This Team is Just the Best

L 78-72

Losses are never fun. But this is probably the most fun you'll ever have in a losing effort:

• We only lost by six to the Minnesota Lynx--the team with the #1 record in the WNBA and the MVP Frontrunner Naphessa Collier.

• We played them tough. We won every quarter except the third, when the Stud Budz (and especially Natisha Hiedeman) put on an impressive offensive performance.

• We have been saying all year that teams have a tough time beating us when they can't make the three. Well, Minnesota shot 12-30 (40%) from three and ended up beating us. Give Coach Nakase huge credit for building a defense that can be executed to excellence.

• It was our last home game of the inaugural season! So everyone was ready to have a good time. Even in a loss, the vibes were positive and the energy was great.

• We made the playoffs! Even with the L, there is still a lot to be excited about. We get more basketball (though possibly no more basketball at Ballhalla--a huge bummer for this blog in particular!).

• Our (at this point, semi-)recent roster addition Kaila Charles had one of her best games of the season. Her defensive energy has become custom. But her offensive production was new and exciting. She made strong cuts to the basket and finished with comfort.

If this ends up being the final game of the season in Ballhalla, then it was really as close to a perfect ending as you can get (apart, of course, from the W). The team played super hard. The team never gave up. We played smart. We played together. And we--the fans--cheered our butts off from the first minute to the last. Hard to complain when you get to enjoy all of that.