Final score: Storm 68 – Lynx 65 (W) (16-11)

Attendance | 8494

Anthem Watch | Very good - traditional, very light on the extra notes.

Fan Psyche | Can't... take... much... more... of... this...

Game Highlight | Sue getting that look in her eye and taking control.

Halftime | Cheerleaders.

Game Photos | Game Photos (Scott Larson)

This one was tight. It had a similar feel to the Portland game last season that the Storm had to win to give themselves a chance at the playoffs. As a fan, there was no time that it was comfortable, even with less than 10 seconds on the clock. This one was not for the faint of heart.

But, the Storm won. They beat the one team that has, up until now, had them figured out. The Lynx still have the Storm figured out, but for maybe the first time this season you could make the argument that the Storm won because of the bench. Rita, Alisa, Simone, Tully and now Tonya (or is it LaTonya - we keep seeing her name both ways) all contributed in small but key ways to support Lauren's and Sue's efforts to lead the team.

I will be honest, I had my doubts about Rita Williams. Not because I knew anything about her, but because all I had to go by were her stats. On paper, she's not that different from the two players she "replaced" - Starbird and Ragland. I say "replaced" because the two of them were cut and the next day Rita was signed. During the first half of the season, Rita didn't really do that much. I know that neither Starbird or Fee were point guards so it isn't correct to think keeping either of them would have helped back up Sue, but with Rita's lackluster performances early on, the cut and sign didn't make much sense. Of course, this is why Coach Donovan has the bobblehead and not me. Since the All-Star break, and more specifically since the Connecticut game, Rita has been performing at a much higher level and has been more consistent in providing floor leadership and scoring when called upon. Tonight was a perfect example. The Lynx were handily covering LJ and all the other Storm bigs and were in effect daring the smaller Storm guards to score. Near the end of the game, Rita - who you wouldn't expect to be taking a big time end of the game shot - took a big time end of the game shot by slashing to the basket and hitting a huge lay up right when the Storm needed a bucket. Throughout the game, she and Tully were also playing strong defense and were able to hit a couple key baskets to keep the Storm in the game. It was during the first half with the Storm down a few and Sue on the bench that these two not only helped keep the Storm offense on an even keel, they contributed to helping the Storm catch up to the Lynx. Sue came back in and instead of being down more, we were nearly tied and she was able to push us into the lead.

The other bench standout tonight was Alisa. She didn't score a lot and she didn't play a lot of minutes, but she worked hard, moved faster than we've seen her move and helped maintain the Storm's offense and defense while Kamila took a breather. She was saving out of bounds passes, getting key offensive rebounds and put backs, driving the lane on a couple of occasions - like Rita she produced enough and at the right time to help maintain the Storm flow.

We needed production from the bench tonight because the Lynx were working very hard to deny Lauren and Kamila. LJ was getting double teamed on every play. The Lynx successfully kept her on the outside edges of her post comfort zone and were able to disrupt any perimeter passer trying to get her the ball. I don't think the Lynx were playing dirty, I think they were playing very tough, very physical, testing the refs to see what they could get away with (and it was at times a lot), and challenging the Storm to overpower them or beat them from the outside. To LJ's and Kamila's credit, they gave as good as they got and resisted the urge to react to some of the baiting. I think the Lynx were trying to get into LJ's head and get her frustrated and pissed off. They succeeded, but as many have commented before, she didn't let it take her out of the game. As much as anyone can, the Lynx shut LJ down. I hope our eventual playoff opponents don't think to study the Storm/Lynx game tapes from this season.

With LJ getting so much attention and even with the bench producing as they did, we still needed some extra punch in the form of Sue Bird. During the second half, her body language changed and it was fairly clear that she had decided that she needed to impose herself on the Lynx guards. For awhile there, she was the Storm's leading scorer instead of LJ. I've said it before but again this game was a perfect example of how Sue approaches her own offense - she shoots only when she needs to. She picks her spots, makes smart choices and because she doesn't score big numbers all the time I think she catches her defenders off guard. It seemed like the Lynx weren't expecting Sue (or our other guards) to score last night. Their mistake.

One play in particular between Sue and Teresa Edwards was fun to watch. The Lynx were on offense in the second half and the ball ended up getting loose and rolling into the backcourt. I say "ended up" because it wasn't 100% clear whether a Storm player had tipped the pass or a Lynx player had mishandled it. The result was Teresa and Sue doing a point guard standoff down the court on either side of the rolling ball. It seemed like Edwards was daring Sue to go for the ball or trying to make Sue decide for herself who had touched it last - Storm or Lynx? If Sue made a play for it, she might get it and have a clear path to the basket, but if she touched it and didn't control it, Teresa would be free to go after it and not lose possession. Sue didn't bite and Teresa finally stopped it from going out of bounds thereby committing an over and back violation. This too was a smart move because if she had let it go out, the Storm would have gotten it on their own end instead of bringing it all the way down the court. It was a quick play, but we got to see a the wily veteran testing her younger counterpart. Classic.

Another wily veteran move - Sandy Brondello stealing a tip from the taller Tamika Williams. The two of them got tied up and when everyone was set for the jump ball, it looked like Sandy gestured or something to get Tamika to glance to the side right as the ref tossed the ball. Sandy was able to quickly jump and tap the ball to Sue.

Wily veteran, take 3 - Katie Smith. Katie is quickly becoming the player we love to hate. Keep your damn emails to yourselves, I don't literally mean we hate her. I mean she is so good and knows how to get the calls she wants from the refs that as an opposing fan you do not want to see her playing your team but you have to respect her skills. For all those people out there who seem convinced that Seattle fans aren't "real" fans (whatever that means), the whole crowd was on a Katie watch and knew exactly what she was doing the whole game. Each of her fouls got cheers almost as big as when the Storm were hitting those big game baskets. Every time she got more than a couple of feet between her and her defender, we started to cringe because we knew she was going to launch a shot. The Storm did a reasonable job for much of the game on Katie, but were not as successful in hindering her as the Lynx were with LJ. Amanda was working her butt off against the stronger Smith, but Katie was still able to find her spots and hit her threes. The only thing that really slowed Katie down were her fouls. She ended up fouling out when she put Amanda on the free throw line in the last seconds of the game. I was surprised at that. I wasn't surprised that the Lynx chose Lassiter to shoot FTs, but I was surprised that Katie sacrificed herself to do it. If Lassiter had missed both of the shots, the Lynx would have still had a chance to tie or win with a last shot and who else would you want taking that shot but Katie. I don't know if someone was out of position so Katie felt forced to take the foul to stop the clock or if she was instructed to do it. Either way, a bad decision for the Lynx.

I know many people were going ballistic over the refs, but I'm only going to talk about one idiotic call to serve as an example of how bad the officials can be. It was a play in which Van Gorp came over Simone's back, wrapped her arms around Simone's head and neck from behind and grabbed at the ball. The call? Jump ball. There is even a picture of it on Yahoo. I am still dumbfounded at how this could conceivably be a jump ball situation. Van Gorp had no real chance at retaining possession of the ball. She didn't even really have equal possession of the ball with Simone. And, she was clearly behind Simone the whole time. This is why people get so pissed at the refs. This was a foul on Van Gorp the whole way. Period.

The end of the story is that the Storm finally beat the one team this season that has had their number. They solidified their 3rd place playoff position and are taking control of their eventual playoff future. It was a great team win - the stars performed well under heavy pressure and the supporting cast produced when called upon.

Next victim, San Antonio.

Other notes:

Is Kamila feeling sick? The last two games she has looked a little wiped out. She looked better tonight than she did against LA, but she still didn't look like her normal self. Anyone got any info on her condition?

Will the real Bono please stand up? Was it really him or an impersonator named "Todd?" I don't know, but if it was him then I scored because I got a photo with him. If it wasn't Bono, then the Storm got us good because a lot of people got sucked in and we all had some fun doing the "Is he or isn't he" speculation game. The funny thing will be if we see any EBay Bono autographs showing up soon...

Sue's mom and step father were in attendance again tonight and sat under the north basket. Stormfan7, of course, started chatting up the mother Bird as Mrs. Bird passed SF7's seat.

The Anne Donovan bobblehead is indeed large. It rightfully towers over the other bobbleheads on my shelf. It also looks a bit like a chocolate bunny - her suit is milk chocolate brown and the size is just about right. I have to say that the likeness is a good one. They definitely got her stare down cold.

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