With less than two weeks left in the regular season, the Sacramento Monarchs and San Antonio Silver Stars meet Thursday in the first of their two remaining matchups that could go a long way toward determining playoff positioning.

Sacramento and San Antonio are tied for second place in the Western Conference with 17-11 records, one game behind Phoenix with six games remaining.

The teams also play Aug. 15 in Sacramento. Both have clinched spots in the postseason and have a comfortable four-game lead over fourth-place Seattle, but the clubs will spend the rest of the regular season battling for home-court advantage in at least the first round that comes with finishing first or second in the conference.

The Monarchs and Silver Stars have split two meetings this season - each team winning on its home court - making the final two matchups crucial as both clubs look for the head-to-head tiebreaker that could make the difference in first-round seeding.

Sacramento defeated Connecticut 81-79 on Tuesday for its fifth win in seven games since a three-game slide. The Monarchs knocked off a Sun team that came in having won four straight and 10 of 11.

Sacramento won despite having only one starter, Yolanda Griffith, score in double figures. She had 11 points and added seven rebounds, but the rest of the starters combined for just 25 points.

"There's no way around the fact that that's a great win against a great team that's arguably the hottest team in the league right now," coach Jenny Boucek said. "I don't care how it looks."

Sacramento's reserves were the key to the victory, outscoring Connecticut's bench 45-19. Kara Lawson led the way with a game-high 21 points and six rebounds, and Adrian Williams added 14 points.

Lawson, averaging 11 points off the bench this season, had been held to less than 10 in four of her last six games.

"Kara was overdue for a break-out kind of game," Boucek said. "We know what she's capable of doing. She's one of the premier shooters in the league. It was just a matter of time before she had a break-out game. She did a great job tonight."

Thursday's game is the third in a four-game road trip for the Monarchs, who are 7-7 on the road this season. They're 1-1 on their current trip.

While the Monarchs are surging, the Silver Stars are struggling to keep pace in the fight for one of the top two spots in the West. San Antonio has lost three of four and five of eight since a season-high six-game winning streak.

The Silver Stars, playoff-bound for the first time in franchise history, fell to Washington 77-73 on Tuesday.

Sophia Young scored 26 points for the Silver Stars, who played without starters Becky Hammon (foot sprain) and Vickie Johnson (Achilles' tendon sprain). The status of both players, who were held out to rest because San Antonio has already secured a postseason spot, is uncertain for Thursday.

The Silver Stars will be playing the fifth game of a six-game homestand. They're 1-3 so far and just 7-7 at home this season.