WEEKLY LEADERS
POINTS Jackson - 26.0 Castro - 19.0 Burse - 8.0 Lennox - 8.0 Wright/ Zara - 6.0 REBOUNDS Castro - 9.0 Batkovic - 6.0 Burse - 4.0 Jackson - 4.0 Lennox - 4.0 ASSISTS Wright - 6.0 Castro - 4.0 Lennox - 3.0
storm.wnba.com PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Iziane Castro Marques 19 points, nine rebounds, four assists, 8-13 fgs After Castro Marques struggled with her shot on the Storm's road trip, going a combined 6-for-24 from the field, Storm Coach Anne Donovan said, "No one needs to see that go all the way through (the net) more than Izzy does," before Wednesday's game. That certainly happened as Castro Marques had the best game of her career, posting career highs in points, rebounds and assists. Truly doing it all, Castro Marques was also outstanding on defense, holding Katie Smith to 5-for-18 shooting. Castro Marques was effective with her midrange jumper and by getting to the basket in transition, providing Seattle much-needed scoring on an evening which saw only two Storm players score double-figures.

June 13-19 Record for the week: 0-1 Overall Record: 6-4 Standing: 2nd, Western Conference

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Kevin Pelton, storm.wnba.com

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June 15, 2005 - Recap | Box | Quotes/Notes | Live From Press Row

Minnesota 38 39 9 86 at Storm 35 42 4 81

The Storm returned home to take on the Minnesota Lynx on Wednesday. Seattle got off to a slow start, trailing 16-6 early in the game. By early in the second quarter, however, the Storm had reclaimed the lead, setting up a fantastic finish. Down 77-75 with 23 seconds left, the Storm got a Betty Lennox jumper to tie it. Both teams missed on their next possession, forcing overtime. There, it was the Smith show. Smith scored seven of Minnesota's nine points, and her jumper with 1:11 to play gave the Lynx the lead for good as the Storm turned the ball over four times in the final minutes of an 86-81 loss. Smith shot just 5-for-18, but led the Lynx with 21 points. The Storm got a season-high 26 points from Lauren Jackson and a career night from Castro Marques (who had career highs of 19 points, nine rebounds and four assists), but Lennox committed six turnovers and scored just eight points.

Weekly Happenings

Lauren Jackson and Nicole Ohlde squared off in the paint Wednesday. Visit the new Photo Galleries page for more Storm photos. Jeff Reinking/NBAE/Getty

Injury Update
On Monday, Storm guard Sue Bird underwent closed reduction surgery to realign her broken nose. Because she also broke her right orbital bone, Bird needed a new mask molded that would direct contact away from both bones and keep her safe. Because the process of fitting the mask could not be completed in time for Wednesday's game, Bird did not play against the Lynx.

During the second half on Wednesday, Storm center Janell Burse took a shot to the head. She left the game for good with a headache and other concussion-like symptoms. She sat out the Storm's practice on Thursday (as did Bird), but is expected to be on the floor when the Storm returns to practice Wednesday. The Storm took the weekend off with six off days between the loss to Minnesota and next Wednesday's game against the Connecticut Sun.

Battle Cut
After Storm center Suzy Batkovic arrived from Australia, Donovan said she'd eventually cut her roster down to 12 players. That final cut came on Friday, when the Storm waived rookie forward Ashley Battle, the team's 2005 second-round pick out of Connecticut. Battle scored two points and grabbed two rebounds in two games for the Storm.

Around the Web

The Seattle Times' Jayda Evans has the update on Bird's condition.

Mark Bergin of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer looks at Batkovic's first week with the Storm.

Wendy Carpenter of The News Tribune writes about the Storm's week-long break between games.

The Week Ahead

Wed, June 22 Connecticut Sun 7:00 p.m. KeyArena () KJR 950 AM Fri, June 24 Los Angeles Sparks 7:30 p.m. STAPLES Center KJR 950 AM and NBA TV Sun, June 26 Minnesota Lynx 3:00 p.m. Target Center KJR 950 AM

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