The Storm Look To Even The Season Series Tonight Against San Antonio

The Storm have had a week to get rested and healthy, and are back in action tonight as they host the San Antonio Stars. The Storm look to rebound from their disappointing 75-63 loss to the Indiana Fever last Friday. They are looking to even the season series against the San Antonio  tonight, as they are currently 1-2 against San Antonio this season (the fifth and deciding game of the season series will be on September 13, the season finale.)

More importantly, the time is now for the Storm if they are going to make a push for the final playoff spot, as they are currently three and a half games back of the fourth seed Los Angeles Sparks.  On a related, albeit somewhat controversial note, if you would like to see the Storm land the first pick in the upcoming draft, you are likely pulling for the Storm to drop this game, as they are currently a half game ahead of the Stars in the standings. Though it is important to point out that the WNBA recently reformatted the draft, and the first pick will now be given to the team that has had the worst record over the last two seasons. But I digress.

If the Storm are going to pull out their eighth win of the season tonight, they will need to slow down Kayla McBride and Jia Perkins. McBride and Perkins have scored 20.66 and 18 points per contest in their games against the Storm this season, including an impressive 32 point outburst from Perkins in their 88-81 victory over the Storm on August 8. The Storm will need to force both players to take tough shots and disrupt their rhythms if they are going to have chance at winning tonight's game.

It should be interesting to watch and see if Crystal Longhorne can re-discover her early season success she has enjoyed against the Stars for most of the season. In the first two games against the Stars Longhorne scored 18, and 29 points respectively, but struggled in her third meeting with San Antonio, as she only converted two of her eight shots, and finished with just four points. If Longhorne can enjoy similar success tonight as she did in her first two match ups against the Stars, the Storm should be in position to win.

It should also note that starting power forward Ramu Tokashiki will miss tonight's game, as she is currently playing in the 2015 FIBA Asia Women's Championship.