The Seattle Storm face the Minnesota Lynx for the third time this season but make their first trip to Minneapolis.
The teams split their two meetings at KeyArena this season with the Storm avenging their first loss at KeyArena in over a year with a win.
Tip-off is at 5 p.m. PST and is available online at WNBA LiveAccess.
For more on the Storm and the WNBA, visit SB Nation's women's basketball site Swish Appeal.
By no means is the Seattle Storm's (7-5) game against the Minnesota Lynx (8-4) a "make or break" game, so to speak.
But with three games separating first and fifth place in the Western Conference, tonight's game is significant as an opportunity for the Seattle Storm to get back into the race for second place after dropping a tough one in San Antonio on Thursday.
Possibly to the Storm's advantage, the Lynx will be playing the second half of a back-to-back after an 80-70 win in Indiana last night. But that's what makes their depth so important, as described by Kevin Pelton of StormBasketball.com.
STORM: Insider Preview - Storm at Minnesota
Reeve is still working out a rotation that takes advantage of the Lynx's wealth of depth in reserve. The Lynx boasts the former Sixth Woman Award winner in Candice Wiggins, a former All-Star in Charde Houston and two recent top draft picks in rookie Amber Harris and second-year guard Monica Wright. There's not room for all of those players - especially with Jessica Adair and Alexis Hornbuckle also claiming playing time in spurts - but Reeve has been able to manage the minutes of her starters. Brunson plays the most minutes of any of them at 30.1 a night.
However, even with that depth, the last two games lay out a very clear blueprint of how the Storm can win.
Three keys for the Storm:
Seattle Storm Vs. Minnesota Lynx Final Score: Big Lynx Run Buries Storm, 69-62
Playing without starting forward Camille Little, the bright spot of the Seattle Storm's 69-62 loss to the Minnesota Lynx today is that they managed to show glimmers of the resilience that helped carry them to the 2010 WNBA Title.
However, as in their first meeting with the Lynx they simply dug themselves too big a hole to escape despite a late rally that helped them cut their deficit from 21 points down to two possessions with 1:33 left.
The Lynx used a 24-2 run spanning the second and third quarters to mount that big lead, during which the Storm didn't hit a shot in the first six minutes of the third quarter. In an eerily familiar sight, the Storm settled for jumpers and were stopped inside before Tanisha Wright broke the ice.
Wright, who finished with a team-high 18 points, broke the ice with a 3-pointer with 3:37 left in the third quarter, but more importantly started to loosen up the Lynx defense with aggressive drives to the basket, resulting in layups and free throws. What began as a personal 7-0 run, turned into a 12-0 run to help the Storm close the third quarter down 14 points.
The Storm's improved play continued in the fourth quarter, in which the Storm shot 8-for-14 (61.5 percent) and were aided by four steals on five Lynx turnovers. However, the Storm's own turnovers hurt them prior to the fourth - their 12 turnovers to the Lynx's six through three quarters was undoubtedly the difference as the struggled to find any rhythm against a Lynx team that also rebounded well to prevent second chance scoring opportunities. And the Lynx's rebounding came from all over the court.
While Maya Moore led the Lynx with nine rebounds, shooting guard Seimone Augustus had five rebounds to go with her team-high 19 points and point guard Lindsay Whalen had four to go with her 13 points.
With the loss, the Storm fall another game behind the Lynx in the standings and match their loss total from last season.
Jul 16 7:35p by Nate Parham