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| storm.wnba.com PLAYER OF THE WEEK | |||||
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August 15-21 Record for the week: 1-1 Overall Record: 17-14 Standing: 2nd, Western Conference |
| August 18, 2005 - Recap | Box | Quotes/Notes | Press Row | Photo Gallery |
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Iziane Castro Marques scoring 16. Five other players scored at least six, with 
Sue Bird handing out nine assists. 
Nicole Ohlde (17 points) and Tamika Williams (14 rebounds) were the only productive Minnesota players.
| August 20, 2005 - Recap | Box | Quotes/Notes | Photo Gallery |
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Ticha Penicheiro scoring after throwing a late inbounds pass off 
Suzy Batkovic's back. The Monarchs led by as many as 17, but the Storm got within four with five minutes left before running out of gas in a 75-65 Sacramento win. Yolanda Griffith had a season-high 26 points for the Monarchs, with Penicheiro handing out nine assists and Kara Lawson scoring 12 of her 18 points on 3s. Jackson had 16 and 15 for the Storm, while 
Tanisha Wright handed out a career-high seven assists. Bird was held without an assist for the second time in her career (the first coming 7/20/03 at MIN, when she played only three minutes because of a knee injury).
Weekly Happenings
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Anne Donovan's WNBA coaching career. She's just the fourth coach in league history to reach 100 wins, joining Richie Adubato, Van Chancellor and Michael Cooper. Donovan is also the first woman in history to reach the milestone.
"That was a great win," said Donovan afterwards. "That was how we have to play in the playoffs. The 100 wins is just icing."
For more on Donovan's milestone, check out the page storm.wnba.com has put together in her honor.
Lennox Still Sidelined
Injured Storm guard 
Betty Lennox had her injured left wrist re-evaluated Thursday. Hoping to be cleared to return to practice, Lennox instead got somewhat worse news (though it was about what Donovan was expecting). The decision was made that, barring the Storm being in must-win situation, Lennox would sit for another week or so to rest the partially torn ligament in her left wrist.
That timetable puts Lennox's return in time for the last game or two of the regular season or possibly not even until the playoffs.
"The doctor has said, 'If you need her tomorrow or tonight to win a playoff game, it's up to Betty - she can go,' but it's clearly not a good idea," Donovan said. "She's not even close to having basketball range of motion."
Storm Playoff Picture
With less than a week left on the schedule, still only one Western Conference team has clinched. But that could change soon; the Storm clinches with a win, while Houston and Phoenix both have magic numbers of two. Could the Storm clinch without winning a game the rest of the season? Yes. Houston losing to Phoenix and Los Angeles losing to either Minnesota or San Antonio would do the trick. Or Los Angeles could lose two of its last three games. Phoenix or Houston going winless the rest of the way would also get the Storm in. The simplest way to clinch remains the Storm winning another game.
While Houston remains a half-game up on Phoenix, the Mercury has actually become a greater threat to the Storm having home-court advantage in the first round because Phoenix would hold the tie-breaker with the Storm if the Mercury wins at KeyArena next Saturday. The Storm's magic number to guarantee finishing ahead of Houston is two (same with Los Angeles), but it's three against Phoenix.
If that seems complicated, it's because, even with no more than three games left for each team, it is. The number of potential three- and even four-team ties is immense. At this point, we can say for certain that Sacramento will be the one seed, and that's about it:
Team W L GB Storm Conf 500+ H/A 500+ ----------------------------------------------------- Sacramento 23 8 - 1-1 15-4 7-7 1/2 2/1 Seattle 17 14 6.0 10-9 7-7 2/1 2/1 Houston 17 15 6.5 2-2 9-11 8-7 1/1 1/1 Phoenix 16 15 7.0 1-1 12-7 3-11 1/2 3/0 Los Angeles 15 16 8.0 2-2 10-9 9-11 1/2 1/2
Around the Web
of Jackson's value.
the Storm's success this season despite injuries.
takes a look at Storm viewing parties and the fan community created by StormFans.org.
The Week Ahead
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Lauren Jackson
