Shock Readies for Opening Night

Originally Published: May 12, 2010 8:2 PM CDT

Bobby Lewis
Oklahoma Sports Mobile Journalist

TULSA, Oklahoma – Last Sunday’s ten-point win over visiting Seattle in its only preseason game of the year only wet the Shocks’ appetite for the season opener even more.

“We’re definitely excited for the first real game,” said Shock guard Alexis Hornbuckle. “It’s going to be a little nervous, anxious, excitement. All the emotions you can imagine, that’s what happens until tip-off.”

The steady rise of the league’s newest franchise has caught eyes around the WNBA. After the Shock routed the Storm in last weekend’s exhibition, the Tulsa players started to buy into the buzz as well.

“I think that we are extremely encouraged,” said Marion Jones, the team’s undisputed top-marketing chip. “What we’ve been doing is working.”

“I’m definitely eager,” said Plenette Pierson, the star of the exhibition game. “Just to think about the things that we’ve done with the players coming in and out, left and right, the team’s not at its final roster yet. It’s great. It means we can only go up from here.”

After the team sold out the lower-bowl of the BOK Center demand didn’t die down. The Shock decided to open up 200 standing-room-only tickets for Saturday’s showdown with the Minnesota Lynx at a first-come, first-serve basis. The increase in tickets should boost the interest in the Shock even higher.

“Now it’s basketball,” smiled Hornbuckle. “It’s game time.”