Fever-Storm Preview

By MATT BEARDMORE
Posted Jun 16 2011 1:03PM

The Seattle Storm were upset that their lengthy home winning streak ended, but they've had plenty of time to try to correct their mistakes.

Playing their first game in eight days, the defending WNBA champions look to rebound from their first home loss in two seasons Friday night when they face the Indiana Fever.

Seattle (1-1) had won 18 straight regular-season games at KeyArena and 22 in a row there including last season's playoff run before losing 81-74 to Minnesota on June 9. The Storm pulled within six with 29 seconds left, but a 22-0 Lynx run to open the game was too much to overcome.

Seattle let Minnesota shoot 57.1 percent en route to its first home loss since Sept. 10, 2009, against Phoenix.

"That was just a poor performance," said seven-time All-Star point guard Sue Bird, who hit four 3-pointers and scored 16 of her team-high 24 points in the final 8:49.

"We came back but that doesn't mean much. But the world didn't end. I will get up tomorrow. We all will. That's the beauty of the season."

The Storm are 9-1 at home against the Fever, winning the last four matchups in Seattle following an 85-81 victory June 25 when they overcame an 11-point, third-quarter deficit.

Indiana (3-1), going for its best five-game start since opening 4-1 in 2007, plays its next three on the road following Tuesday's 82-74 victory over league-worst Tulsa. Katie Douglas hit a franchise record-tying six 3-pointers and scored 22 points to help the Fever win their second straight.

She also made her 500th steal, becoming the first player in league history to reach that total and have at least 500 3s.

"My thing is, with this team, I just need to be consistent and steady for them," said Douglas, among the league leaders with 21.3 points per game. "I need to put them in a position, as one of the leaders on this team, for us to win."

Douglas scored 29 points - one shy of a career best - in the Fever's last game in Seattle, and she averaged a team-best 22.0 as these teams split the season series for the third time in four years.

Storm center Lauren Jackson averaged 22.5 points and 8.0 rebounds against Indiana in 2010. The three-time league MVP, though, is off to a slow start with 24 points in two games.

Cash scores 14, Storm cruise past Fever

Posted Jun 18 2011 1:03AM

SEATTLE (AP) Swin Cash had 14 points and eight rebounds, Sue Bird added 12 points and the defending WNBA champion Seattle Storm beat the Indiana Fever 68-54 on Friday night.

LeCoe Willingham had 10 points for Seattle (2-1).

Katie Douglas led Indiana (3-2) with 11 points after entering the game with a WNBA-best 21.3 average. Douglas got off just seven shots in the game, hitting four. Tameka Catchings added eight points.

Seattle, coming off a loss to Minnesota on June 9 when it fell behind 22-0, scored the first four points Friday and never trailed.

Seattle finished the first half on 15-4 run, expanding a 19-15 lead to 37-19 by the break. Bird capped it with a buzzer-beating 3-point bank shot from the right of the lane. Indiana took just seven shots in the second quarter, hitting one, and was 4 of 21 (19 percent) in the half.

The Storm pushed the lead to 21 in the opening 2 minutes of the second half. Indiana quickly cut it to 15, but Seattle took a 25-point lead at 58-33 into the final quarter.

Indiana was 16 of 55 (29.1 percent) overall. The Storm also struggled from the field, going 22 of 66 (33.3 percent).

• Fever: --
• Storm: --

• Fever: Davenport
• Storm: --

• Lead Changes: 0
• Times Tied: 0

• Arena: Key Arena, Seattle, WA
• Officials: #8 Daryl Humphrey, #34 Maj Forsberg, #17 Scott Twardoski
• Attendance: 8178
• Duration: 2:0