Storm-Shock Preview

By KATE HEDLIN
Posted Aug 03 2010 11:21AM

It's been more than a month since the Seattle Storm have had to bounce back from a loss. Facing the woeful Tulsa Shock should make that task even easier.

The league-leading Storm, who may also have some concerns about the health of leading scorer Lauren Jackson, visit the WNBA-worst Shock on Tuesday night.

Seattle (22-3) had its 13-game winning streak snapped with a 72-71 loss at Minnesota on Sunday. While the Storm have already clinched the top spot in the Western Conference, they were trying to move closer to breaking the league record for the best start set by the 1998 Houston Comets, who opened 25-2 and finished 27-3.

After taking an early lead Sunday, Seattle trailed by 11 with 4:23 remaining in the fourth quarter and couldn't complete a late rally. Sue Bird scored 16 points while Jackson, second in the league with 21.5 points per game, finished with a season-low 12 after struggling with a sprained left thumb she suffered earlier.

"Tonight showed us some things that we need to work on and we are just like every other team, a work in progress getting ready for the playoffs and that is how we are going to approach this and move onto Tulsa," said Jackson, who left the game in the second quarter before returning with a taped-up thumb midway through the third.

Jackson and the Storm look to bounce back against Tulsa (4-22), which they've beaten twice this season.

While Jackson may have some lingering issues with her thumb, the Shock have struggled to stop anyone in their first season in Tulsa. They've lost seven straight and 19 of 20, falling 87-62 at Washington on Sunday.

Tulsa fell behind 25-9 in the first quarter and never threatened, shooting 33.8 percent. Tiffany Jackson scored 14 points and added seven rebounds - the only Shock player to score in double figures.

"I think we wanted to perform as hard as (we could)," coach Nolan Richardson said. "That's the makeup of the group. But at the same time I think Washington performed because of what they had to do."

Richardson's club is looking to snap a nine-game home losing streak, and it has allowed the last three visitors to average 109.7 points.

These teams close their season series Saturday in Seattle.

Shock top Storm as WNBA's worst surprises its best

Posted Aug 03 2010 11:59PM

TULSA, Okla. (AP) Scholanda Robinson scored 12 of her 21 points in the third quarter to lead the Tulsa Shock to a surprising 84-75 victory over the Seattle Storm on Tuesday night.

The league-worst Shock (5-22) snapped a seven-game losing streak and a nine-game skid at home, while the Storm (22-4), with the WNBA's best record, dropped their second straight.

``Just so excited,'' Robinson said. ``A little bit of relief, but it just feels really good. We put a great game together from beginning to end. It is just domination. We beat the best team in our league and it just shows what a great team we are. When we come to play our game and we play for 40 minutes, we can beat anybody.''

Ivory Latta added 15 points and Tiffany Jackson had 11 for the Shock, whose last win in their own arena came two months ago against Minnesota.

Sue Bird scored 19 points for Seattle. Lauren Jackson had 18, Tanisha Wright 15 and Swin Cash added 13.

``I think Tulsa played very well. They played aggressive,'' Seattle coach Brian Agler said.

``The thing I have found out about this league, being in this league for a long time, is usually the hungrier teams win. We had a long stretch of being hungry and for whatever reason we lost that. Tulsa has played hungry all year long. They work hard, they play hard, they try to make things happen, and tonight they did and took advantage of the opportunities.''

With the score tied at 41, Amber Holt converted a four-point play, then Keisha Brown hit a shot from midcourt right before the halftime buzzer, giving the hosts a 48-41 lead at the break.

Robinson, who had only five points in the first half, then went to work, hitting jump shots and 3-pointers.

Cash got the first basket of the second half for the Storm, the Robinson answered with a three-point play to stretch the advantage to 51-43.

Tulsa forced 24 turnovers in one of its best defensive efforts of the season. The Shock were still outrebounded 33-25, but they had 14 steals and made key blocks against Bird, Cash and the Storm's other top shooters.

``The more important part of our system is being able to not turn it over and battle people on the boards,'' Tulsa coach Nolan Richardson said. ``That's been a deficiency that we've had big time. But tonight we held our own on the boards and played good defense. That was the best defense we played against a solid team. (Seattle) struggled to get some easy shots which we expected them to make all the time anyway.''

When the teams met at the BOK Center on June 27, the Shock built an early lead before Seattle rallied for an 11-point victory.

``Sometimes things go your way and sometimes they don't,'' Bird said. ``It's difficult to compare games, but I think at some point we were just unlucky. One point we had a fast break opportunity to cut it to four and we can't make the layup. Sometimes things just happen for you that way, where in the last game we had people make 3s.''

• Storm: --
• Shock: --

• Storm: --
• Shock: --

• Lead Changes: 3
• Times Tied: 6

• Arena: BOK Center, Tulsa, OK
• Officials: #38 Lamont Simpson, #44 Felicia Grinter, #53 Jeff Smith
• Attendance: 3697
• Duration: 2:2