Mercury lead wire to wire as they sweep season series with the Storm.

Well this one didn't go quite like we had hoped.  The Phoenix Mercury were in control of this game from wire-to-wire.  The Storm were without starting All-Star PG Sue Bird; as Coach Jenny Boucek has smartly decided to rest Bird on the 2nd game of a back-to-back this season.  The Storm were down early in the game, trailing the Mercury 26-17 after one.  The Storm would chip away at times, but never really threatened Phoenix.  The Storm never led in this game.  They were down by 10 (52-42) at half-time and wouldn't get much closer than that; ultimately, falling 83-66.

The biggest highlight of the game came from two of the Storm's rookies.  But probably not the one most would think.  While Jewell Loyd had a decent game scoring 9 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists; she shot very poorly (4-12) for 33% shooting.  But it was Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, fresh off her best game of her career, who played quite well again (at least on the offensive end).  While she remains a word in progress on defense and in the transition game, KML is starting to get more playing time and she is starting to produce the scoring that fans and General Manager Alisha Valavanis were hoping for when she was drafted #3 overall in this year's WNBA Draft.  Mosqueda-Lewis hit several shots from the floor and drove to the lane for a couple nice baskets as well.  She shot 6-10 from the floor, good for 60%, including two of three from beyond the arc.  KML ended the game with a team high 14 points in 21 minutes.

The other rookie that played quite well this evening was Japanese sensation, Ramu Tokashiki, who also scored 14 points in tonight's game.  She really showed off her athleticism, driving to the basket and taking it up against or past Brittney Griner on occasion.

While Crystal Langhorne's hot shooting fell off and she continued to struggle against the taller Brittney Griner; one could argue that she outplayed Griner, who may have had her worst game of the season.  Langhorne ended the game with 7 points and 7 rebounds; while Griner was held to only 4 points and 5 rebounds.  Ultimately, it didn't matter as several of the Mercury's role players played very well in tonight's game.  Phoenix's bench outscored Seattle's by a total of 47-29.  Noelle Quinn hurt her former team, by scoring 13 points off the bench for Phoenix.

WHAT'S NEXT?:
Well the good news is that six game road trip has finally come to an end.  The Storm get a day off and then begin a six game home-stand this Friday against the Chicago Sky at 7:00pm.