Notebook | Tanisha Wright starts game, but is replaced quickly by Swin Cash

Storm guard Tanisha Wright made her first start of the season, replacing forward Swin Cash in the lineup against Sacramento on Tuesday.

Coach Brian Agler said the change was made due to Cash returning on Tuesday afternoon from attending a funeral in Pennsylvania on Monday. She missed practice, but was cleared by the coaching staff.

"We prepared with Tanisha, so that's the way we'll go," Agler said of the swap. "Tanisha, she's a versatile player and our lineup is versatile, so we had a chance to adjust."

Wright, a four-year veteran, didn't last long in the opening quarter, however. She collected a quick foul and was substituted out of the game by Cash at the 7:35 mark.

Wright didn't return to the game until the second quarter and she started the third.

"I just found that out when I got here," Cash said of being notified she wouldn't start about an hour before tipoff. "Either way it doesn't matter to me. At the end of the day, my job is to do whatever I can once I get out there on the floor. I didn't think about it."

Cash, who had 13 points and eight rebounds in the Storm's debut against Chicago, attended the funeral with her fiance and said she was "fine."

"I'm a very faithful person, so I don't necessarily let things like that kind of come on the court," she said. "[The court] is more so a place to just forget about everything else and just play through and have some fun."

Struggling offense

Storm forward Lauren Jackson, the team's leading scorer in 2007 (23.8), is struggling to find her offense to open games. She started Saturday's game 1 for 10 from the field and was 3 for 6 against Sacramento in the first half on Tuesday.

The Storm shot 29 percent from the field in the opening half of each of its first two games.

Agler reminded Jackson on Saturday to keep shooting.

The 6-foot-5 reigning MVP returned from play in Russia three days before the opener, winning a championship with guard Sue Bird for Spartak Moscow. Jackson said it is difficult to "come down from the high of winning a championship" and that it will take her time to adjust to the new coaching system. Former Storm coach Anne Donovan resigned in November.

"I think she was trying to get her legs back underneath her and was anxious," Agler said of Jackson, who finished with 14 points against the Chicago Sky in the opener. "I don't know if forcing is the right word, but we just weren't quite in sync offensively. For a player like that, when she sees one or two go down, she gains her confidence."

Due to all of the late arrivals, Agler said he's going to use the Storm's five-day stretch after the upcoming two-game trip as a mini-training camp.

Seattle departs today to play defending champion Phoenix on Thursday and San Antonio on Saturday.

"We'll try to get reacquainted," Agler said. "We're hoping that we'll be on the upswing a little bit at that time. We'll take a day off and then we'll gear up. We have another tight stretch there with five games in nine days. Those five days will hopefully be very beneficial."

Tuesday night's box

SACRAMENTO
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Powell	24:00	4-12	0-0	2-6	2	4	10
Brunson	31:28	7-12	1-2	3-6	0	4	15
Williams	15:39	2-6	1-2	3-4	1	3	5
Lawson	27:44	4-9	0-0	0-3	1	0	10
Penicheiro	24:30	1-6	0-0	0-5	6	3	2
Harper	19:38	2-4	2-2	2-4	0	4	6
Atkinson	17:34	1-5	0-0	1-5	3	3	2
Franklin	15:36	2-6	0-0	0-1	0	3	5
Smith	11:16	1-4	1-2	1-1	1	1	3
Kelly	8:31	1-1	2-2	1-3	1	1	4
Allen	4:04	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	0
Totals		25-65	7-10	13-38	15	27	62

Percentages: FG .385, FT .700. Three-point goals: 5-12, .417 (Lawson 2-3, Powell 2-5, Franklin 1-2, Atkinson 0-1, Smith 0-1). Team rebounds: 7. Team Turnovers: 24 (21 PTS). Blocked shots: 0. Turnovers: 23 (Brunson 5, Atkinson 3, Harper 3, Powell 3, Williams 3, Penicheiro 2, Franklin, Kelly, Lawson, Smith). Steals: 5 (Atkinson 2, Brunson, Powell, Smith). Technical fouls: None.

SEATTLE
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Wright	8:43	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	3	0
Jackson	32:45	6-13	4-4	0-3	1	4	17
Griffith	23:48	1-4	0-0	1-5	3	3	2
Swoopes	28:30	3-13	3-4	3-7	3	1	10
Bird	37:13	4-11	8-8	2-5	5	2	17
Cash	27:36	6-13	5-5	2-3	3	0	17
Ely	14:19	0-1	0-0	1-4	0	3	0
Gearlds	12:25	3-4	0-0	0-2	1	0	9
ARobinson	5:05	0-0	0-0	0-1	0	1	0
Beck	5:59	0-0	2-2	0-0	0	0	2
Santos	3:37	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Totals		23-60	22-23	9-30	16	17	74

Percentages: FG .383, FT .957. Three-point goals: 6-15, .400 (Gearlds 3-3, Bird 1-2, Jackson 1-4, Swoopes 1-4, Cash 0-1, Wright 0-1). Team rebounds: 6. Team Turnovers: 17 (12 PTS). Blocked shots: 7 (Griffith 2, Jackson 2, Bird, Cash, A.Robinson). Turnovers: 14 (Bird 4, Jackson 3, Wright 3, Cash, Ely, Gearlds, Griffith). Steals: 12 (Bird 3, Cash 2, Jackson 2, Swoopes 2, Ely, Griffith, Wright). Technical fouls: None.

Sacramento	14	20	11	17 — 62
Seattle	15	9	15	35 — 74

Attendance: 6,871 (17,098). Time: 2:05. Officials: Daryl Humphrey, Sue Blauch, Shelley Nakasone.