Oakwood Live From Press Row - Storm vs. Charlotte
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Oakwood Live From Press Row Archive
Five Straight
Final: Storm 79, Charlotte 68
This wasn't always pretty, but the Storm never let the Sting get too close down the stretch and finished off its fifth straight win, the longest streak this season and ties for the second-longest in franchise history after the six-game streak last June. The Storm did well defensively, holding Charlotte to 40.3% shooting, and what can I say about Janell Burse? 27 points on 11-for-13 shooting in arguably the best game of her career. Lauren Jackson adds a late 3 to give her 21 points, while Sue Bird had 17 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Now, with this one out of the way, the Storm can focus on Sunday's showdown with the arch-rival Los Angeles Sparks.
Power Inside
Second Half: Storm 74, Charlotte 63
With 2:50 left, this one isn't over, but the Sting is going to need some points in a hurry to get back in it. What a night for the Storm's frontcourt, at least offensively. Lauren Jackson is up to her average of 18 points (on 7-for-14 shooting) and Janell Burse's last layup gave her 25. Combined, that's 43 points on 18-for-27 shooting. Nice.
Finishing Time
Second Half: Storm 69, Charlotte 58
4:52 left as the Storm takes a full timeout. I think that's our last mandatory timeout of the game, which means a lengthy stretch from here until the last minute of the game barring either team calling a timeout. The Storm wants to put this game away and not have to worry about free throws. The Storm is doing it with four rookies - "The G4 Summit" on the bench. What other team does that?
LJ Getting Going
Second Half: Storm 67, Charlotte 56
After a nice rest, I sense Lauren Jackson beginning to dominate again. She had another three-point play to give her 13 points, while Sue Bird now has 17 and seven assists. She's getting a quick rest, and it's important for Francesca Zara to keep the mojo going while Sue is on the bench.
Career High For JB
Second Half: Storm 57, Charlotte 46
Another layup for Janell Burse gives her a career-high 23 points on 10-for-12 shooting. That's pretty nice efficiency. The rest of the Storm is 12-for-29 from the field. Burse also has four rebound and two assists. Trudi Lacey calls a timeout with 9:57 left and her team down 10 for the express purpose of giving Laura Morris a piece of her mind after the Storm gets a debatable out-of-bounds call.
LJ?
Second Half: Storm 53, Charlotte 46
Lauren Jackson with a turnaround jumper and the free throw (with a foul on good friend Sheri Sam) a moment ago. LJ has been quiet tonight, with eight points and just one rebound against the WNBA's worst defensive rebounding team this season. We'll see if the three-point play can get her going. The Storm is getting outrebounded 21-16, which is a significant reason why Charlotte is hanging around. Janell Burse's last layup gave her 21 points to tie her career high.
Highlight Reel
Second Half: Storm 44, Charlotte 35
Great play by Sue Bird a moment ago. After missing a 3, she chased down her own rebound, dribbled toward the basket and found Janell Burse all alone under the basket with a no-look feed for a layup. Burse is shooting 8-for-10 from the field and has 19 points, just two away from her career high, achieved earlier this season.
The second half has seen more offensive flow. On Charlotte's side, that's largely because of Dawn Staley, who has all eight of her points since halftime and has buried a pair of 3-pointers.
Halftime Stats
Halftime: Storm 33, Charlotte 23
The Storm's Offensive Rating not as bad as you'd think - 94.3 points per 100 possessions, not tremendously below their season average. Charlotte is way down at 63.9, which is, yes, below their season average. The pace is the interesting stat - we're on pace for 71 possessions. The Storm averages 76, Charlotte 69. So the Sting is controlling the pace.
Halftime
Halftime: Storm 33, Charlotte 23
The Storm opened up a little bit of momentum with a 10-2 run late in the first half, but Charlotte got a couple of buckets to keep, as tonight's motto is, hanging around. It's 33-23 as we go to the half, and while the Storm would like to maybe have a larger lead, it's hard to quibble with the defense: Charlotte is shooting 9-for-35 (25.7%). 10 points isn't generally a big lead, but in a game this low-scoring, it seems like a whole lot.
Around the WNBA
First Half: Storm 33, Charlotte 23
A couple of big Western Conference games tonight. Phoenix went into Minnesota and came from behind late to earn a 69-65 victory as slumping Katie Smith shoots 0-for-5 from the field. Down in Sacramento, the Los Angeles Sparks - who will be in KeyArena Sunday - trail 38-27 as they continue to be battered by injuries. In Indiana, the Fever pulled out another close win, this time over Washington.
Hanging Around
First Half: Storm 24, Charlotte 17
That the Storm hasn't been able to pull to pull away in the first half really shouldn't be a surprise if you've followed the Sting's season. Hanging around is Charlotte's M.O. this season.
"This team stays in games - that's what they do," said Donovan. "They were in the Connecticut game until the last six minutes, Sacramento game until the last five minutes. As long as you let them stay in games, they're going to pull out one of them."
Part of the '80s Festivities: A contest for the Storm fan with the best '80s costume. Your runaway winner? Betty Lennox's brother, who probably didn't know there was a contest but is typically flamboyantly dressed. I'm disappointed my Members Only jacket wasn't given more consideration.
Looking for Offense
First Half: Storm 14, Charlotte 8
Charlotte got a couple of Jia Perkins free throws to end the drought. The Sting's field goal drought, however, lasted nearly 11 minutes before rookie Janel McCarville became the first player besides Perkins to score for Charlotte. Still, the Storm has yet to open much of a lead because their own offense has been inconsistent at best.
Stingless
First Half: Storm 10, Charlotte 4
The Storm's slow start on offense hasn't really ended as we're at the 12-minute mark, but Charlotte has been even worse on offense, missing 11 straight shots and going scoreless for the last 7:12. That's allowed the Storm to go on an 8-0 run to take a six-point lead as the bench starts to get involved.
Sting Injuries
First Half: Charlotte 4, Storm 2
Allison Feaster is dressed, but it appears she won't play because of knee problems that have bothered her all season. Tammy Sutton-Brown is now on the sidelines after going down in a battle for a rebound, though her injury doesn't appear to be too serious. Slow start for the Storm, which is shooting 1-for-5 - that's not what Anne Donovan wanted.
"I think the first ten minutes are really important, what kind of tone we set - if we show the rust of being off for five days or get out and really get after it and are aggressive," Donovan said before the game.
She also probably didn't want to see herself in the '80s on Arenavision as part of '80s Night. Fans and players both got a good laugh out of her big hair.
Every Time You Come Around My City, Bling Bling
Pregame
Smiles all around as Sheri Sam receives her championship ring to a standing ovation from the KeyArena crowd.
Lineup Change
Pregame
Second-year Texas Tech product Jia Perkins starts at shooting guard tonight in place of veteran Allison Feaster, who has started all 21 games this season. No word on why the change, though I don't believe I've seen Feaster warming up at all.
My Basketball Glory
Pregame
After yesterday's Charlotte practice at The Furtado Center, as I waited to interview Sheri Sam, I got the chance to participate in an impromptu two-on-two game of Sting staffers after play-by-play announcer Sam Smith started feeling sore. Along with assistant coach Fred Chimel, I stepped in to complete an easy win over PR Director Karen Kase and Athletic Trainer LaTonya Holley. I left the scoring to Fred, seeing as his credentials (he played at Alaska-Fairbanks) are a little more impressive than mine (last playing organized hoops in sixth grade). But I did have a trio of assists, one of which I thought was nice enough to catch the eye of Dawn Staley, watching from the sideline. Apparently not.
"This is not the game I love," Staley announced.
Signing On
Pregame
It's Girls' Night Out and an '80s Theme at KeyArena tonight as the Storm hosts the Charlotte Sting. Given the Sting's slow-paced style, don't expect the score to get that high, but the Storm will be perfectly happy with a win of any kind, which would be the team's fifth in a row. Charlotte is better than its record and gave the Storm a good game earlier this season in the Queen City, so it should be a good one. Stay with us all night long.
