| WEEKLY LEADERS |
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POINTS
Jackson - 19.0
Lennox - 18.0
Bird - 13.5
Burse - 9.5
Castro - 8.5
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REBOUNDS
Jackson - 9.5
Burse - 5.0
Castro - 3.0
Lennox - 3.0
Thompson - 3.0
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ASSISTS
Bird - 6.0
Castro - 2.0
Jackson/Lennox - 2.0
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storm.wnba.com PLAYER OF THE WEEK |
 Lauren Jackson
19.0 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.0 spg, 1.0 bpg, 15-27 fgs, 8-9 fts
It's safe to assume there won't be many stories written about Jackson's conditioning this week, not after she recorded her first double-double of the season and followed it up with a season-high 21 points. The key was getting back inside. 13 of Jackson's 15 shot attempts in the opener against Los Angeles came from downtown, but she did not attempt a single 3-pointer in the following game against Houston. Back in the post, Jackson made seven of 11 shot attempts and was similarly effective in the paint against the Silver Stars. The MVP is back in mid-season form and working on a new double-figures scoring streak.
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May 23-29
Record for the week: 2-0
Overall Record: 2-1
Standing: 3rd, Western Conference
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Kevin Pelton, storm.wnba.com
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Houston |
40 |
29 |
69 |
 |
at Storm |
26 |
53 |
79 |
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For the first half of Friday's game against the Houston Comets, the Storm continued to be plagued by the funk that caused an 18-point loss in the season opener against the Los Angeles Sparks. The home team went to the locker room trailing by 14 points. But after Coach
Anne Donovan implored her players to play with passion, the Storm was an entirely different team in the second half, hitting 18 of 24 shots, scoring 53 points - the most ever surrendered by the Comets in a half - and going on a 21-4 run after trailing by seven points with just under nine minutes to play to earn a 79-69 win. The surge was propelled by Jackson, who had 17 points and 12 rebounds, and
Betty Lennox, who scored 18 of her game-high 24 points in the second half. Also starring in her first Storm start was
Iziane Castro Marques, who tied her career high with 12 points and limited Comets star
Sheryl Swoopes to 16 points on 7-for-16 shooting.
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San Antonio |
25 |
26 |
51 |
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at Storm |
36 |
43 |
79 |
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Two nights later, the Storm completed its season-opening homestand against the Silver Stars, who entered the game still looking for their first victory after an 0-3 start. The game was tight through the first 10 minutes, and was tied at 15 when the Storm clamped down defensively and held San Antonio scoreless for more than eight minutes, going on a 15-0 run to blow the game open. Another big run - this one of the 17-5 variety - after halftime pushed the game into blowout territory. The Storm led by as many as 32 points before finishing off a 79-51 victory. Jackson led the way with 21 points and seven rebounds.
Sue Bird had a fine game, playing 32 minutes of turnover-free basketball and scoring 18 points on 6-for-9 shooting, including four 3-pointers. No San Antonio player scored double-figures.
Weekly Happenings
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Iziane Castro Marques tied her career high with 12 points in her first Storm start. Visit the new Photo Galleries page for more Storm photos.
Jeff Reinking/NBAE/Getty
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Lineup Change
For the opener against LA, Donovan surprised pretty much everyone by starting
Mandisa Stevenson in a three-post lineup to match up with Sparks forward
Chamique Holdsclaw. With more conventional matchups in the last two games, Castro Marques replaced Stevenson as the starter at small forward. Castro Marques' strong play early this season and in practice merited the promotion, and she's justified it with her defense and play in the open court thus far. If Castro Marques continues to play as she has, look for the change to be permanent.
Storm Loves Blowouts
Sunday's blowout win over San Antonio was the 10th win in Storm history by at least 25 points - all at home, and all coming over the last four seasons. The complete list:
| Margin |
Opponent |
Date |
| 41 |
Phoenix |
7/19/02 |
| 40 |
San Antonio |
6/22/03 |
| 36 |
Los Angeles |
8/6/03 |
| 30 |
Charlotte |
8/1/04 |
| 29 |
Phoenix |
7/25/03 |
| 28 |
San Antonio |
5/29/05 |
| 27 |
Phoenix |
6/3/04 |
| 27 |
Indiana |
6/10/03 |
| 26 |
Sacramento |
6/23/02 |
| 26 |
Los Angeles |
5/22/04 |
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Around the Web
The Seattle Times' Jayda Evans features Castro Marques just in time for the Brazilian's first start.
Mark Bergin of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer writes about the experience gained by the Storm bench in Sunday's win.
Wendy Carpenter of The News Tribune has an update on the WNBA's controversial rules interpretation limiting contact on the perimeter.
The Week Ahead
Storm Tracker Archive
