WNBA Coach Bracing for Punishment After Double OT Loss on Friday

WNBA fans were treated to one of the best games of the season on Friday night. This came in the form of a tightly contested matchup between the Seattle Storm and the Los Angeles Sparks, which required two overtime periods to determine a winner.

Sparks Prevail in Tough Battle

In the end, it was the Sparks who secured the win, 108-106, behind a concerted team effort that saw no less than four players score at least 21 points.

Rickea Jackson led the charge for L.A. with 27 points on 11-of-23 shooting, along with nine rebounds, three assists, and a steal in 17 minutes of action. Dearica Hamby (21 points, 13 rebounds), Kelsey Plum (22 points, seven assists) and Azura Stevens (21 points, three triples) also chipped in to help lead the Sparks to their sixth win in seven games.

Storm Coach Goes Off on Referees

Not even Nneka Ogwumike’s season-high 37-point explosion was enough to carry Seattle to victory. Seven-time All-Star Skylar Diggins did well, too, with 18 points and six assists. However, the 5-foot-9 guard, who’s averaging 5.1 free throws per game, failed to get to the line despite logging 43 minutes of action.

Storm head coach Noelle Quinn was not at all pleased by this fact, and she did not hold back in slamming the referees in her postgame interview.

“Skylar played 43 minutes and took zero free throws,” Quinn said, via The Seattle Times. “It’s ridiculous. Maybe I have to come up here and get fined and rant and rave for us to get respect.

“Inconsistency. That’s all. I’m not a coach that complains often, but I see what happens when people come up here and do it so now I’m about to do it.

“[Diggins] needs to take more. Forty-three minutes and zero free throws is (expletive). Period.”