WNBA Playoffs
UT In The WNBA
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Eric Trainer
Women’s Basketball
September 21, 2024
The WNBA Playoffs get under way this week, with the eight qualifying teams beginning first-round play on Sunday. Two LVFLs will be in action when their franchise embarks on its postseason journey.
LVFLs Jordan Horston and Mercedes Russell will head into battle with No. 5 seed Seattle, as the Storm travel to Las Vegas to take on the two-time defending champion Aces, who earned the No. 4 seed in 2024. Seattle and Las Vegas, whose team president is LVFL Nikki (Caldwell) Fargas, will face off at 10 p.m. ET on Sunday in a contest televised by ESPN.
Earlier in the day, No. 8 Atlanta will meet No. 1 seed New York in the Big Apple at 1 p.m. ET, No. 6 Indiana will play at No. 3 Connecticut at 3 p.m. and No. 7 Phoenix will travel to No. 2 Minnesota at 5 p.m. ESPN will carry the first and third of those matchups, while ABC will televise the Fever and Sun.
Game two between Seattle and Las Vegas is set for Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. ET in “Sin City” (ESPN), while a potential game three (if necessary) will be held in Seattle on Thursday. Tip time is TBD, but the game has been ticketed for ESPN2.
Horston enters her first playoff run averaging 6.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.3 steals per contest while starting 14 of 39 games during her second season in the league. Coming off an injury last season, her 39 games played in 2024 rank as the second most of anyone on the Storm roster, and her 49.3-percent shooting from the field and 1.3 steals per game average rank No. 14 and No. 17, respectively, in the WNBA.
Russell, meanwhile, embarks on her fifth postseason journey in her seventh professional season with Seattle. She tied a career high by appearing in 37 games this season and is averaging 3.9 points and 3.0 rebounds while earning 15.8 minutes per outing. She is shooting 51.7 percent from the field, which is her highest number since hitting 61.7 percent in 2021. In 10 previous playoff games, Russell produced 6.4 ppg., 5.3 rpg. and 1.4 apg. over 21.8 minutes per contest while making 65.1 percent of her shots.
