Seattle and Dallas, two teams struggling the most in the WNBA's Western Conference along with last-place San Antonio, face each other Thursday night at the College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.
Seattle (4-7) is coming off a 77-70 loss at San Antonio, which had the league's worst record of 1-7 entering the game.
"We've been inconsistent all year," Storm coach Jenny Boucek told the Seattle TImes. "We have lapses, especially defensively. You can't afford to do that in this league; teams are too good."
Seattle (4-7) opened the game missing 14 of its first 17 and shot just 33 percent while allowing 45 percent. The Storm, down by 13 points, rallied to close within 71-70 in the final minute but could not overtake the Stars.
"We've rallied a lot in the past 11 games," Seattle forward Breanna Stewart said. "But we can't come out slow."
Dallas (3-6) enters Thursday night's game on a six-game losing streak, the last defeat a near upset of New York on the road Tuesday.
The Wings lost 91-88 despite 21 points from forward Karima Christmas and 19 from guard Odyssey Sims. A three-point attempt by Sims to tie the game with three seconds left was blocked by New York center Kiah Stokes.
"I thought we fought pretty hard tonight," Dallas coach Fred Williams said. "We just didn't have some shots go down when we needed them in that last four-minute stretch."
The loss to the Liberty was the first game that Dallas had its entire roster healthy and able to play. Standout guard Skylar Diggins, working her way back from an ACL injury she suffered last season, played in only her third game this season and started for the first time. She had one point in 24 minutes.
"It's going to take her four or five games to get back into the flow," Williams said of Diggins.
Dallas made 15 three-pointers against New York, which is one shy of the WNBA record held by three different teams, most recently Phoenix at Tulsa in the 2010 season.
Stewart, a rookie and former UConn star, is coming off a 19-point, 15-rebound performance in the loss at San Antonio. It was her fifth double-double of the season. She leads the WNBA in rebounding with 10.1 a game.
The game at Dallas concludes a four-game road trip for Seattle, which is 1-2 thus far in that stretch.
