Defending WABA champs drop Steel City Queens in home opener, 104-51

Sabrina McLin brings the ball up court for the Steel City Queens. Photo by Raymond F. Durkin.& by Thomas Leturgey In pre-game preparations, Steel City Queens’ Assistant Coach Charles Cook told the team that they needed to avoid turnovers to defeat the Women’s American Basketball Association (WABA) champions, the DC Cyclones. For the first few moments of the Queens’ Home Opener at A Giving Heart Community Center in the Allentown neighborhood within the city of Pittsburgh, the club did just that. Down to just seven players, owner and head coach Ace Pippen’s team took an immediate lead with Ariana Sanders’ jump shot about 30 seconds into the game. DC’s Octavia Jett-Wilson tied the game and Sasha Orr tied that score after a Queens turnover and three-point play within the confines of the WABA’s “Three D” rule. [ABA and WABA rules dictate if a turnover occurs when a team on offense loses control bringing the ball up court before the cross the center line, an extra point can be added for a subsequent bucket by the team creating the turnover.] The Queens Sabrina McLin had a flurry of offense over the next few moments and a 3D foul and free throws,...