Frostine Ices Orlando Late

The St. Louis Orcs escaped Orlando with a 119-118 win Saturday, the margin supplied almost entirely by Elsa Frostine, who torched the Freeze for 26 points on 9-of-11 shooting, going 6-of-7 from three and finishing a plus-8 in 31 minutes. She added 3 blocks, 3 assists, and 2 steals for good measure, posting a game score of 29.5 that was the best on either side by a wide margin.

The turning point arrived when Frostine connected on her fifth and sixth threes in the fourth quarter, both in succession, pushing a narrow St. Louis lead to five with under two minutes left. Orlando clawed back to within one, but the Freeze could not force a stop or convert the tying possession, and the Orcs held on as time expired. Frostine's efficiency was absurd by any standard: she attempted just 11 field goals and left nothing on the table.

Heaven Starnett quarterbacked the St. Louis offense all night, finishing with 15 points and 14 assists against a single turnover on 34 minutes of work. Her ability to manufacture clean looks for Frostine off ball-screens repeatedly put the Freeze defense in rotation, and it never fully recovered.

Orlando's best answers came from Shagrill O'neal, who posted 22 points and 14 rebounds while blocking four shots to go with six made threes on 7-of-14 shooting. Left Eye ran the Freeze offense to the tune of 11 assists and 19 points, but a minus-12 plus-minus told the real story: the Orcs were simply better when it mattered. Ace chipped in 17 points and 7 assists without a turnover, yet Orlando's collective effort wasn't quite enough.

The one-point final masked how thoroughly Frostine controlled the game's critical stretches. St. Louis gets a short turnaround before its next game; Orlando will need to find answers on the perimeter if it wants to avoid a repeat of this result.