Storm
Trip ends with a thud: Seattle 0-3 out East

By Keith Dunlap
Special to The Seattle Times

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AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — As far as excursions go, Gulliver might have had more success than the Storm in its travels out East this week.

Even the challenge of playing the defending WNBA champions couldn't keep the Storm from stumbling to its third loss on a three-game swing against Eastern Conference teams after a 70-65 loss to the Detroit Shock yesterday.

Shock guard Deanna Nolan led four Detroit players in double figures with 21 points as the Shock sent the Storm (10-7) home searching for answers.

"You come on this road trip, you may not win them all, but you don't expect to lose them all, either," Storm coach Anne Donovan said.

Detroit (9-8) led just 32-30 at halftime, but it broke the game open midway through the second half with a 9-0 run that put it up 49-39 with 9:53 remaining.

The biggest Storm killer was Nolan, who scored 13 points in the second half and whose three-point play with 3:39 remaining gave Detroit a 63-52 lead.

In compiling a putrid 2-5 home record entering the game, Detroit had shown an unusual liking for failing to finish games in its building all year. Yesterday was no different.

Detroit missed layups, took quick shots and gave the Storm open looks. That recipe gave Seattle a 10-2 run and cut the lead to 65-62 after Sue Bird's three-pointer with 1:01 remaining.

After a free throw by Nolan, a steal and layup by Swin Cash gave the Shock some breathing room at 68-62 with 47.9 seconds left. The Storm answered with a three-pointer by Lauren Jackson to pull back to 68-65 with 24.9 seconds remaining, but that was as close as Seattle got.

The Shock held the Storm, the league's highest-scoring team, to 31.9 percent shooting and outscored Seattle 24-6 on fast-break points.
 
"We didn't play our game," said Bird, who led Seattle with 21 points. "When we play our game and everybody is on the same page, things just fall in the right place and it helps us play well. When you don't play your game, you kind of struggle and that's what happened on this road trip."

Cash had 18 points and nine rebounds for Detroit, which has a two-game home win streak for the first time this season.

Jackson scored 18 points for the Storm, the first time she has failed to score 20 points in a game since June 26 against New York.

The Storm returns home to play San Antonio on Tuesday.

"We have to bounce back, and that's when you're going to see what we're made of," Bird said. "It stinks to lose three in a row on the road, but now we're going back home and, hopefully, we can get a couple and go from there."