Shock loses two on West coast swing

The Tulsa Shock dropped to 5-24 on the WNBA season after losing two games on a West coast swing over the weekend. The two games were stark contrasts of one another, with the Shock coming close to pulling away a win against the Los Angeles Sparks before being blown out the following night by the Seattle Storm. 

SPARKS 77, SHOCK 70

Tulsa held a two-point lead with 7:15 left in the game before DeLisha Milton-Jones scored six points during a 10-3 Los Angeles run that put the Sparks in front by 10 with 3:57 remaining. The Shock put together a solid first half, outscoring the Sparks 34-26. Los Angeles closed the gap in the third quarter, outscoring Tulsa 21-14 to pull within one at the end of the quarter.

Ivory Latta was once again the leading scorer for Tulsa, netting 16 points. Tiffany Jackson and Chante Black pulled in nine rebounds each while Amber Holt added nine points for the Shock. Milton-Jones led all scorers with 23 points while teammate Marie Ferdinand-Harris followed with 18.

The win was the fourth out of five for the Sparks and moved them into a third-place tie in the Western Conference with the San Antonio Silver Stars.

STORM 111, SHOCK 65

The Storm welcomed the Shock to Seattle, thrashing them by 46 points to set the WNBA record for largest margin of victory. Seattle avenged their August 3 loss to the Shock, jumping out to a 28-9 first quarter lead. By halftime they had expanded their lead to 33 points before the onslaught continued in the second half.

Svetlana Abrosimova led all scorers with 20 points, while teammate Swin Cash added 18 for the Storm. Latta led the Shock with 14 points and Shanna Crossley added 12 as Tulsa dropped the ninth out of their last ten games. Seattle enjoyed a great offensive night, connecting on 49.4 percent of their shots from the field. In comparison, Tulsa shot just 30.8 percent from the field.

LOOKING AHEAD

Two weeks remain in the Shock's inaugural season in Tulsa. The Shock travel to San Antonio on Friday before returning home for a rematch with Los Angeles on Saturday night. Tulsa will be on the road twice in the final week of the season, with games at Connecticut and New York before they close the year at home against Chicago on Saturday, August 21.

With just five games remaining in the season, the Shock are guaranteed to finish the year with the league's worst record. Tulsa currently has two first round picks in the 2011 draft and will enter a lottery after the season ends to determine which team gets to pick first. 

Tickets for the final two home games of the 2010 season are available at the BOK Center box office, online, or by calling 599-WNBA. 

Season tickets for the 2011 season are already on sale. The team has introduced a special package, giving fans tickets to all 17 home games for a low price of $99 per seat. The offer, which equals just $6 per game, is the lowest priced season ticket package in the WNBA. For more information call 599-WNBA or see tulsashock.net.