2021 WNBA Commissioner's Cup

2021 WNBA Commissioner's Cup Game

Cup Final
Connecticut Sun Seattle Storm (9-1) (8-2) 57 79 Head coach: Curt Miller Head coach: Noelle Quinn
1 2 3 4 Total Connecticut Sun 18 17 5 17 57 Seattle Storm 28 18 22 11 79
Date	August 12, 2021
Venue	Footprint Center, Phoenix, Arizona
MVP	Breanna Stewart (Seattle)
Referees	Eric Brewton, Cheryl Flores, Tiara Cruse
Attendance	5,006
United States TV coverage
Network	Amazon Prime
Announcers	Lisa Byington (play-by-play) Lisa Leslie (analyst)

The 2021 WNBA Commissioner's Cup was the WNBA's first ever Commissioner's Cup in league history. The Cup Final featured the top Eastern Conference Cup Connecticut Sun facing off against the top Western Conference team Seattle Storm. The Sun came into the Cup Final with a Cup record of 9–1 against fellow Eastern Conference teams, while the Storm entered with a 8–2 record against their Western Conference counterparts.

Led by Cup MVP Breanna Stewart, Seattle won the game by double-digits, claiming the inaugural Cup Final Title.

Road to the Cup Final

The Commissioner's Cup starts by designating a portion of regular-season games – 10 games per team – as counting towards Cup play. The team from each conference with the top record in designated “Cup games” then compete for the Commissioner's Cup title and a special prize pool. Cup games are the first home game and first road game each team plays against its five conference rivals.

Standings

Eastern Conference

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L
1	Connecticut Sun	10	9	1
2	Chicago Sky	10	6	4
3	New York Liberty	10	5	5
4	Atlanta Dream	10	4	6
5	Washington Mystics	10	4	6
6	Indiana Fever	10	2	8

Source:

Western Conference

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L
1	Seattle Storm	10	8	2
2	Minnesota Lynx	10	7	3
3	Las Vegas Aces	10	6	4
4	Phoenix Mercury	10	5	5
5	Dallas Wings	10	3	7
6	Los Angeles Sparks	10	1	9

Source:

Game Summary

Coming out of the Olympics Break, Seattle showed no signs of fatigue with having 5 players playing in the Olympics. They worked well together and jumped out to an early lead. The Sun battled back together down 10 after the first quarter. The game was back and forth in the second quarter and the Sun trailed by just five with 4:50 to play in the second and would have cut their deficit to eight at the break had DeWanna Bonner's half court make just after the buzzer counted. It wasn't until the Storm won the third 22-5 that the game was truly out of reach.

Seattle scored the first eight points out of the break with four coming from Sue Bird, who ended the second with a trey. The Storm went on to lead by as many as 31 and Bird finished with 10 points and five assists. The third member of Seattle's big three, Jewell Loyd, notched 16 points and three assists.

Amazon Prime

August 12 7:00pm ET

Report

Seattle Storm 79, Connecticut Sun 57
Scoring by quarter: 28-18, 18-17, 22-5, 11-17
Pts: Breanna Stewart (17) Rebs: Mercedes Russell (7) Asts: Sue Bird (5)		Pts: Bonner Hiedeman 11 Rebs: Brionna Jones (11) Asts: Jasmine Thomas (3)

Footprint Center Attendance: 5,006 Referees: Eric Brewton, Cheryl Flores, Tiara Cruse

Team rosters

Seattle Storm roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs G 10 Bird, Sue 5' 9" (1.75m) 150 lb (68kg) 1980-10-16 Connecticut 17 F 22 Burdick, Cierra 6' 2" (1.88m) 172 lb (78kg) 1993-09-30 Tennessee 4 G 8 Burke, Kennedy 6' 1" (1.85m) 182 lb (83kg) 1997-02-14 UCLA 2 G 21 Canada, Jordin 5' 6" (1.68m) 135 lb (61kg) 1995-08-11 UCLA 3 G 24 Loyd, Jewell 5' 10" (1.78m) 148 lb (67kg) 1993-10-05 Notre Dame 6 C 13 Magbegor, Ezi 6' 4" (1.93m) 176 lb (80kg) 1999-08-13 Australia 1 G 11 Prince, Epiphanny 5' 9" (1.75m) 179 lb (81kg) 1988-01-11 Rutgers 11 C 2 Russell, Mercedes 6' 6" (1.98m) 195 lb (88kg) 1995-07-27 Tennessee 3 F 33 Samuelson, Katie Lou 6' 3" (1.91m) 163 lb (74kg) 1997-06-13 Connecticut 2 F 30 Stewart, Breanna 6' 4" (1.93m) 170 lb (77kg) 1994-08-27 Connecticut 4 F 7 Talbot, Stephanie 6' 2" (1.88m) 192 lb (87kg) 1994-06-15 Australia 3 G 23 Williams, Kiana 5' 8" (1.73m) 135 lb (61kg) 1999-04-09 Stanford R	Head coach Noelle Quinn (UCLA) Assistant coaches Gary Kloppenburg (UC San Diego) Ryan Webb (Seattle) Perry Huang (Fresno Pacific) Athletic trainer Caroline Durocher Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured   WNBA roster page
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Connecticut Sun roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs G/F 24 Bonner, DeWanna 6' 4" (1.93m) 143 lb (65kg) 1987-08-21 Auburn 11 G/F 21 Carrington, DiJonai 5' 11" (1.8m) 175 lb (79kg) 1998-01-08 Baylor R G/F 3 Charles, Kaila 6' 1" (1.85m) 167 lb (76kg) 1998-03-23 Maryland 1 G 2 Hiedeman, Natisha 5' 8" (1.73m) 135 lb (61kg) 1997-02-10 Marquette 2 G 20 January, Briann 5' 8" (1.73m) 144 lb (65kg) 1987-01-11 Arizona State 12 F 42 Jones, Brionna 6' 3" (1.91m) 230 lb (104kg) 1995-12-18 Maryland 4 F 35 Jones, Jonquel 6' 6" (1.98m) 190 lb (86kg) 1994-01-05 George Washington 4 F 4 Jones, Stephanie 6' 3" (1.91m) 185 lb (84kg) 1998-07-10 Maryland R F 1 Mompremier, Beatrice 6' 4" (1.93m) 190 lb (86kg) 1996-08-08 Miami (FL) 1 F 25 Thomas, Alyssa  6' 2" (1.88m) 185 lb (84kg) 1992-04-12 Maryland 6 G 5 Thomas, Jasmine 5' 9" (1.75m) 143 lb (65kg) 1989-09-30 Duke 9	Head coach Curt Miller (Baldwin Wallace) Assistant coaches Brandi Poole Chris Koclanes Athletic trainer Nicole Alexander Strength and conditioning coach Analisse Rios Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured   WNBA roster page
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External links

• WNBA.com