The New York Liberty and Seattle Storm battled out their opponents to secure wins in their respective Game 1.
Bec Allen and Sami Whitcomb's Liberty upset the Chicago Sky, while Ezi Magbegor and Steph Talbot's Storm battled for the one possession win.
New York Liberty
The Liberty faced off against the Sky to open up the WNBA playoffs. Few people expected them to grab the upset over the second seed, especially in Chicago. Nevertheless, the underdog seventh seed defeated the defending champions 98-91 to take a 1-0 lead heading into game 2.
Rebecca Allen: Bec appeared in 11 minutes off the bench but did impact the game in some crucial ways. Despite her defensive prowess and ability to block shots and clamp defenders, she hit several clutch shots to help secure the 1-0 advantage. She recorded four points, a rebound, an assist, and a block.
Sami Whitcomb: Sami hit the floor for 12 minutes, more than the last two games of the regular season combined. She showed her defensive IQ with two steals, one coming off the hands of 2021 finals MVP Kahleah Copper. Whitcomb also recorded three points and one assist.
Seattle Storm
When the fourth and fifth seeds battle it out on the hardwood, it is expected to be a game for the books. The Washington Mystics ventured to Seattle hoping to secure the "upset" and take a 1-0 lead. Instead, through a ton of back-and-forth with each other, the Storm ended on a 8-2 run, due to two clutch shots from Jewell Loyd, to secure the 86-83 win.
Ezi Magbegor: Ezi may not be starting anymore but is she still impacting the game every second she's on the floor. Magbegor appeared for a team bench high 16 minutes and showed how she continues to approach her new role. Ezi scored eight points on 80% shooting, a rebound, and an assist. Her more crucial and impactful stats were her steal and two blocks.
Her first block came in the third quarter, swatting away one of the best slashers in the league, Natasha Cloud. The second came at a crucial moment, around two minutes into the fourth quarter. She met star centre and former MVP Elena Delle Donne in the midrange to swat away a shot that could've given the Mystics the lead. Ezi's defence helped impact the win, especially off the bench.
Stephanie Talbot: Talbot only appeared in seven minutes off the bench but still played a critical role in the win. She scored four points, a three of an assist from Ezi, grabbed a rebound and an assist. The three came at a critical point at the beginning of the second quarter to extend the Storms' lead to five.
That's all for the Aussies in Game 1 of the first round of the WNBA playoffs. Will both teams earn the sweep and advance to round two, or will a deciding game three in the future? Tune in next time to get that answer!
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