Storm dominated by Aces at home in lopsided season opener
SEATTLE – The disparity in size and experience told the story of the Storm’s lopsided 105-64 loss to Las Vegas in Saturday’s WNBA opener.
The discrepancies between the teams, however, was keenly apparent when Seattle rookie Jordan Horston paired against reigning MVP A’ja Wilson.
The former Tennessee star had a few nice moments in her professional debut, including a fake that eluded Wilson before a step-through move for a scoop layup that gave the Climate Pledge Arena crowd a rare chance to cheer late in the second quarter.
But more often than not, the 6-foot-4 and 195-pound Wilson used a 2-inch and 30-pound size advantage over Horston to overpower the Storm in the paint for 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Horston, who finished with eight points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals in her first WNBA game, felt awestruck in the matchup against many of her idols, including former Tennessee star Candace Parker.
“It’s crazy. There’s so many great players that I looked up to on this team,” she said. “I always compared to myself Chelsea Gray. … It’s surreal that I’m playing against them right now.
“But once you get on the court, there’s no friends on the court, so I just got to let that go out the window and compete. But after the game, I’m going to be the first one to dap them up and tell them I’m a fan of theirs. But when the clock is rolling, it’s all about Seattle.”
If first impressions mean anything, then this season looks like a summerlong experiment that will test the Storm’s belief in their small-ball lineups that had Horston playing backup power forward at times.
Seattle was outrebounded 43-28 and outscored 46-30 in the paint.
Coach Noelle Quinn is hoping the Storm’s activity and athletic play can overcome basketball physics, which generally favors bigger players in most matchups.
When asked for three keys before the game, Quinn said: “We know they have a lot of firepower at a lot of positions. Being locked in on our schemes and our scout first and foremost. Second, I would say is rebounding. After we’ve rebounded and guarded our yard finishing possessions with rebounds.
“The last thing I would say is play with pace. We want to get out in run transition. Keep our turnovers low so we take shots on goal. If we defend at a high level and play with some pace, I think that’s a good starting block for us.”
It sounds good in theory, but on Saturday Las Vegas’ offense dominated.
The Aces had six players score in double figures, including former Washington Huskies star Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young, who each scored a game-high 23 points. Gray finished with 14 points, Parker 12 and former Storm standout Alysha Clark 10.
Seattle didn’t have much of a counterpunch aside from Jewell Loyd, who overcame a bad shooting start – she opened 0 for 8 – before finishing with a team-high 22 points on 7-for-25 shooting from the floor.
No other Storm player scored more than eight points.
Horston’s short jumper tied the game at 14 late in the first quarter when things slipped away from Seattle.
That’s when Las Vegas took control with an 18-2 run to go up 32-16 midway through the second quarter.
The Storm never got much closer the rest of the way.
Seattle plays Dallas on Friday.