Storm suffers huge collapse in second half

UNCASVILLE, Conn. — How brutal was the Storm's 76-58 defeat against the Connecticut Sun in an WNBA game Friday night?

This brutal:

• The Storm set season lows for fewest points scored in the third (eight) and fourth (nine) quarters.

• Seattle posted its worst shooting performance of the season — 32.4 percent (23 for 71).

• Seattle hit only four three-point shots, two more than its season low.

• The Storm also delivered its worst performance from the free-throw line, converting a mere 61.5 percent (8 for 13).

"It wasn't a great game for any of us in terms of knocking down shots," Seattle coach Anne Donovan said. "This is the second time we've played Connecticut [the Sun won 76-73 at KeyArena on July 11]. I thought in the first game we got better shots than we did tonight, but we didn't shoot the ball well in Seattle or here tonight. Give Connecticut tremendous credit for their defense."

The Storm (11-11), which has lost three in a row and four of its past five, led 41-37 at halftime. But in the third quarter, Connecticut's Katie Douglas led a 19-8 splurge during which the Sun's defense held the Storm to 21 percent (4 for 19) shooting.

In fact, the Sun scored the first nine points of the half before Janell Burse dropped in two layups and buried a jumper to keep Seattle from fading into oblivion. Burse's jumper pulled Seattle to 49-47 and the Storm had three chances to tie the game. But Lauren Jackson, Betty Lennox and Burse each clanged open shots.

Connecticut's Asjha Jones then scored on a driving layup, and to compound matters for the Storm, Douglas stuffed Jackson and Seattle was called for a three-second violation.

"The third quarter for us is really difficult," said Jackson. "It's been our downfall every game. We've got to work on that, the way we come out of the locker room.

"It's definitely frustrating."

The fourth quarter was even more frustrating because Seattle connected on only three baskets. Jackson (19 points) and Iziane Castro Marques (10) were the only Seattle players to reach double figures. Jackson posted a double-double with 14 rebounds.

Lindsay Whalen led the Sun (11-11), which has won five in a row, with 19 points, while Douglas added 18, Jones 17 and 7-foot-2 Margo Dydek 10.

The game marked the return of former University of Connecticut All-American Sue Bird, who missed Seattle's past five games after having surgery to remove loose particles from her left knee. But even Bird at 100 percent might not have been enough to win this game.

"The one thing they did really well was run," said Bird. "They got a lot of turnovers [Connecticut scored 15 points off 14 Seattle turnovers], steals and rebounds and ran. They really ran it down our throats, and that's something we've been struggling with the past couple of games."