Storm
Notebook: Minnesota's McConnell Serio coach of year

By Jayda Evans
Seattle Times staff reporter

Sheri Sam

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MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota coach Suzie McConnell Serio tried to hold back tears as she thanked her family for allowing her to become a coach. Living a peaceful life in her native Pittsburgh, coaching high school ball, she had to uproot them to Minneapolis to take the WNBA position.

Her husband and four children adjusted, and so did she, winning coach-of-the-year honors yesterday in her second season at the Lynx helm. McConnell Serio has finished 18-16 in both seasons and reached the playoffs despite retaining just three players from the 2003 team.

"Nobody told me about the WNBA's revolving door," joked McConnell Serio, a former WNBA player and two-time Olympian.

She received 15 of 48 possible votes from the selected media panel, defeating Connecticut coach Mike Thibault by one vote.

Lynx guard Teresa Edwards, who McConnell Serio convinced to play in the league after Edwards starred in the ABL and five Olympic Games, won the Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award. Edwards, 40, is involved in several community projects and will donate the $5,000 charity portion of the award to Beautiful Light Baptist Church. She'll take home $5,000 and a Tiffany trophy.

"I never imagined I'd be where I am today," said the former Georgia star. "My mother is proud of me."

Yesterday's game at a glance Player of the game: Storm forward Sheri Sam was scoreless in the first half, but after halftime, she caught fire. Sam was 4 of 7 from the field, scoring 11 points. She also finished with 10 rebounds and seven assists for her first double-double of the season. Reserve of the game: Chelle Thompson had an assist to Simone Edwards and scored during a 12-0 run that pulled Seattle out of a first-half deficit. In the second half, Thompson replaced the injured Betty Lennox (concussion). She finished with six points and two rebounds in 14 minutes. Turning point: Trailing 22-16, Edwards made an 8-foot turnaround jumper that sparked a 16-2 run to close the first half. The Storm never trailed again. Digits: The Lynx had 20 turnovers, which the Storm converted into 20 points. Spotlight: Several professional athletes dotted the sparse crowd of 4,277. Among them were Minnesota's Kevin Garnett and Wally Szczerbiak. Next: Minnesota at KeyArena, 6:30 p.m. tomorrow.

Listen up

Former Storm guard Michelle Marciniak replaced Storm radio analyst Elise Woodward for yesterday's broadcast. Woodward was covering Washington's football game at Notre Dame.

Marciniak, who'll turn 31 in October, retired in 2002 and is an assistant coach at South Carolina. She said her WNBA experience has helped attract players to her program. But even with the league in its eighth season, academics remain a major focal point for college prospects. South Carolina will play the Huskies in a November tournament.

"A goal of theirs and the level that South Carolina plays, they have their eyes on the WNBA," she said. "Most players by their junior year have decided, and if they think it's possible, they start really working toward it. But if you look at the numbers, the ones who actually make it are minimal, so we really stress academics. Last year we had a 3.0 GPA. So, it's important to understand the difference between a dream and reality."

Lennox fine

In Seattle's 70-58 victory yesterday, Storm guard Betty Lennox had her headband ripped off her head and suffered a strained neck and concussion that kept her out of the second half.

Coach Anne Donovan doesn't expect Lennox to miss tomorrow's Game 2 at KeyArena.

Smith returns

Katie Smith, Minnesota's four-time All-Star, returned to Minneapolis yesterday. She had reconstructive surgery on her right knee Sept. 3, an injury that caused her to miss the Lynx's final 11 games. She was walking without crutches but said she has about five months of rehabilitation remaining.

"It's nice to be back because I haven't seen them (teammates) in so long," said Smith, who'll attend Game 2 in Seattle.

Yesterday's box

SEATTLE
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Sam	33	4-11	3-4	3-10	7	1	11
Jackson	22	5-7	4-4	0-4	0	4	14
Vodichkova	28	4-9	0-1	1-1	0	1	8
Lennox	14	3-4	0-0	0-1	2	3	8
Bird	30	3-9	0-0	1-3	6	0	6
Burse	21	2-4	1-2	5-6	0	5	5
Barnes	15	1-6	1-4	1-2	3	3	3
SEdwards	10	2-2	0-0	0-0	0	0	4
Bevilaqua	12	1-1	0-0	0-3	2	1	3
Thompson	14	3-7	0-0	0-2	1	1	6
Greco	1	1-1	0-0	0-0	1	0	2
Totals		29-61	9-15	11-32	22	19	70

Percentages: FG .475, FT .600. Three-point goals: 3-8, .375 (Lennox 2-3, Bevilaqua 1-1, Jackson 0-1, Sam 0-1, Bird 0-2). Team rebounds: 8. Team Turnovers: 14 (10 PTS). Blocked shots: 6 (Burse 3, Jackson, Barnes, Vodichkova). Turnovers: 13 (Jackson 4, Burse 3, Lennox 2, Bird, Vodichkova, Sam, Thompson). Steals: 12 (Vodichkova 3, Burse 3, Bird 2, Sam 2, Jackson, Barnes). Technical fouls: None.

MINNESOTA
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Abrosimova	37	3-10	0-2	1-5	3	3	6
TWilliams	35	7-9	2-2	3-8	2	2	16
Ohlde	38	6-13	5-7	1-6	6	3	17
TEdwards	21	1-4	1-2	1-2	0	4	4
Darling	24	1-7	1-2	2-3	2	2	4
Jacobs	16	0-0	0-0	0-1	2	0	0
Lassiter	17	3-5	0-0	0-2	1	3	9
Hayden	7	1-2	0-0	0-0	0	1	2
Lovelace-Tolbert	4	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Butts	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	0
Totals		22-50	9-15	8-27	16	19	58

Percentages: FG .440, FT .600. Three-point goals: 5-13, .385 (Lassiter 3-4, Darling 1-2, T.Edwards 1-3, T.Williams 0-1, Abrosimova 0-3). Team rebounds: 5. Team Turnovers: 20 (20 PTS). Blocked shots: 3 (Lassiter 2, Hayden). Turnovers: 20 (Darling 5, Ohlde 4, T.Edwards 3, Abrosimova 2, Butts 2, Hayden 2, T.Williams, Lassiter). Steals: 7 (Darling 3, T.Edwards 2, T.Williams, Lassiter). Technical fouls: None.

Seattle	32	38 — 70
Minnesota	24	34 — 58

Attendance: 4,277 (10,206). Time: 1:51. Officials: Bob Trammell, Tina Napier, Jeff Smith.

Seattle vs. Minnesota

Western Conference first-round playoffs. Seattle leads best-of-three series 1-0:

1: Seattle 70, Minnesota 58

2: Monday at Seattle, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN2)

3: Wednesday at Seattle*, 7 p.m.

*If necessary

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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