WEEKLY LEADERS
POINTS Jackson - 17.0 Bird - 15.7 Lennox - 10.3 Sam - 6.7 Thompson - 6.5 REBOUNDS Jackson - 5.7 Bird - 5.0 Lennox - 4.3 Vodichkova - 3.3 Thompson - 3.0 ASSISTS Bird - 6.7 Lennox - 3.3 Jackson/Sam - 2.7
storm.wnba.com PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Jeff Reinking/NBAE/Getty Alicia Thompson 13.5 mpg, 6.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 6-7 fgs, 1-1 threes Days before the start of the season, Thompson went down with a sprained ankle. The injury wasn't tremendously serious, with Thompson returning after missing the Storm's first two games, but it set her back at a time Coach Anne Donovan was trying to set her rotations. All year, Donovan has been trying to get Thompson more minutes. Thompson got the opportunity to start anew with the month-long Olympics break, and no Storm player picked up their game more over the break than Thompson did. She's been playing outstanding ball ever since, though that was obscured in part by Thompson missing one game because of back spasms and one game because of league suspension. During the Storm's road trip, Thompson provided terrific energy and scoring off the bench and played her best basketball of the season.

Sep. 6-12
Record for the week: 1-2
Overall Record: 18-13
Standing: 2nd, Western Conference

Wednesday, Sep. 8, 2004

Detroit 32 35 67 at Storm 46 40 86

Back at KeyArena, the Storm looked to shake a three-game losing streak against the defending champion Detroit Shock, who are in danger of going from worst to first back to worst once again. Detroit looked like a championship team in the early going, running out to a commanding 18-5 lead. The Storm responded by buckling down on defense and going to Betty Lennox on offense. The Shock went over five minutes without scoring and Lennox had eight points as the Storm went on a 14-0 run to take the lead. The teams played even to about the seven-minute mark, when the Storm went on a 9-0 run, and Seattle finished the lead with a 46-32 lead. Over the final 15 minutes of the half, the Storm outscored Detroit 41-14.The run continued after halftime, with the Storm scoring the first six second-half points to push the lead to 20. The Shock would get no closer than 16 the rest of the game, and that was the final margin (69-53). Sue Bird led the Storm with 23 points, 19 in the second half, hitting 8-of-9 from the field, 3-of-3 from three-point range and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line. Lennox (6-for-8 shooting) and Lauren Jackson chipped in 15 apiece, and Adia Barnes had a season-high seven off the bench. Cheryl Ford's double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds led four Detroit players in double-figures. Behind Ford, the Shock outrebounded Seattle 37-32 and pulled down 18 offensive boards.

Friday, Sep. 10, 2004

Storm 33 28 61 at Minnesota 27 37 64

The Storm started a three-game road trip in Minnesota looking for a sweep of the season series with the Lynx. The hosts started out hot behind the play of veteran guard Teresa Edwards, who outscored the Storm 8-6 by herself in the early going, hitting a pair of three-pointers. However, in a situation reminiscent of the first meeting between these teams in Minneapolis, the Storm walked down Minnesota and eventually took a six-point lead at the half on a Lennox buzzer-beater. Seattle would boost the lead to nine early in the second half before the Lynx got going. Minnesota's aggressive defense held the Storm scoreless for over five minutes as the Lynx reeled off 17 straight points to go from down nine to up eight. Still, the Storm was able to tie the game on a Bird three-point play with five and a half minutes left in the game. After Seattle went up four, Minnesota answered with five straight points to take a one-point lead with 1:07 to play. A Lennox drive ended up in a missed shot, and Bird surprisingly fouled Helen Darling with 49 seconds left on the clock. She split two free throws, but Minnesota came up with a key offensive board and the Storm fouled again instead of playing defense. Edwards hit both free throws to put the Lynx up four. Bird hit two free throws and then Seattle got a break when Edwards was whistled for a backcourt violation, giving the Storm the ball down two with 21 seconds left. Janell Burse turned the ball over, but the Storm still had yet another chance to tie down three with seven seconds to play after Darling split another pair of free throws. Lennox's tying three attempt was off, and the Storm ran out of second chances, falling 64-61. Bird (15) and Jackson (12) were the only Storm players in double-figures. Edwards had a career-high 18 points (she had previously set her career-high against the Storm and her former coach in the ABL, Anne Donovan, on opening night this year) to lead four Lynx double-figure scorers. The teams combined for a Lynx-record 47 turnovers in one of the sloppiest games of the season.

Sunday, Sep. 12, 2004

Storm 28 36 64 at Connecticut 32 39 71

For the second straight year, the Storm's (and Bird's) visit to Connecticut was nationally televised, producing an early 2 p.m. local start time. Both teams looked a bit sleepy in the early going, combining for 10 points in the first five minutes of action. Connecticut began to pull away in the middle of the half, leading by as many as 10 points before halftime before the Storm cut the deficit to four with the half's last five points. The second half saw the teams spend a lot of time trading baskets. The Storm cut the lead to five at the two-minute mark with a 7-0 run, but Bird missed a jumper and Lindsay Whalen leaked out for a critical layup. A Jackson turnover inside the one-minute mark essentially sealed the game as Connecticut came out with a 71-64 win. Jackson was the only Storm player in double-figures, finishing with 24 points on 9-for-17 shooting. Katie Douglas led the Sun with 21 points, and center Taj McWilliams-Franklin had 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Weekly Happenings

Jackson's return helped spark the Storm to a win over Detroit. Jeff Reinking/NBAE/Getty

LJ in the Lineup
More than five weeks after her last Storm game, Jackson was back in the lineup Wednesday against Detroit, having been activated from the injured list earlier in the day. Jackson returned to Seattle Monday and practice Tuesday, showing few ill effects of the right mid-foot sprain that forced her to the injured list. The Storm looked like an entirely different team against the Shock, snapping a three-game losing streak since the break with a blowout win.

Over the weekend, things weren't quite as easy for Jackson or the Storm. Since allowing Jackson 31 points in the season opener, no team has defended her better than Minnesota, which has surrendered Jackson just 23 points in two matchups in Minneapolis. Jackson got going individually with 24 points at Connecticut, but got precious little offensive help from her teammates in that game.

Jackson's return also stabilized the Storm's starting lineup, with the original five of Bird, Lennox, Sheri Sam, Jackson and Kamila Vodichkova that has started 26 of the team's 31 games reuniting for all three games this week. Sam reclaimed her starting job after a push from Thompson.

Streaking With LJ
By scoring double-figures in her first three games off the injured list, Jackson extended her streak of double-figures scoring to 81 games. 82 games, of course, comprise an NBA season. Despite playing an extra eight minutes per game, only two NBA players have active double-digit scoring streaks of more than 82 games - MVP Kevin Garnett (164 games) and All-Star Sacramento forward Peja Stojakovic (98). Garnett, the only player to score double-digits in all 82 games in 2003-04, has done so each of the last two seasons.

Jackson is now just 10 games away from tying Houston's Cynthia Cooper for the longest double-digit scoring streak in WNBA history.

Bring It Home
Despite losing Sunday, the Storm clinched its second playoff berth in three seasons when the Sacramento Monarchs lost to the Los Angeles Sparks later in the afternoon. What remains to be seen over the final week of the season is where the Storm will play. The Storm has three games left, as do the Minnesota Lynx (one of two teams that could pass the Storm). The Phoenix Mercury plays four games during the final week. The Storm leads the Lynx by just a game, but has the tie-breaker with a 2-1 season series advantage. Phoenix is a game and a half back, but leads the season series 2-1 with a critical matchup in KeyArena this Wednesday that could clinch home-court advantage for the Storm with a victory.

Injury Report