Mystics-Storm Preview

By MATT BECKER
Posted May 24 2010 8:26PM

The Seattle Storm have displayed a flare for the dramatic in the opening week of the season.

Coming off another thrilling victory, the Storm look to improve to 4-0 for the first time in franchise history Tuesday night when they host a Washington Mystics team trying to bounce back from its first loss of the season.

Seattle is the Western Conference's only undefeated team, but that hasn't come easily.

In their season opener against Los Angeles, the Storm used a 24-7 fourth-quarter run to race past the Sparks and win 81-67. Seattle came from behind again in last Wednesday's 79-76 victory over Minnesota, rallying from a seven-point deficit in the fourth.

At Phoenix on Saturday, Seattle had to regain its composure to win 95-89 in overtime. The Storm let an 82-71 lead slip away by failing to score in the final four minutes of regulation.

Swin Cash took over in the extra session, scoring seven of her 18 points in overtime to help Seattle improve to 3-0 for the second time in three years.

"In a way we shot ourselves in the foot a little bit in regulation," said Sue Bird, who had nine points and eight assists. "At the same time we had a chance in overtime and that's what we talked about."

Center Lauren Jackson had 25 points and eight rebounds Saturday as the Storm dominated the inside game, outrebounding the Mercury 48-38 and outscoring them 54-32 in the paint.

"We always try to have a defense that collapses and makes it hard for any post player to dig and to make them think about where we are," said forward Camille Little, who had 14 points and eight rebounds.

The Storm look for another strong defensive showing against a Washington team coming off its worst offensive performance of the year.

After averaging 78.7 points and shooting 49.7 percent while winning their first three games, the Mystics shot 39.0 percent in Sunday's 80-65 loss to Connecticut. The game was tied at 35 with midway through the third period before the Sun went on a 25-5 run in an 8-minute span to deny Washington the first 4-0 start in its history.

"I just think we never really got going," Mystics coach Julie Plank said. "We had some defensive breakdowns. We fouled too much."

Monique Currie fouled out after enduring her worst game of the season. She finished with six points after averaging a team-best 22 in the first three games.

Currie averaged 15.0 points in Washington's two games against Seattle last season, which the teams split.

The Mystics have lost four straight in Seattle since a 78-71 victory July 13, 2005.

Storm rally past Mystics to improve to 4-0

Posted May 26 2010 12:52AM

SEATTLE(AP) Sue Bird and Tanisha Wright scored 16 points each and the Seattle Storm rallied from 10 down in the second half to beat the Washington Mystics 82-76 on Tuesday night.

Swin Cash and Lauren Jackson added 14 points each to help the Storm improve to 4-0 for the first time in franchise history.

Monique Currie scored 24 points and Lindsey Harding had 15 for Washington (3-2), which lost its second straight.

After trailing by 10 late in the third quarter, Seattle went on a 31-10 run to take a 72-61 lead on Wright's 3-pointer with 3:11 to go.

The Mystics rallied to plull within three on Currie's runner off the backboard about 2 minutes later, but Bird made six free throws in the final 33 seconds to secure the Storm's win.

Camille Little's jumper with 1 minute left in the third quarter started Seattle's 10-0 run and Svetlana Abrosima capped it with a 3-pointer to tie the score at 51-all with 8:35 to go in the fourth.

Bird made a 3 about 2 minutes later to give the Storm a 60-57 lead - their first since midway through the first quarter - and they never trailed again. Jackson scored seven consecutive points, including four free throws and a 3-pointer to push Seattle's advantage to 67-59 with 4:46 left.

After Wright's 3 gave the Storm a double-digit lead, Harding and Currie scored four points each during the Mystics' 10-2 run that pulled them to 74-71 with 1:09 to go.

After going scoreless in the first half, Little had 11 points in the third quarter to keep the Mystics from pulling away and helping the Storm rally after Currie's free throws gave Washington a 51-41 lead with 1 1/2 minutes left in the quarter.

Marissa Coleman made consecutive 3s to cap the Mystics' 15-2 that gave them an 11-point lead in the opening minute of the second quarter. Washington scored seven consecutive points, including five by Crystal Langhorne, to take a 33-18 lead with 3:44 to go in the second quarter.

Wright made two free throws in the final minute of the first half to cut the Mystics' lead to 38-27 at the break.

• Mystics: --
• Storm: --

• Mystics: --
• Storm: --

• Lead Changes: 3
• Times Tied: 6

• Arena: Key Arena, Seattle, WA
• Officials: #13 Cameron Inouye, #45 Tom Mauer, #52 James Williams
• Attendance: 6612
• Duration: 2:1