The Detroit Shock hope the successful start they had to their lengthy trip to the West Coast helps them in their next destination.

The Shock will try for their seventh straight victory when they make the second stop of their four-game, nine-day road swing on Saturday against the Seattle Storm, who are unbeaten in their last eight home games.

Detroit (7-1) posted its third consecutive road victory and became the first seven-game winner in the WNBA with an 84-70 win at Sacramento on Friday to open this road trip.

"Yeah, we have a hard stretch right now," coach Bill Laimbeer told the Shock's official Web site ahead of the trip, which continues Wednesday in Los Angeles and wraps up in Phoenix next Saturday.

"We're playing four teams that are all former champions so they all have a good mind-set about them, so this is a very big stretch for us."

Detroit now looks to win seven in a row for the first time since July 8-24.

Katie Smith tops the Shock with 16.6 points per game and scored a team-high 30 in Friday's win. She had a career high-tying seven 3-pointers, matching a franchise record and falling one short of Diana Taurasi's league record.

"It's a mind-set, being aggressive," Smith said. "I'm not going to get 30 points every night, but it's about making the defense work. My shot feels good right now, hopefully I can keep shooting with the best of them."

Deanna Nolan, who has been bothered by injuries to her elbow and ankle throughout the season, had 24 points and nine assists for Detroit.

The Shock, owners of the best record in the WNBA, are trying to keep pace with the club-record 10-1 start they had in 2007, but their next opponent might make that task difficult.

Seattle (5-3) has won its last eight regular-season games at KeyArena, dating to a loss to Sacramento on July 31.

The Storm will be trying to win nine consecutive home games for the first time since a 10-game run that spanned two seasons from July 15, 2005-May 21, 2006.

However, after winning five of their first six overall games in 2008, they have dropped their last two, including Wednesday's 77-67 defeat at Detroit.

Reigning league MVP Lauren Jackson had 27 points and seven rebounds for the Storm, while Smith scored a season-high 33 for the Shock.

"We're not going to make excuses - we had a chance to come in here and win the game, and we didn't do it," said Storm coach Brian Agler, whose team hopes to avoid its first three-game skid since July 29-Aug. 3. "Katie Smith had a great game and Detroit had a little more to offer than we did."

Forward Swin Cash had 10 points in her first appearance against Detroit, the team with which she played her first five seasons before being traded to the Storm after feuding with Laimbeer.

Seattle, which is concluding its season series with the Shock, has lost four of its last five meetings versus Detroit.