We present you with the Sports Rabbi\u2019s weekly update from the Holy Land\u2019s persons of interest currently playing in the WNBA \u2013 whether they\u2019re signed on to play in the Israeli Women\u2019s Premier Basketball League (the Athena Winner League) next season or whether they\u2019re otherwise intrinsically connected to the Holy Land, we are here to let you know how they\u2019re traveling in the W! We also were lucky enough to have the opportunity for an exclusive catchup with one of Israel’s favorite players, Alysha Clark!<\/p>\n
Player: Alysha Clark<\/strong> What Clark said of Wilson’s performance:<\/strong> “A’ja is special. She\u2019s such an unselfish player and so to be able to tie the record and do it in a way that\u2019s efficient, she didn\u2019t force anything, nothing was hard. She flowed and that\u2019s just the kind of player she is. She\u2019s a great player and she\u2019s going to go down as one of the greats in this game. So I was excited to see her go to work today. It\u2019s always a fun thing to do when you get to witness greatness and that\u2019s what happened today.”<\/p>\n What Clark said about the home stretch of the regular season:<\/strong> “Any road win in this league is tough to get, so when you can get them, however you get them, they’re always good. We want to be going into the last stretch of the season playing our best basketball. So if it means taking a little lull, taking some hits early on, we’ll take that. It’s going to turn for us. We don’t want to peak too soon, we want to hit tough bumps now, see what type of character and see how to get out of it. That’s what we’re doing.”<\/p>\n Whether we will Clark in Israel next season:<\/strong> “Yeah, maybe. I’ve been talking to a few teams, so we’ll see. But right now, I’m focusing on finishing out strong in playoffs and family life stuff right now. If I do it, it’ll be in the second half of the season for sure.”<\/p>\n Player: Kalani Brown<\/strong> Player: Leigha Brown<\/strong> Player: Veronica Burton<\/strong> Player: Maya Caldwell<\/strong> Player: Amanda Zahui<\/strong> University of Maryland\u2019s Jewish star, Abby Meyers<\/strong>, was released by the Washington Mystics on August 6. Team Israel star, Jennie Simms<\/strong>, was released by the Washington Mystics on August 17.<\/p>\n Current Standings We present you with the Sports Rabbi\u2019s weekly update from the Holy Land\u2019s persons of interest currently playing in the WNBA \u2013 whether they\u2019re signed on to play in the Israeli Women\u2019s Premier Basketball League (the Athena Winner League) next season or whether they\u2019re otherwise intrinsically connected to the Holy Land, we are here to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":94223,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1235,5783],"class_list":["post-94220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holy-land-hoops","tag-alysha-clark","tag-las-vegas-aces","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nCollege:<\/strong> Middle Tennessee State University
\nDraft:<\/strong> 2010, Round 2, Pick 17
\nCurrent WNBA Team:<\/strong> Las Vegas Aces (30-6, 1st in Western Conference, 1st overall)
\n2023-24 Israeli Team:<\/strong> — (2022-23 with Elitzur Ramla)
\nSummary:<\/strong> The Aces split their games 2-2 on their road trip over the last week, with wins over the Atlanta Dream (112-100) and the Chicago Sky (94-87), followed by losses to challengers, the Washington Mystics (62-78) and the New York Liberty (85-94). Over the four games, Clark averaged 4.25 points, 4.75 rebounds, 1.25 assists, 0.75 steals and 0.25 blocks in 24 minutes. While not the best week for the Aces, one of the highlights was the individual performance of A’ja Wilson in the win over the Dream, tying a league-record of 53 points. The Sports Rabbi caught up with Clark briefly after the historic game for a chat.<\/p>\n
\nCollege:<\/strong> Baylor University
\nDraft:<\/strong> 2019, Round 1, Pick 7
\nCurrent WNBA Team:<\/strong> Dallas Wings (19-16, 2nd in Western Conference, 4th overall)
\n2023-24 Israeli Team:<\/strong> Maccabi Bnot Ashdod
\nSummary:<\/strong> The Wings went 1-2 over the past week, but maintained their position in the standings, as they search to secure a playoff spot. Back-to-back losses against the Minnesota Lynx, 86-91 away and 81-90 at home, were followed by a 77-74 away win against the Phoenix Mercury. Brown averaged 3.5 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 0.5 steals and 0.5 blocks in the losses to Minnesota, but she came up big against the Mercury, with 12 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal in 22 minutes.<\/p>\n
\nCollege:<\/strong> University of Michigan
\nDraft:<\/strong> 2023, Round 2, Pick 15
\nCurrent WNBA Team:<\/strong> Connecticut Sun (24-11, 2nd in Eastern Conference, 3rd overall)
\n2023-24 Israeli Team:<\/strong> ASA Jerusalem
\nSummary:<\/strong> The Sun went 2-1 over the last week, with a 68-64 away win over the in-form Washington Mystics, a 90-95 home loss to the conference-leading New York Liberty and then an 83-68 home win over the Los Angeles Sparks. Brown appeared in the win over the Sparks, with 1 rebound and 1 steal in 2 minutes.<\/p>\n
\nCollege:<\/strong> Northwestern University
\nDraft:<\/strong> 2022, Round 1, Pick 7
\nCurrent WNBA Team:<\/strong> Dallas Wings (19-16, 2nd in Western Conference, 4th overall)
\n2023-24 Israeli Team:<\/strong> Elitzur Holon
\nSummary:<\/strong> The Wings went 1-2 over the past week, but maintained their position in the standings, as they search to secure a playoff spot. Back-to-back losses against the Minnesota Lynx, 86-91 away and 81-90 at home, were followed by a 77-74 away win against the Phoenix Mercury. In the three games, Burton averaged 2 points, 0.67 assists and 0.33 steals in 5.67 minutes.<\/p>\n
\nCollege:<\/strong> University of Georgia
\nDraft:<\/strong> 2021, Round 3, Pick 33
\nCurrent WNBA Team:<\/strong> Indiana Fever (11-24, 6th in Eastern Conference, 10th overall)
\n2023-24 Israeli Team:<\/strong> AS Ramat Hasharon
\nSummary:<\/strong> The Fever went 2-0 over the last week, with home wins over the Seattle Storm (90-86) and the Atlanta Dream (83-80), to keep their season alive . Caldwell appeared for 6 minutes in the win over the Storm, recording 1 rebound and 1 assist.<\/p>\n
\nCollege:<\/strong> University of Minnesota
\nDraft:<\/strong> 2015, Round 1, Pick 2
\nCurrent WNBA Team:<\/strong> Indiana Fever (11-24, 6th in Eastern Conference, 10th overall)
\n2023-24 Israeli Team:<\/strong> Maccabi Bnot Ashdod
\nSummary:<\/strong> The Fever went 2-0 over the last week, with home wins over the Seattle Storm (90-86) and the Atlanta Dream (83-80), to keep their season alive. Zahui averaged 2.5 points, 0.5 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 0.5 blocks in 8.5 minutes in the wins.<\/p>\n
\n1. Las Vegas Aces (30-6)
\n2. New York Liberty (28-7)
\n3. Connecticut Sun (24-11)
\n4. Dallas Wings (19-16)
\n5. Minnesota Lynx (17-18)
\n6. Washington Mystics (16-18)
\n5. Atlanta Dream (16-19)
\n8. Los Angeles Sparks (15-19)
\n9. Chicago Sky (14-21)
\n10. Indiana Fever (11-24)
\n11. Seattle Storm (10-25)
\n12. Phoenix Mercury (9-25)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"