Sun-Storm Preview

By ZAC POWELL
Posted Aug 04 2011 4:45PM

The Connecticut Sun have won six of seven overall and three in a row on the road. To continue that run, they'll have to defeat a Seattle Storm club that's on a six-game home winning streak.

The Sun look to complete a sweep of the season series when the teams meet at KeyArena on Friday night.

Connecticut (12-6) has bounced back nicely from a 2-4 stretch, moving to within one game of first place in the Eastern Conference with its current surge. The Sun have allowed an average of 65.0 points during their three-game road streak.

"We always try to start with the defense, especially on the road," center Tina Charles said. "It starts with rebounding, boxing out and all those little things."

Charles notched her WNBA-leading 12th double-double and fourth in a row as Connecticut won 79-70 at Los Angeles on Wednesday. She scored 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to increase her league-best average to 10.6 boards a game.

Connecticut (12-6) trailed by five at halftime and was tied with the Sparks after three quarters, but went on a 12-0 run to start the fourth.

"My team was down, I just want to win. I'm really competitive,'' Charles said. "I want to let my team know that I'm there for them and I just want their respect."

Renee Montgomery added 16 points and six assists for the Sun.

While Connecticut has been impressive on the road, it will be facing a Storm team that has the longest home win streak in the league this year. Seattle (11-8) rolled past San Antonio 78-64 on Tuesday to push its run at KeyArena to six.

The Storm - winners of four of five overall - also put together a decisive fourth-quarter stretch, outscoring the Silver Stars 10-2 to open the period. San Antonio had cut a Seattle lead from 13 to one before the Storm pulled away.

"We hung in there and you could see up digging down pretty deep at that point," coach Brian Agler said. "You could see the emotion coming out. We made a couple of defensive stands and got the lead back to seven, eight, nine. It didn't stay at one for real long."

Sue Bird scored 17 points for the Storm while Swin Cash added 16.

While Seattle has taken the last two home matchups with Connecticut, the Sun beat the Storm 75-70 on July 1 behind 20 points and 10 rebounds from Charles. Cash had 25 points and nine boards, but no other Storm player scored more than 10.

Bird's 3-pointer lifts Storm past Sun, 81-79

Posted Aug 06 2011 1:23AM

SEATTLE (AP) When the Seattle Storm need a big shot, Sue Bird comes through.

Bird hit a 3-pointer on a 22-foot jumper with 0.4 seconds left to give the Seattle Storm a 81-79 win over the Connecticut Sun on Friday night.

``She's extremely clutch,'' Storm coach Brian Agler said. ``We try to give her the ball in those situations and she has come through numerous times. I've been around clutch players so I can't tell you she's necessarily better, but she's come through more than anybody I've been around.''

Bird, who finished with 20 points, received an inbound pass from Katie Smith and hit the 3 from the top of the arc as defending champion Seattle (12-8) moved into sole possession of second place in the Western Conference.

``They cheated the screens a little bit and I was able to bounce back the other way and get an open look and just was able to knock it down,'' Bird said. ``I held my followthrough a little longer to kind of squeeze that one in there. Sometimes you know, sometimes you're not sure.''

Connecticut coach Mike Thibault watched his team rally from an 18-point to lead, but then saw Bird end it.

``That's a great shot Sue made at the end,'' Thibault said. ``She got open with an illegal screen, but it was a heck of a shot. I thought it was going to be short when it left her hand, but sure enough, she's made enough big ones in her life. That's why she's one of the best in the world.''

Tanisha Wright added 18 points, Swin Cash had 14 and Camille Little 13 for the Storm, who won three in a row for the first time this season.

Tina Charles hit a 7-footer on a putback with 3.1 seconds left to put the Sun up 79-78 before Seattle called timeout to set up the winning shot.

``We had to come back from a lot and made that run and we were playing better in the second half,'' Charles said. ``It's just a heartbreaker. That's Sue for you.''

Renee Montgomery scored 19 points, Charles had 18 and Asjha Jones 12 to lead Connecticut (12-7), which had won six of seven.

Seattle shot 12 of 19 on 3-pointers. Bird hit 4 of 7 from long range and Cash made 3 of 6.

Smith hit a 3 and Cash scored twice inside as Seattle used a 10-2 run at the start of the fourth quarter to go ahead 73-59 after the Sun had taken a one-point lead late in the third.

Charles scored six points during a 16-2 run in the third quarter as the Sun rallied from 13 down to take their first lead of the game 56-55 on Jones' jumper.

Seattle responded with two free throws by Little and back-to-back 3s by Cash to lead 63-57 heading to the fourth.

Montgomery scored eight to start Connecticut's 15-4 run to close out the first half that cut an 18-point deficit to 47-40.

``We get down often,'' Montgomery said. ``It's bad, but we get down so often I don't think it was really a worry. We knew we just had to get some stops and the shots would start to fall.''

Wright scored nine to help the Storm build a 43-25 lead midway through the second quarter.

Seattle shot 8 of 12 on 3s in the first half. Bird made three 3's, including two in the first quarter when she had 10 points to help give the Storm a 24-14 lead.

But it was Bird's 3 at the end that created the memorable moment.

``I've seen her make that shot a number of times,'' Cash said. ``In Sue Bird we trust. She's proven herself over and over again. When she puts that shot up, it's going in.''

• Sun: --
• Storm: --

• Sun: Charles
• Storm: --

• Lead Changes: 4
• Times Tied: 1

• Arena: Key Arena, Seattle, WA
• Officials: #42 Roy Gulbeyan, #4 Sue Blauch, #53 Jeff Smith
• Attendance: 7289
• Duration: 1:55