{"id":617021,"date":"2026-02-26T07:45:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T07:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/617021\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T07:45:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T07:45:07","slug":"odyssey-sims-aneesah-morrow-combine-for-54-points-in-98-82-gold-rush-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/617021\/","title":{"rendered":"Odyssey Sims, Aneesah Morrow Combine for 54 Points in 98-82 Gold Rush Win"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Sims, who received MVP 1 honors and 734 leaderboard points, paired her game-high 29 points with a season-high 10 assists to record her first double-double of the season. She finished 12-of-21 from the floor and added five steals with three rebounds in the victory.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Morrow registered a double-double with 25 points and a game-high 14 rebounds to earn MVP 2 plaudits. She was 10-of-20 from the field, including 4-of-6 from long range, en route to claiming 589 leaderboard points.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Guard <strong>Ariel Atkins<\/strong> poured in 18 points with five rebounds, four assists, and five steals, while center <strong>Kiah Stokes<\/strong> narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and 12 rebounds.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Guard <strong>Sarah Ashlee Barker<\/strong> led Eclipse in the loss by netting a season-high 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field, including a perfect 4-of-4 from beyond the arc. She also pulled down five rebounds with three assists to earn MVP 3 accolades and 372 leaderboard points.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Forward<strong> NaLyssa Smith<\/strong> registered a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds to go with two assists, while guard <strong>Kaitlyn Chen<\/strong> recorded 18 points with six assists and two steals.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>KEY MOMENT<\/p>\n<p>Gold Rush used a 16-5 run early in the second quarter to overcome an eight-point deficit, taking a 35-29 lead with 5:16 left in the period. Eclipse trimmed the gap to 35-34 before Gold Rush closed the first half on an 11-3 spurt for a 46-37 advantage at the intermission. <\/p>\n<p>LEADERBOARD IMPACT<\/p>\n<p>Sims reclaimed the No. 1 position on the leaderboard and owns a 529-point advantage over guard<strong> Rebekah Gardner<\/strong> entering the penultimate day of the season. Morrow, meanwhile, rose into fourth place in the league standings, while guard <strong>Kierstan Bell<\/strong> dropped into seventh place after being held to eight points. <\/p>\n<p>GOLD RUSH NOTES<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Guard <strong>Odyssey Sims<\/strong> extended her league-record streak of consecutive double-digit scoring efforts to 34 games after posting 29 points on Wednesday night \u2026 She has now reached double figures in 62-of-64 career games.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li> Sims fashioned the 14th double-double of her AU Pro Basketball career, moving into sole possession of third place on the league\u2019s all-time chart.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li> Sims became the first player in the league to dish out 10 or more assists in a game this season \u2026 It also marked the 13th time she has tallied 10 or more assists in a game during her career.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li> Sims earned Game MVP honors for the ninth game in a row after her MVP 1 citation in Wednesday\u2019s nightcap \u2026 Her nine-game run is tied for the second-longest stretch in league history with guard Allisha Gray, who had nine straight MVP selections from March 17, 2023, to March 7, 2024.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li> Sims also claimed her 36th career Game MVP award, which is the second-highest total by a player in any Athletes Unlimited sport. <\/li>\n<li>Sims has scored 20 or more points in 7-of-10 games this season, including each of the last three games. <\/li>\n<li>Sims upped her career record as a captain to 22-21, including a 3-1 mark this season \u2026 In addition, she claimed her first victory against guard <strong>Kierstan Bell<\/strong> in three tries as opposing captains.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li> Sims, who surpassed 700 leaderboard points for the second time this season, now owns a league-record nine career games with 700 or more points.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li> Sims has also tallied 500 or more leaderboard points in six of her last seven games after doing so just once in her first three games.<\/li>\n<li> Sims has won six of her last seven games after a 1-2 start, while guard Lexie Brown has a 6-1 mark in the last seven outings after going 0-3 in Week One.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li> Forward <strong>Aneesah Morrow<\/strong> has scored 10 or more points in 9-of-10 games this season, including the last three in a row, after tying her season high with 25 points on Wednesday night \u2026 Morrow has tallied at least 20 points three times this season. <\/li>\n<li>Morrow\u2019s 17 points in the first half are the most by a player in the opening 20 minutes of a game this season, eclipsing the previous mark of 16 points scored by center <strong>Tina Charles<\/strong> against Eclipse last Saturday and matched by guard<strong> Sarah Ashlee Barke<\/strong>r on Wednesday night.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li> Morrow added 14 rebounds to secure her fifth double-double of the campaign, which is good for second in the league \u2026 She has also finished with 10 or more rebounds in 6-of-10 contests this season.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li> Center <strong>Kiah Stokes<\/strong> recorded her fifth double-digit rebound performance this season \u2026 Stokes has also tallied at least nine caroms in all 10 contests.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li> Guard <strong>Ariel Atkins<\/strong> finished in double digits for the sixth time this season, including her third outing in a row, after contributing 18 points in Wednesday night\u2019s win.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Next Game for Gold Rush:<\/strong> Thursday, February 26, vs. Rhythm (9 p.m. ET\/8 p.m. CT) <\/p>\n<p>ECLIPSE NOTES<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Eclipse requested a captain\u2019s challenge on a defensive foul called against guard <strong>Deja Kelly<\/strong> with 3:31 remaining in the fourth quarter \u2026 The challenge was unsuccessful \u2026 Teams are now 8-for-25 (.320) in captain\u2019s challenges through 20 games. <\/li>\n<li>Guard <strong>Kierstan Bell<\/strong>, who made her season debut as a captain on Wednesday, saw her career captain record dip to 5-5.<\/li>\n<li> Forward <strong>NaLyssa Smith<\/strong> registered the 16th double-double of her AU Pro Basketball career, matching the league record established by guard Crystal Bradford \u2026 Smith has authored a double-double in 16-of-25 career games.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li> Smith has also scored in double figures in 9-of-10 games this year, including 20 or more points in back-to-back outings \u2026 She also finished with 10 or more rebounds for the fourth time this season.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li> Guard <strong>Sarah Ashlee Barker<\/strong> has scored in double figures in 8-of-10 contests after finishing with her season-high 22-point effort \u2026 She is the 13th player to record at least 20 points in a game this season.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li> Guard <strong>Kaitlyn Chen<\/strong> has scored in double figures in 9-of-10 games this year, including 15 or more points in six outings. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Next Game for Eclipse:<\/strong> Thursday, February 26, vs. Glow (6:30 p.m. ET\/5:30 p.m. CT) <\/p>\n<p>GAME MVPS<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>#1 \u2013 Odyssey Sims (Gold Rush), +90 points<\/li>\n<li>#2 \u2013 Aneesah Morrow (Gold Rush), +60 points<\/li>\n<li>#3 \u2013 Sarah Ashlee Barker (Eclipse), +30 points<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sims, who received MVP 1 honors and 734 leaderboard points, paired her game-high 29 points with a season-high&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":617022,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[49],"tags":[2476,1501,9770,9776,204415,8198,10584,115167,62,67,132,68,232],"class_list":["post-617021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-aneesah-morrow","tag-ariel-atkins","tag-kaitlyn-chen","tag-kiah-stokes","tag-kierstan-bell","tag-nalyssa-smith","tag-odyssey-sims","tag-sarah-ashlee-barker","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-wnba"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=617021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/617022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=617021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=617021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=617021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}