Tulsa Shock defense dominating in 68-45 win over Seattle

TULSA, Okla. (AP) – Riquna Williams scored 14 off the bench and the Tulsa defense completely dominated Seattle as the Shock rolled to a 68-45 win over the Storm on Tuesday night.

Plenette Pierson and Odyssey Simms scored 12 points apiece and Skylar Diggins added 11 to reach 1,000 career points for Tulsa (2-1), which has a winning record for the first time in six seasons since relocating from Detroit.

Renee Montgomery scored 10 points for Seattle (1-1), which scored 86 points in its opener, a 25-point win over Los Angeles when the Storm got 40 points from its reserves.

Tulsa used a 16-0 run, with Pierson scoring six, to go up 21-4 late in the first quarter. The Shock then scored the first 11 points of the second quarter to push the lead to 32-7 before Montgomery’s 3-pointer 2:14 before the half. It was 40-15 at the break with Seattle shooting just 15 percent (5 of 34), while the Shock went 15 of 34 from the field.

The lead reached 30 points in the second half as the Storm finished the game at 24 percent (15 of 63), including 4 of 24 from 3-point range (17 percent). They also had 20 turnovers the Shock converted into 20 points. Seattle got two points off 16 Tulsa turnovers.