| WEEKLY LEADERS |
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POINTS
Burse - 20.0
Jackson - 19.0
Bird - 14.5
Lennox - 9.5
Castro - 5.0
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REBOUNDS
Burse - 7.5
Jackson - 6.5
Lennox - 6.0
Bird - 3.0
Vodopyanova - 2.0
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ASSISTS
Bird - 7.0
Lennox - 2.0
Four with - 1.5
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storm.wnba.com PLAYER OF THE WEEK |
 Janell Burse
20.0 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 1.5 apg, 15-18 FGs, 10-14 FTs
For one week, MVP candidate  Lauren Jackson wasn't the best player in the Storm's frontcourt. While Jackson was plenty good in her own right, Burse was even better. On Friday, she took advantage of open looks under the basket to score a career-high 27 points - a total exceeded by only three players in Storm history - on 11-for-13 shooting. Sunday against Los Angeles, Burse was a powerful presence in the paint, scoring 13 points on 4-for-5 shooting and grabbing nine rebounds, seven of them offensive.
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July 25-31
Record for the week: 2-0
Overall Record: 14-10
Standing: tie 2nd, Western Conference
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Kevin Pelton, storm.wnba.com
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Charlotte |
23 |
45 |
68 |
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at Storm |
33 |
46 |
79 |
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After five days off, the Storm returned to the court Friday, hosting Charlotte. The game lacked offensive flow in the early going, but the Storm still opened up a 10-point lead at the half. A 17-8 run got the Sting within four early in the second half, but Charlotte got no closer than seven over the final 10 minutes as the Storm finished out a workmanlike win, 79-68. The Storm's frontcourt dominated the game, outscoring Charlotte 42-28 in the paint. In addition to Burse's 27, the Storm got 21 points on 8-for-15 shooting from Jackson.
Sue Bird added 17 and seven assists. For Charlotte,
Jia Perkins tied a career high with 21 points.
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Los Angeles |
32 |
40 |
72 |
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at Storm |
35 |
42 |
77 |
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The Storm closed its homestand by hosting the Los Angeles Sparks Sunday. In a run-filled first half, Los Angeles started out up 9-2, but the Storm rallied to take a 19-14 lead before a 12-0 Sparks run made it 26-19. Seattle rallied to lead 35-32 halfway through. The second half was the opposite, with few leads of larger than three points. It was 71-70 Storm inside the final 30 seconds when
Betty Lennox buried a clutch 3-pointer to push the lead to four. After two Sparks free throws, the Storm got one free throw from Jackson and Burse came up with a key offensive rebound and Lennox hit two more free throws to seal the Storm's win by a 77-72 final. Jackson and Lennox scored 17 apiece to lead the Storm, with Jackson shooting 11-for-14 from the foul line and also pulling down 10 rebounds.
Lisa Leslie's 18 points led the Sparks, and Leslie's 8-for-8 shooting tied a WNBA record.
Weekly Happenings
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Friday's game proved Dawn Staley's last in a Charlotte uniform. Visit the new Photo Galleries page for more Storm photos.
Jeff Reinking/NBAE/Getty
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JB is Player of the Week
Burse's performance earned her WNBA Player of the Week honors, the WNBA
announced Monday. It's the second time this season a Storm player has been Player of the Week (Jackson won in early June), and the first time any Storm player besides Jackson has ever won.
"It's so nice to see a player that really goes unnoticed for the most part really be recognized at that level," said Anne Donovan.
Betty Hurting
Lennox attempted only two shots in 28 minutes of action Friday, but she had a good excuse. A painful case of tendinitis in her right wrist began bothering Lennox last weekend. After receiving a cortisone shot, Lennox played through the pain, but was not aggressive on offense. That changed Sunday, to the chagrin of the Sparks.
"Reading the paper, I know her arm has been hurt so you kind of want her to be the one to shoot it," said Sparks Coach Henry Bibby. "You know, the adrenaline is flowing, her arm is feeling good and she’s playing well so she knocks the shot down."
Down the Stretch They Come
The Storm's six-game winning streak has propelled the team into a tie for second place in the Western Conference with the Houston Comets. Seattle trails Sacramento for the top seed by three games and has a 2.5-game lead on Los Angeles, which is in fourth place.
Around the Web
Storm forward Alicia Thompson made her return to the rotation last week, providing the Storm a spark off the bench. The Seattle Times' Jayda Evans has more on Thompson staying ready.
Mark Bergin of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer looks at Sue Bird's role in the Storm's winning streak.
The Storm's winning streak has put the playoffs in view, reports Lisa Kennelly of The News Tribune.
The Week Ahead
| Thu, Aug. 4 |
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Indiana Fever |
5:00 p.m. |
Conseco Fieldhouse |
KJR 950 AM and NBA TV |
| Sat, Aug. 6 |
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New York Liberty |
5:00 p.m. |
Madison Square Garden |
KJR 950 AM and ESPN 2 |
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