Seattle has a lot to be proud of with regards to the WNBA All-Star game this season. Fans voted three of the Storm's players to start in the All-Star game and all three performed very well. Surprise starter, Swin Cash showed any doubters that she deserved her spot in the game and she gave those fans quite a show. Cash set a WNBA All-Star scoring record with 22 points, eclipsing the 21 point record set only minutes earlier by first time All Star, Nicole Powell from the Sacramento Monarchs. Cash added six rebounds and four assists to earn All-Star MVP as her Western squad reclaimed the All-Star crown in a 130-118 scoring battle.
Lauren Jackson was a perfect 3-3 from long range in the first half but sat out the second half to rest her injured achilles tendon. When questioned about her remarkable performance despite injury, the ever humble Jackson claimed innocence. She said she just ran up to the line and shot without playing any offense or defense in the game.
Sue Bird played a solid game herself, with the only double-double of the afternoon, 16 points, 10 assists and five rebounds.
Sylvia Fowles took two uncontested attempts to dunk the ball in the final seconds to the delight of the fans.
This was one of the better ASG's in the recent past, mostly due to the back and forth scoring. Neither team controlled the game until the fourth quarter when the West added some defense to fulfill LA Sparks forward, Tina Thompson's demand that they win this game.
Bird was unable to recover from the bad luck of shooting last in the first round and first in the second, as she squeezed by the NY Liberty's Shameka Christon by hitting her last money ball of the first round. Becky Hammon's 16 points won the second round, beating the 12 points tying Bird and Detroit's Katie Smith. Hammon and Bird showed that, while Smith may hold the current record, these two young players are going to give her a run for the money in their careers.
Cash's MVP performance in the game itself made up for her missed free throw that set her Western team behind in the Skills Challenge which was won by the other Western team made up of Minnesota's Charde Houston, Phoenix's Cappie Pondexter and San Antonio's Sophia Young.
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