Favored Long Beach Braces for Colorado
The ABL’s postseason Colorado-Long Beach series could be over in 26 hours.
After today’s 4 p.m. best-of-three playoff opener at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, the teams play 24 hours later at Denver’s McNichols Arena.
If a third game is required, it would be played Wednesday at the Pyramid.
Long Beach stands as a slight favorite. The bigger, stronger StingRays averaged eight more rebounds per game than Colorado in their seven regular-season meetings, four of them won by Long Beach.
StingRay Coach Maura McHugh says her team must overcome its inconsistency to be successful against the Xplosion.
During the 44-game regular season, no one would have been surprised if the StingRays had won eight, 10 or 12 in a row. But their longest winning streak was four.
As a consequence, they’re the third-seeded playoff team. The Xplosion is seeded sixth. The winner will meet Western Conference champion Portland.
“I think we match up well with Colorado, but they’ve got a great starting lineup, one that won the Western Conference last year,” McHugh said.
“Edna Campbell and Crystal Robinson are great athletes who can run, jump, shoot from anywhere and play excellent defense. And their center, Vicki Hall, can post up or shoot the three.
“The key for us is minimal turnovers and getting the ball inside to our big players.”
That would be Yolanda Griffith and Venus Lacy, both 6 feet 4 and probably the ABL’s best inside duo. Lacy had an ankle sprain last week at Atlanta and played only 13 minutes in the season finale at Philadelphia.
“Venus is fine, we’re healthy,” McHugh said.
The same for Colorado, save for a nagging backache by Robinson, the 5-11 swing player who averaged 15.7 points against the StingRays.
Tari Phillips (14.7), Campbell (12.1) and Hall (10.5) averaged double figures against Long Beach. And the ABL’s shortest player, 5-3 point guard Debbie Black, has been trouble all season for Long Beach.
She plays a whirlwind floor game and was one of four ABL players this season with more than 100 steals.
If rest is a factor, the edge should belong to Colorado (21-23). Six of its last eight games were at home. Long Beach (26-18) played its last four in six nights, all on the East Coast.
StingRay Notes
During the StingRays’ recent stay in Atlanta, Long Beach forward Trisha Stafford was invited to lunch by her boyfriend, DeWayne Odom. He also invited two of Stafford’s teammates, Dana Wilkerson and Jenni Ruff. Afterward, Odom, sliding down to one knee, presented Stafford with a single red rose, a tiny box, and popped the question. He got a yes. “I think he invited Dana and Jenni because he wanted witnesses if I said yes,” Stafford said.