Storm Posts Advance

A day after the Euroleague Final Four was completed, the EuroCup set its semifinals Thursday, with two-game aggregate scoring quarterfinal series moving to the return leg.

Dynamo Moscow and Storm center Janell Burse returned home Thursday with a very comfortable 27-point advantage over ZKK Hemofarm Vrsac and put it on cruise control, winning 73-65. Despite the safe margin, Dynamo's top players got essentially regular minutes. Burse played 25 minutes, scoring 12 points and grabbing seven rebounds. Oxana Zakalyuzhnaya earned game-high honors with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Cras Basket Taranto also held a sizeable lead going into the second leg of the series, but headed out on the road against CB Feve San Jose. The hosts ended up winning the game 63-60, but never threatened making up the entire 23-point difference from the first game as Taranto advanced 126-106 on aggregate. Suzy Batkovic led the way with 17 points, grabbing eight rebounds and adding three steals. Washington wing Shay Murphy tried in vain to lead a San Jose comeback, scoring 30 points on 10-of-16 shooting. Her teammates, however, combined to shoot 10 of 42 from the field (23.8 percent).

The last Storm player in the EuroCup quarters, Katie Gearlds, saw her team enter today's game with a 25-point deficit to make up against Dynamo Kursk. Athinaikos made things interesting, leading to maybe the most dramatic 20-point victory ever. Athinaikos had a 24-point lead and the ball inside the final minute, but a turnover ended the threat. Athinaikos won the game 89-69, but lost 146-141 on aggregate. Gearlds was one of three Athinaikos players to score double-figures, finishing with 16 points and eight rebounds. LaToya Davis also had 26 for Athinaikos, which made a strong run after having to play in the qualifying round just to participate in EuroCup.

After a week off, the two-game semifinal series begin March 12. The two remaining teams with Storm players, Dynamo Moscow and Taranto, play in one semifinal. The other matches Dynamo Kursk with Turkish squad Galatasaray.

Spartak Headed Back to Final Four

Spartak Moscow Region will look to win its third consecutive Euroleague championship in the Euroleague Final Four after defeating Ros Casares Valencia 79-70 in Wednesday's deciding Game 3. Ros Casares tested Spartak severely, forcing the series to the distance and trailing by just four with 1:42 to play. Spartak was able to make its free throws down the stretch and hold on for the win in a game that was taut back and forth throughout the second half.

"We had a difficult group and playoff games," said Ros Casares coach Isma Canto. "Today we started well, but Dee (Taurasi) and Sue (Bird) started playing their game and our defense could not deal with them."

Taurasi (22 points on 7-of-13 shooting) and Sylvia Folwes (23 points, 9-of-14 from the field) did the bulk of the scoring for Spartak. Bird provided contributions in every area, scoring 15 points (knocking down a pair of three-pointers as Spartak finally found the range from downtown), handing out a game-high assists, grabbing six rebounds and adding three steals for good measure.

Again, Lauren Jackson and DeLisha Milton-Jones neutralized each other. Jackson needed 14 shot attempts to score 12 points, and Milton-Jones shot 3-of-11 from the field, supplementing her 18-point line with 11 free throws. Spartak keyed defensively on Amaya Valdemoro and was able to hold the Spanish star in check, as Valdemoro was limited to 14 points and missed five of her six attempts from beyond the arc.

The Euroleague Final Four will be contested April 3 and April 5, with one of the finalists hosting. Spartak will square off in one semifinal against fellow Russian side UMMC Ekaterinburg, with Perfumerias Avenida (Spain) and MKB Euroleasing Sopron (Hungary) playing for the other spot in the championship game.

New Overseas Updates

We ring in the new week by taking a look at the exploits of the two newest members of the Storm, Suzy Batkovic and Shannon Johnson. Batkovic has actually been mentioned recently in our overseas updates, as her Cras Basket Taranto team knocked off Tanisha Wright's Tarbes squad in the EuroCup eighth-finals. Batkovic is a teammate of former Storm guard Michelle Greco in Italy, and Taranto crushed CB Feve San Jose in the first game of their aggregate quarterfinal series last week behind 13 points and 13 boards from Batkovic.

Taranto is also atop the league table at 15-4, having defeated Napoli Basket Vomero 56-47 yesterday. Batkovic was quiet in that game, scoring two points and grabbing three boards, but she is averaging 12.1 points and 6.3 rebounds overall for Taranto, which has been dominant after a slow start.

"We had a bit of a rough star," Batkovic said last week. "We dropped four games in a row. Obviously new team. I came in late, some of the other players came in late after the Olympics and whatever. We hadn't had time to gel. We pretty much got here and had to play. It was a mess to start with. I don't think we knew how to dribble a basketball the first four games and then it sort of clicked and since then we've pretty much every game. It's come along well. We're sitting on top, so that's always positive."

Johnson is playing for Ibiza-PDV in Spain with her former Houston teammate Sancho Lyttle. Ibiza is 10-10 on the season after suffering an 86-74 defeat Sunday to the same San Jose team Taranto is facing in the EuroCup. Johnson, who had 19 points in the loss, is averaging 14.8 points and 2.3 assists over the course of the season.

Elsewhere, Kristen O'Neill's game-winner was the big story over the weekend. O'Neill scored the last of her 26 points 2.9 seconds left as UL Aughnish defeated Tolka Rangers by one point Saturday. The game was the Aughnish's regular-season finale; the team will now take on Team Montenotte Hotel Cork in the first round of the playoffs after a weekend off.

Spartak had the weekend off from Russian SuperLeague play after playing Game 2 of its Euroleague quarterfinal series Friday in Spain. Dynamo Moscow took the court earlier today, defeating Volgoda-Chevakata 93-66. Janell Burse was excellent for Dynamo, finishing with 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting and a game-high 15 rebounds. Along with Anete Jekabsone-Zogota (29) and Belinda Snell (28), Burse helped combine for 81 points from Dynamo's top three scorers.

I could start using AutoText on Athinaikos' results at this point, since every Greek A1 league game has been a victory to date (20 and counting, with six more games on the schedule if my math is correct). This weekend, it was Olympiada Larissas' turn to play victim in a 75-63 Athinaikos win. Katie Gearlds played just 12 minutes against a lesser foe (teammate LaToya Davis did not play at all), scoring two points and grabbing two boards. Olympiada got 13 points from Daphanie Kennedy, a training-camp invitee of the Storm last spring.

Storm Roster Taking Shape

With this morning's announcement that the Storm has signed veteran guard Shannon Johnson, Head Coach and Director of Player Personnel Brian Agler has moved another step closer to the team's 2009 roster. Johnson gives the Storm nine players under contract, with three more (Kimberly Beck, Kristen O'Neill and Kelly Santos) invited to training camp.

Of course, there's one big free agent still out there in Lauren Jackson, and the Storm has continued to be proactive in her recruitment. Agler flew to Spain to visit with Jackson (and Sue Bird) last week when their Spartak team was in Valencia to play Ros Casares in the Euroleague playoffs.

The Storm's first-round pick, the 12th overall selection in the April 9 WNBA Draft, will have the inside track to one spot on the roster, limited to 11 players this season. The addition of Johnson and signing post players Suzy Batkovic, Janell Burse and Ashley Robinson filled the biggest needs for the Storm heading into the offseason (backup PG and post depth). Add the versatility of players on the roster and Agler and company have the opportunity to focus on scouting for talent without a heavy eye toward position.

"I think we're open," he said recently. "Fortifying the post does help us. It gives us a little more flexibility to be open with who we draft. We feel like we're going to get a very quality player at the 12th pick. We don't know who it's going to be. We've got our eye on a few people and we have an idea what the pool of players is going to be when we get there, and we're still evaluating."

The Storm and other WNBA teams are limited to 15 spots in training camp, and bringing to camp both the first-round pick and the Storm's third-round pick would put the team at 14. As a result, don't expect a lot of movement between now and the draft as scouting the college ranks becomes the name of the game.

Storm players under contract for 2009:
Suzy Batkovic
Sue Bird
Janell Burse
Swin Cash
Katie Gearlds
Shannon Johnson
Camille Little
Ashley Robinson
Tanisha Wright

Spartak Goes to Game 3

Spartak Moscow Region and Ciudad Ros Casares Valencia are headed to a winner-take-all Game 3 next Wednesday in Russia after Ros Casares held on for a thrilling 73-71 victory Friday night in Spain. Trailing by 15 entering the final quarter, Spartak answered with an 11-0 game and would ultimately tie the game. But four unanswered points by Amaya Valdemoro gave the hosts back the lead. Trailing by two, Spartak took over on a rebound with six seconds left and raced the other direction. Sue Bird had the ball knocked away by Laia Palau as the clock expired.

"I think that these two teams are the best in the EuroLeague," said Ros Casares Head Coach Isma Canto. "They play the best basketball in Europe. Our fans created a great atmosphere in the arena and, with this kind of supporters, it is easy to win. Can we win in Moscow? We'll see ... It's very difficult."

Diana Taurasi led Spartak's comeback, scoring 33 points on 9-of-18 shooting. Ros Casares and DeLisha Milton-Jones did a good job defensively on Lauren Jackson, limiting her to 3-of-14 shooting. Jackson had 10 points and seven rebounds, while Bird contributed eight points, five boards, four assists and three steals.

Valdemoro came through with another vintage performance, scoring 21 points, including big buckets down the stretch. She was 9-of-10 from the foul line. Milton-Jones added 16 points and eight rebounds.

I'm tempted to agree with Canto that these two teams are playing as well as anyone in the Euroleague. Wednesday's game, with a spot in the Euroleague Final Four on the line, should be a classic.

Griffith Signs With Fever

The Indiana Fever announced Friday morning the signing of former Storm center Yolanda Griffith. An unrestricted free agent, Griffith negotiated with the Storm about a possible return before ultimately deciding the Indiana Fever was a better fit at this stage of her career.

"We are disappointed that Yolanda will not be returning to the Storm for a second season, but we respect her decision to join the Indiana Fever," Storm Head Coach Brian Agler said in a statement.

"We were fortunate to have Yolanda on our team this past season - her veteran leadership was invaluable. We can’t thank her enough for the contributions she made on the court and in the Seattle community, and we wish her the best of luck with her new team."

The Storm already bolstered its depth at center last week by bringing back Janell Burse, the team's starter at the position from 2005 through 2007 before deciding to sit last season out, and re-signing reserve post Ashley Robinson. With plenty of room under the salary cap, Agler and company will be able to sign another player as part of the frontcourt rotation while leaving space for unrestricted free agent Lauren Jackson.

Griffith signed with the Storm as an unrestricted free agent last April and started all 30 games she played during her lone season in Seattle, averaging 7.2 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.

Storm Teams Split in EuroCup Quarters

The first leg of the two-game aggregate score EuroCup quarterfinals was played Thursday, and the two Storm players whose teams are still alive saw opposite results.

Dynamo Moscow went on the road to face ZKK Hemofarm Vrsac and proved a most unwelcome guess, crushing the Serbian side 90-63. The game was so lopsided that Dynamo was able to rest its foreign stars. Storm center Janell Burse played just 11 minutes, posting four points and seven rebounds in that span. Aussie Belinda Snell led Dynamo with 23 points in as many minutes, shooting 5-of-6 from beyond the arc. New Connecticut Sun guard Anete Jekabsone-Zogota chipped in 17 points, as did Oxana Zakalyuzhnaya.

Athinaikos BC had a much tougher time of it on the road. Katie Gearlds and company were handed a 77-52 defeat by one of the two other Russian teams still alive, Dynamo Kursk. Kursk, which doesn't have many big-name international players, got 22 points from Varvara Psareva and shot 10-of-20 from three-point range. Athinaikos struggled with turnovers and missed shots. Gearlds finished with 11 points and six rebounds.

The return leg of the series will be played a week from today, with the settings changing place. Athinaikos will try desperately to overcome the large gap, while Dynamo returns home easily in control of its own series and confident of advancing to the EuroCup semifinals.

Spartak Tested in Quarterfinal Opener

The best-of-three Euroleague Quarterfinal series tipped off today, and Spartak got a stiff test in hosting Ros Casares Valencia for Game 1. Ros Casares got within two points at 59-57 inside the final two minutes, but Sylvia Fowles' three-point play gave Spartak some breathing room and Lauren Jackson's late three-pointer provided the final 65-57 margin as Spartak moved within a game of the Euroleague Final Four.

There were two reasons the game was close. The first was a bizarre Spartak slump from long distance. As a team, Spartak shot 2-of-21 on threes, including 1-of-6 from Jackson and 0-for-4 from Sue Bird. Had they made a couple more of those attempts, as they typically do, the margin would have been much larger.

Second, Ros Casares got a terrific performance from Amaya Valdemoro. The Spanish star scored 20 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and had three steals. Elisa Aguilar was the only other Ros Casares player to reach double-figures in the defensive affair.

Jackson led Spartak with 17 points, adding seven rebounds. Bird contributed in a variety of ways, finishing with 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists in playing 39 of the 40 minutes. Fowles and Diana Taurasi (1-of-9 from three) chipped in 12 points apiece.

The setting now switches to Valencia, Spain for Friday's Game 2, with Ros Casares hoping to extend the series the distance. Elsewhere, home teams Halcon Avenida and UMMC Ekaterinburg held serve in Game 1, while MKB Euroleasing Sopron went on the road to defeat Bourges Basket 68-65 and wrest control of the series.

Weekend Oversas Roundup

Spartak was in action Friday, traveling to Vologda-Chevakata for an 81-69 victory. With Spartak's Russian players having an off night, the win was all about the quartet of Sue Bird, Lauren Jackson, Diana Taurasi and Sylvia Fowles. Those four stars combined for 72 of Spartak's 81 points, led by Taurasi's 28. Jackson battled foul trouble, scoring 11 points in less than 10 minutes of action on 4-of-5 shooting. Bird added 14 points, five rebounds and three assists, shooting 6-of-9 from the field.

Dynamo Moscow was in action twice over the weekend, falling 78-66 at home to a rejuvenated Nadezhda squad on Friday before beating Spartak St. Petersburg 85-72 yesterday. Janell Burse came through with a pair of back-to-backs for Dynamo, posting 16 points and 13 rebounds in the loss and 13 and 13 in the win. However, Betty Lennox's 25 points for Nadezhda were too much to overcome.

Tanisha Wright's Tarbes team improved to 17-1 with a 63-57 win over Villeneuve d'Ascq. Wright scored 13 points in the win.

Athinaikos and Katie Gearlds are still undefeated in the Greek A1 league, having moved to 19-0 over the weekend by beating Apollon Ptolemaidas 77-70. Gearlds scored 10 points, handing out four assists and recording three steals.

A key game in the Irish Superleague saw Kristen O'Neill and her UL Aughnish squad fall 62-46 to DCU Mercy. The win guarantees DCU the regular-season Superleague championship with a two-game lead in the standings over the Aughnish and Team Montenotte Hotel Cork, tied for second at 10-3. O'Neill was limited to 1-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc, finishing with 15 points and eight rebounds. O'Neill and company will still have a chance to knock off DCU in the playoffs.

Overdue Overseas Update

After a six-week winter break, the French LFB returned to action last week. Tanisha Wright's Tarbes team picked up where it left off before the break, beating Basket Landes 70-57 (.pdf) behind 13 points from Wright. On Wednesday, Tarbes improved to 16-1 with a 73-48 romp over Calais (pdf). Wright served as playmaker, handing out six assists to go with eight points.

In Russia, Spartak got a bit of a test last Saturday from Nadezhda, ultimately winnng 81-71 after taking a narrow three-point lead to the final quarter. Roommates Diana Taurasi (32), Sue Bird (16) and Lauren Jackson (14) combined for 62 of Spartak's 81 points. Bird chipped in five rebounds and four assists, while Jackson pulled down nine boards. The trio was also largely responsible for Spartak knocking down 11 three-pointers to Nadezhda's four.

On Wednesday, Spartak got a more comfortable (to put it charitably) 90-44 win over Dynamo-GUVD. None of Spartak's star foreigners played more than 20 minutes in the win. Jackson had 16 points and five rebounds in 15 minutes, while Bird had eight points and five assists before calling it a night after 16 minutes.

Spartak has moved back atop the Superleague with consecutive losses by a suddenly-slumping CSKA Moscow team that was eliminated in the first round of the Euroleague postseason. Janell Burse and Dynamo Moscow handed CSKA a fairly-stunning defeat Wednesday, rallying from an 11-point deficit with eight minutes remaining to win 78-73. Burse came up with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting and eight rebounds, outplaying rival Ann Wauters (16 points, but just three boards).

Katie Gearlds and Athinaikos rolled on to 18-0 with a 78-65 win over Apollon Kalemides. It was a tough shooting night for Gearlds, who finished with seven points, but she helped out on the glass, pulling down seven rebounds.

In Ireland, UL Aughnish stayed hot by beating the Bausch & Lomb Waterford Wildcats 72-60 last Saturday. The Aughnish came back after trailing by nine at the half. Kristen O'Neill scored a game-high 27 points and grabbed nine boards, outplaying the other prominent American in the Irish Superleague. UConn alum Mel Thomas had 18 points and seven rebounds, missing all seven of her three-point attempts.

BONUS Navel-Gazing Note: This is the 500th post in StormTracker's illustrious history, which spans just about 22 months. Thanks as always for reading!

Euroleague All-Stars Announced

Voting for the Euroleague All-Star Team has concluded, and lineups for the March 8 All-Star Game (to be played in Paris) were announced by FIBA Europe today. If you think the voting results are sometimes a little funny here stateside, they're especially strange this time around in Euroleague. The Storm's Sue Bird and Chicago's Sylvia Fowles were both amongst the top five vote-getters for the "Rest of the World" team, but a rule limiting each club to two players on the All-Star roster means neither will play in Paris. Lauren Jackson will represent the Storm, and she and Diana Taurasi are the two players from Spartak.

Burse, Gearlds Advance in EuroCup

Wednesday and Thursday were the return leg of the EuroCup's eighth-final matchups, those series decided by aggregate.

We start in Tel Aviv, where Katie Gearlds and Athinaikos was the lone team with Storm ties heading out on the road. Athinaikos carried a 15-point advantage from the first game of the series and only extended it in a 91-72 demolition of Elitzur Ramla. Gearlds led the way in the rout by shooting the lights out. She made five three-pointers in seven attempts and was 8-of-11 from the field overall, scoring a game-high 23 points in 26 minutes. Gearlds added three steals. As a team, Athinaikos shot 55.9 percent from the field. The 34-point combined margin was tied for the second-largest amongst the eight series.

The outcome was much more tense in Moscow, where Dynamo clung to a one-point advantage heading home. Dynamo trailed by eight after one quarter before putting it on Ravenna Esperides in a 26-13 second quarter. In the second half, Dynamo turned up the defense, allowing just 18 points (while scoring 18 as well) to hold on for the 60-52 win and a 135-126 aggregate outcome. Janell Burse was excellent for Dynamo, scoring 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting (including a rare three-pointer) and 5-of-5 from the free-throw line, pulling down 12 rebounds and blocking four shots. Marina Kuzina added 19 and that was all the scoring Dynamo needed in holding Ravenna Esperides to 30.0 percent shooting.

The news was not as positive in France, where Tarbes Bigorre Elite returned home needing to overcome a nine-point deficit from playing at Cras Basket Taranto. Tarbes led 22-10 after one quarter, but from then on it was all Taranto, which came up with a 73-69 win to eliminate Tarbes by 13 combined points. Tanisha Wright put up 17 points and five assists in the losing effort, but Tarbes struggled to stop Suzy Batkovic (20 points, seven rebounds) and was hurt at the free-throw line. Taranto made 20-of-21 free-throw attempts, while Tarbes was 11-of-18 from the charity stripe.

Athinaikos and Dynamo advance to the quarterfinals. Athinaikos will play Kursk Dynamo, while Moscow takes on Serbian side ZKK Hemofarm Vrsac. The EuroCup takes next week off before the next round of aggregate play starts on Thursday, Feb. 19 with both Athinaikos and Dynmo heading out on the road.

WNBA Roundup

In case you haven't been visiting WNBA.com (and, praytell, why not?), a quick roundup of several announcements around the league this week.

- The 2009 WNBA Draft will be held on Thursday, April 9. After a couple of years at the location of the Final Four (and the day after the NCAA Championship game), the draft is moving back to Secaucus, N.J. and there will be one day in between the game and the draft to allow any prospects involved to get to the league's TV studios. The Storm will be picking 12th overall in the first round and also holds the 38th pick in the third round (the penultimate selection), having traded its second-round pick to Atlanta for Camille Little (a move that looks even better in hindsight given the tough time second-rounders will have making 11-player rosters).

- The league also announced the 2009 All-Star Game will be played at Connecticut's Mohegan Sun Arena on Saturday, July 25 and televised on ABC. While some teams will have an abbreviated All-Star Weekend this year, All-Star fits neatly into a five-day break for the Storm between the July 22 home date with Los Angeles and a visit to San Antonio on July 28. The timing is also nice in that the Storm will play 17 games before the All-Star break and 17 afterward.

- Speaking of July 22, it will be Lisa Leslie's last regular-season visit to KeyArena. The Sparks fixture and Storm rival announced yesterday that 2009 will be her last WNBA season. Note that I say last regular-season visit given the teams have squared off in the postseason three times in the last seven years. Los Angeles also visits on Friday, June 26.

- Lastly, the WNBA announced today that the use of replay by officials will be expanded this season to allow the league's referees to review whether shots are twos or threes and to look at the clock in the case of malfunctions at the end of quarters or games. These changes were both instituted in the NBA for the 2008-09 season.

Storm Will Have Santos in Camp

The Storm will have center Kelly Santos on the roster for training camp after the restricted free agent agreed to a training-camp contract with the team.

Santos played in 22 games for the Storm last season, averaging 2.1 points and 1.3 rebounds. A three-year WNBA veteran, Santos also represented Brazil in Beijing, her third career appearance in the Olympics.

Here's our 2008 Santos Season in Review, including a photo gallery.

(Photo by Aaron Last/Storm Photos)

Storm Celebrates National Girls and Women in Sports Day

Happy National Girls and Women in Sports Day! This is the 23rd annual NGWSD since the initiative was first chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1986. It honors female athletic achievement and recognizes the positive influence of sports participation for girls and women.

Here at storm.wnba.com, we've recognized the day in a couple of ways. After Saturday's Winter Warm-Up event, I was fortunate to have the three members of Force 10 Hoops L.L.C. in attendance (Lisa Brummel, Ginny Gilder and Anne Levinson) join me for a StormCast roundtable recounting their own experiences as college athletes in the era just after Title IX, how that has shaped their lives and professional careers and what the Storm means as role models for future generations.

Also, we're using today to kick off our National Girls and Women in Sports Day Essay Contest. You have until Feb. 28 to submit your essay addressing the question: “How have girls’ and women’s athletics impacted my life?” Gilder and Storm Assistant Coach Shelley Patterson, along with essay judges from the Storm organization, will score the entries. This is your chance to win game tickets, a personalized Storm jersey, be recognized on-court prior to a Storm game and have your essay featured on storm.wnba.com, plus other great prizes.

Elsewhere, WNBA players share their thoughts on National Girls and Women in Sports Day with WNBA.com.

Winter Warm-Up Event a Hit

Tia Jackson addresses the crowd. /Storm Photos

A record crowd of more than 350 Storm Season Ticket Holders filled the East Gym of Hec Edmundson Pavilion Saturday for the Storm's annual Winter Warm-Up Event bringing together the Storm and UW Women's Basketball. They heard from a variety of guest speakers, including UW Head Coach Tia Jackson; Lisa Brummel, Ginny Gilder and Anne Levinson from the Storm's ownership group, Force 10 Hoops L.L.C.; CEO Karen Bryant; and Head Coach Brian Agler, who offered the latest on the Storm's plan as the 2009 roster is built via free agency.

The program concluded with a raffle for 10 items, highlighted by a t-shirt and Perfect Storm poster signed by the entire 2008 roster. Afterward, Season Ticket Holders made their way to watch the Husky women give Arizona State a tough fight behind a 29-point effort from guard Sami Whitcomb.

Other highlights included:
- A surprise appearance from Phoenix Mercury GM Ann Meyers Drysdale, calling the UW-Arizona State game for FSN. Meyers Drysdale was (jokingly) hexed and told to keep away from Storm free agent Lauren Jackson.

- Brummel leading the Season Ticket Holders in chants of "Go Storm!" and "Go Huskies!"

- An impromptu group "Happy Birthday" to Levinson, a four-year-old fan and a Storm employee.

- Standing ovations for the ownership group and Agler.

- Fans having the chance to videotape their favorite memories as part of the Storm's 10th Anniversary celebration (stay tuned for this opportunity at future events).

- Make sure you're invited to future exclusive Storm events by becoming a Season Ticket Holder.


Three Season Ticket Holders share their memories. /Storm Photos


A full house listens attentively /Storm Photos

Weekend Overseas Update

Again, a light weekend of Storm action with the major teams busy with the Euroleague postseason, so just three games involving Storm players.

Another day, another Greek A1 League win for Athinaikos. This weekend, Athinaikos improved to 17-0 by blowing by Panionios 89-63. Katie Gearlds paced Athinaikos with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting and seven rebounds in 30 minutes of work before calling it a night. Panionios got 16 points and nine assists from Seattle native Lindsey Wilson, while one-time Storm center Tye'sha Fluker had 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Kelly Santos was hampered by foul trouble in a 59-50 Cadi La Seu loss to Celta Indepo on Friday. Santos picked up five fouls in just under 24 minutes of action. She scored 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting when she was on the floor.

In Ireland, Kristen O'Neill's 23 points led UL Aughnish to a 62-39 win over DART Killester. The Aughnish outscored Killester 31-11 after halftime to improve to 9-2, tied for second in the Irish Superleague.