The Tulsa Shock beat the Seattle Storm 85-67 on Thursday, crushing any hopes of the Storm sustaining more than a 2-game win streak this year.

Both teams came out strong, the Shock making all of their first 4 attempts to lead the Storm 10-4 early on.  Odyssey Sims had 9 points in the first quarter alone, but the Storm rallied behind Crystal Langhorne’s 8 points, Jenna O’Hea’s 6, and Loyd’s 6 so that by the end of the first quarter, the score was tied 24-24.

The second quarter was hard to watch.  Although the Storm made 5 of their 11 field goals, the Shock had 5 more attempts (due to 4 Storm turnovers and 6 offensive rebounds) and were 8/16 in field goal percentage.  A silly 3-point foul on a hail-Mary with about a second left to go in the first half allowed Karima Christmas to hit a couple of free throws, capping an 11-2 Tulsa run that gave them a 49-34 lead at halftime.

The Shock continued the run into the third quarter, starting off by scoring 10 (mostly coming from Sims and Plenette Pierson) compared to the Storm’s 2.  Once again, the referees were questionable on both ends of the court, seemingly having no understanding of what constitutes the difference between an offensive and defensive foul.  The Storm went on a little 7-0 run with a few minutes left in the third quarter, but failed to make any true dent in the lead going into the fourth, leaving the score at 68-54.

The fourth quarter saw the Storm lose whatever small chance they had left to complete the comeback.  They missed even more easy shots, and Tulsa continued to drain threes, jumpers, and layups to keep the lead right around 20 until the end.

Odyssey Sims had an amazing game, scoring 24 points and getting 4 assists with only 1 turnover.  Plenette Pierson added 17 points in what continues to be her best year in her 13 years in the WNBA.  Karima Christmas did a little of everything, picking up 8 rebounds and 3 assists to go along with 10 points.

On the Storm side, Jewel Loyd had another strong game, leading Seattle in scoring with 16 points as well as tying for team-best in assists (6 to match Angel Goodrich).  She had 4 turnovers and rebounds apiece- hopefully she’ll improve her assist to turnover ratio in future seasons.

Crystal Langhorne had a solid game as well, scoring 12 points and picking up 8 rebounds.  Kaleena Mosqueda Lewis scored 12 points and had 3 rebounds.  Jenna O’Hea continued with her all around good performances, getting 13 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists.

The Storm was without Abby Bishop (hamstring injury), Ramu Tokashiki (Japanese national team commitments), and now Sue Bird (NO ONE KNOWS WHY).  It’s possible that Jenny Boucek didn’t want to play Sue so that the Storm would lose and hang on to the highest chance at getting the number one draft pick next year.  In any case, Sue is definitely getting older and I’m sure could use the rest after playing year-round for nearly her entire 13-year professional career, but the Storm suffered badly in her absence all the same.  Games like this make me afraid for the time, fast-approaching, when she decides she’s had enough of abusing her body and wants to coach.  I can only hope that when she does, she chooses to stay in Seattle and coach for us!