Seattle Storm to play Phoenix Mercury

The Storm didn't like the news in the Sacramento paper Wednesday morning.

All that ink about how the Monarchs were "dazed" and looked "fragile" in a 15-point loss took away from one simple fact — they experienced a Seattle beating.

An easy road win for the Storm is unusual. This was just the second Seattle victory on the road this season. But the Storm, 10-1 at home and 12-7 overall, is starting to see that defense and the rebounding that coach Brian Agler has been talking about since training camp really do win games.

The Storm enters today's matinee at KeyArena against Phoenix having won a season-high four consecutive games. And in those matchups, the Storm has out-rebounded its opponent by an average of 10 boards.

That's a stark turnaround since getting dunked on by Los Angeles in June, when the Sparks out-rebounded the Storm by 12.

"The paper made it seem like they lost because of everything they did wrong," Storm forward Sheryl Swoopes said after Seattle out-rebounded the Monarchs by 17. "They had to work for every shot they took. There were no easy shots because every time they went to shoot the ball, somebody was in their face."

Swoopes pointed out that the Monarchs — who lead the league in offensive rebounding — didn't have one in the first half and finished with just four.

"That's because of the work we put in the last couple of weeks working on our rebounding," Swoopes said.

Swoopes did not start against Sacramento due to swelling in her left knee. She tweaked her right knee earlier this month and had surgery on her left in 2001, but is unsure where the pain is coming from.

Swoopes, a 6-foot forward, participated in Wednesday's walk-through after the team returned from Sacramento and stayed afterward for more shooting drills. She'll know by this morning if she is able to start. Tanisha Wright would start in Swoopes' place.

Wright had 11 points, six assists and five rebounds against the Monarchs.

"She helped us," Agler said of Swoopes' nine minutes on Tuesday. "She defended well and played efficiently even though she wasn't at full strength."

The Storm could use that perimeter help today against the Mercury (9-9). Phoenix joins conference-leading San Antonio and Houston as the hottest teams in the league, posting a 7-3 record in its past 10 games.

And even though the Storm owns a 2-0 advantage over the Mercury this season, Phoenix didn't have center Tangela Smith (knee) in its lineup when Seattle won 83-77 in June. Smith is averaging 15.4 points and 7.2 rebounds in her past five games.

Phoenix also has the league's two leading scorers — guards Diana Taurasi (24.3) and Cappie Pondexter (22.9).

"It's still going to take defense," Storm center Yolanda Griffith said. "Those seven games that we lost were because we didn't trust each other. Now, we're starting to trust and when we have a communication breakdown, we address it right then. We're holding each other accountable and know we can count on our defense. It's the only thing no one can take away from you."

Jayda Evans: 206-464-2067 or jevans@seattletimes.com