Terrible Fourth Quarter Sends Shock to Another Loss

Originally Published: Jun 27, 2010 5:56 PM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

TULSA, Oklahoma – The Tulsa Shock was minutes away from achieving its biggest win of the season, but a disastrous fourth quarter resulted in an 83-72 loss to the Seattle Storm Sunday.

The Shock (3-11) came into the day having beaten only two teams all season, while the Storm (13-2) had only lost to two teams. It seemed like an inherent mismatch, but a huge second quarter for Tulsa changed all that.

Tulsa led 19-18 after the first quarter, but took control in the second. The Shock held Seattle to just 12 points in the frame and went into the locker room at halftime with a 10-point lead.

Seattle’s offense recovered from its dismal second quarter and played much better after halftime, but the Shock managed to keep up and still held a five-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. That’s when everything fell apart.

The teams traded points to start the fourth, but over a four-minute stretch the Storm scored 21 unanswered points to turn a five-point deficit into a 16-point lead. Tulsa could do nothing right and missed a lay-up and short jumper while also turning the ball over eight times.

After shooting 47 percent from the floor in the first three quarters, Tulsa could not buy a bucket in the fourth. Tiffany Jackson managed to hit three shots in the quarter, but the rest of the Shock combined to go 1-for-10.

Meanwhile, the Storm – particularly Svetlana Abrosimova – caught fire from behind the arc. Seattle sank five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, with Abrosimova contributing three of them. She was the Storm’s driving force in the second half, scoring 19 of her 21 points after halftime.

Lauren Jackson led all scorers with 24 points, while Scholanda Robinson led the Shock with 16. Marion Jones had one of her better games to date, leading the team in plus/minus and finishing with six points in seven minutes of playing time. She was also the only Tulsa player other than Jackson to make a basket in the fourth quarter.

Tulsa stood at .500 six games into the season, but since then has lost eight consecutive contests. It will try to snap that streak in its next game at 7 p.m. Tuesday against the Connecticut Sun.