Shyra Ely

"I'd like to beat them," said Ely. "Since I've been in Seattle, I haven't beaten them."

A 2005 second-round pick by San Antonio, Ely was the other side on June 23, 2006, the last time the Storm defeated its Western Conference rivals. What has become a six-game head-to-head losing streak began innocently enough. The Storm lost 75-65 at the AT&T Center in the final week of the 2006 season with Lauren Jackson resting for the playoffs. Last year, however, the Silver Stars swept the Storm 4-0. That trend continued last Saturday in San Antonio, with the Silver Stars handing the Storm its first loss of 2008 by an 87-72 final.

Looking over the six games, there's no obvious trend. Generally, San Antonio has won with its trademark defense - except for a 92-point outburst at KeyArena last July. Last Saturday was the most lopsided of the six wins, and even then the Storm was in the game in the fourth quarter before the Silver Stars pulled away late in the game. In the most recent matchup, San Antonio did an excellent job of defending Jackson, but that wasn't really the case last year. While the Silver Stars made the MVP work for her points and she shot just 44.6% in the four games, Jackson averaged 20.0 points, including a 29-point outing, and had three double-doubles.

It was on defense where the Storm felt short last Saturday in San Antonio. The Silver Stars shot 49.2% from the field and made nine three-pointers in running up 87 points in 72 possessions, the worst defensive outing of the young season for the Storm. While stars Becky Hammon and Sophia Young both scored at least 20 points, it was the production offered by the San Antonio role players that really made the difference.

Taking advantage of the defensive attention paid to Hammon and Young, Helen Darling scored a season-high 14 points for the Silver Stars on 5-of-8 shooting. Ann Wauters, playing her first WNBA game since the 2005 season, had 10 points and six rebounds. And fellow reserve Erin Buescher knocked down a pair of key three-pointers, scoring seven points.

"Obviously Sophia and Becky are exceptional offensive players," explained Storm Head Coach Brian Agler, "but as soon as you give all your attention there, all of a sudden you've got an Ann Wauters stepping in or a Vickie Johnson or a Helen Darling or a Ruth Riley. Of course we all know about Erin Buescher and what she can do. You think about that, that's probably as solid a first core group of seven or eight players as there is in the league."

In particular, the addition of Wauters, a highly-skilled post player who was an All-Star with the New York Liberty the last time she opted to play in the WNBA, should help the Silver Stars on offense. She is dangerous in either the low post or the high post and gives San Antonio scoring punch that Riley, the team's incumbent starting center, does not offer. It's early, but so far the Silver Stars offense ranks fifth in the league, an improvement from the 2007 San Antonio squad that won 20 games and advanced to the Western Conference Finals.

Both the Storm and the Silver Stars have been off since last Saturday, using a week's worth of practice time to focus on shortcomings from the early part of the season. The Storm had the opportunity to polish the team's offense, having had little practice time thus far with both Jackson and Sue Bird in the lineup. Agler hopes the work has been enough to catch the Silver Stars.

"I think we got better this week," he said. "I also think San Antonio is an exceptional team and they're playing very well right now. Have we made up enough ground this early in the season to catch them? I don't know, but I'm hoping we'll be more competitive than the last time we played."

KEY MATCHUP
	An All-Star her first two WNBA seasons, Young is poised to make the leap to elite status in year three. She improved her scoring average from 12.0 points per game as a rookie to 16.8 as a sophomore, and so far this year she's contributed 23.3 points a night. That ranks Young third in the WNBA, and she's also third in the league in field-goal percentage (59.6%). Always tough in the paint because of her athleticism and leaping ability, Young has expanded her range on the perimeter this season. While Jackson did not shoot the ball well until late in the last matchup, the Storm is still looking to figure out how to get her the ball in places where she can get good shots on a consistent basis. Agler hinted that was something the team worked on during this week's practices.