The Seattle Storm are a one-star entity while the Connecticut Sun thrive around three standouts.
The Sun (9-3) will look to build on a strong start to the season when they visit the Storm on Tuesday night.
Connecticut resides in second place in the WNBA after beating the Los Angeles Sparks 83-74 on Sunday in the opener of a three-game road trip.
The Sun scored the final nine points of the game to improve to 5-1 on the road.
The trio of DeWanna Bonner, Brionna Jones and Alyssa Thomas all stood out in the victory. Bonner had 20 points and nine rebounds, Jones added 17 points and eight boards and Thomas had 16 points, 12 assists and five steals.
Bonner is averaging a team-best 17.8 points per game. Jones is averaging 16.2 points and 8.5 rebounds while Thomas puts up 15 points per game and leads Connecticut in rebounding (10.2) and assists (7.7).
The Sun have adjusted well to the methods of first-year coach Stephanie White.
The Storm (3-7) haven’t won back-to-back games this season after the Sue Bird-Breanna Stewart era came to an end. Bird retired and Stewart left via free agency.
Four-time All-Star Jewell Loyd has stepped up her game to new levels, leading the WNBA in scoring at 25.4 points per game.
In Saturday’s wild 109-103 road win over the Dallas Wings, Loyd poured in a career-best 39 points. That’s second most in franchise history behind Lauren Jackson’s 47-point outing in 2007.
Storm coach Noelle Quinn, a former Seattle teammate of Loyd for 2 1/2 seasons, is impressed with the way the 29-year-old has embraced the role of team leader formally held by Bird.
The Storm are just 1-5 at home this season.
