg, 2.3 bpg, 1.0 spg, 60.0 3P%
at Dallas (95-87 loss): 35 minutes*, 21 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, steal
at Golden State (91-81 win): 36 minutes*, 28 points, 15 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 blocks, steal

Coming off two consecutive losses, Las Vegas finally got a real A’ja Wilson Game on Sunday, and I’m not forgetting that she scored 45 points earlier this season. Wilson dominated both ends of the court and put up an all-around stat line that only Candace Parker had done before. Wilson is now second in the WNBA in scoring, first in blocks, and first in three-point shooting percentage.

This week:
Tuesday, June 2 at Los Angeles (10:00 ET, League Pass)
Saturday, June 6 vs Golden State  (3:00 ET, ABC)

Los Angeles Sparks (4-4)
Sania Feagin
1 game, 3.0 mpg, no stats
at Washington (92-87 win): DNP – Left leg
at Connecticut (84-81 loss): DNP – Left Leg

Ta’Niya Latson
5 games, 3.6 mpg, 1.6 ppg, 0.3 rpg
at Washington (92-87 win): 5 minutes, 3 points, 3-4 FTs
at Connecticut (84-81 loss): 5 minutes, 3 points, 1-1 3PT

Feagin remains out indefinitely with a lower leg injury. With Kelsey Plum out due to an ankle injury, Latson got spot minutes in each game last week. She made her first career free throws against Washington and her first career three-pointer against Connecticut. Three points in five minutes isn’t a lot, but it looks good on the Per 40 box score.

This week:
Tuesday, June 2 vs Las Vegas (10:00 ET, League Pass)
Friday, June 5 vs Dallas (10:00 ET, Ion/League Pass)
Sunday, June 7 vs Portland (7:00 ET, NBA TV)

Seattle Storm (3-6)
Zia Cooke
9 games, 18.1 mpg, 10.0 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.6 apg
vs Washington (78-64 loss): 18 minutes, 4 points, 2 assists
at Toronto (93-72 loss): 11 minutes, 2 points

Cooke cooled off after a hot week. It didn’t help that Seattle played Toronto at 10:00 am PDT. Sometimes the schedule gets you.

This week:
Monday, June 1 at Dallas (8:00 ET, USA)
Wednesday, June 3 vs Phoenix (10:00 ET, USA)
Saturday, June 6 at Minnesota (1:00 ET, ABC)

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