bay area wins!

 

photo:  Kavin Mistry / Getty Images

what a sunday! the valks taking game one against the aces, showing strength in numbers and defensive hustle. janelle salaün was named sixth player of the year, but only played 6 minutes in this contest.  i'm sure we will see more of her in the series. i was skeptical we could get such a decisive win, but as ace's coach becky hammon said "we played like ass and only loss by 10."  

it was eleven. needless to say, the aces will come out wednesday angry and looking to even the series. 

photo: yahoo sports

then, the niners notched their fourth win against the denver broncos. again, I couldn't watch it live, but from the game cast broncos defense was holding us. our defense did the same.  we had a great fourth quarter with a touchdown by deebo and kittle, but juice got hurt. hoping it won't keep kyle out too long. next up is a doozy against division rivals seattle seahawks. 😬

valkyries win!!!

what a game!  i've been a fan of the talks their inaugural season last year. making the playoffs last year was a feat for a new expansion team, but getting the 2 seed and winning their first playoff series yesterday was huge.  I was distraught after game 2 thinking maybe they were too inexperienced to get it done in the clutch.  we aren't great in ot. give it to arike ogunbowale, but in game 3 all star gabby williams was clutch. coach nakase was wise to rest her for a significant amount of time in the third quarter, and she showed out until the final minutes. next up is defending champs the las vegas aces.  it's going to be tough, but hoping ballhalla can be the sixth woman for games 1 and 2 at home. G-S-V!

steph vs sabrina

 

honestly the past decade has really come down to the three-point contest at nba all star week to provide the excitement. i can't even watch the slam dunk contest anymore. when the playful challenge sabrina ionescu threw out to steph curry after setting the all-time 3-points made record in a contest at 37 point out of 40 last summer became a thing, it was all anyone was talking about leading up to all star week. dame took the actual 3-pt contest with a total of 26 points. steph vs sabrina was saturday night's marquee event with arguably the greatest shooter vs the ny liberty's sharp shooter. sabrina's been a fan of steph and even got a high five from him as a ten-year old at roaracle. steph followed her career from her days as an oregon duck to her current spot on the ny liberty. jokingly steph and podz had a sideline pop quiz on all time scorer in a 3-pt contest.

leading up to the contest there was a lot a talk about how sabrina would shoot at a wnba 3-pt line and use a wnba ball. she nixed the wnba line and shot from the nba 3-pt line and scored 26, tying dame's winning score. steph prevailed in the clutch hitting his final money balls scoring 29 pts. it was lovely to see many nba stars rooting for sabrina, including steph's teammate klay thompson. the contest harkened back to the 1973 battle of the sexes with billie jean king defeating bobby riggs. steph is no riggs, and a kind competitor. it's interesting to hear a lot of fodder about how sabrina shot with a smaller ball and then there was kenny smith controversial thought sabrina should have shot from the wnba line. so much talk and already thoughts of if this unique competition will return. steph and sabrina are decidedly in, as next year's all star game will be in san francisco. the bay is home to both ballers. here's hoping for a team format with klay joining steph and caitlin clark joining sabrina.