The Dallas Wings are still in the hunt for a trip to the playoffs but their quest has come down to a one-game-at-a-time scenario because of a season-long eight-game losing streak.
Given that mantra, there will be no looking ahead when the Wings travel to Seattle to face the Storm on Wednesday at KeyArena in a contest with huge implications for the postseason.
Dallas won both games against the Storm this season, beating Seattle 88-79 on the road on June 16 and 83-78 in Arlington, Texas, on June 30, but Seattle has been the better team of late, splitting its first two games since the WNBA's return to play after a month-long break for the Rio Olympics.
The Storm's win was against then-league leading Los Angeles at home while the loss was to Minnesota, which has the best record in the WNBA. Seattle (10-16) has a 3-3 record over its past six games and is 7-7 at home; the Storm plays just three of its final eight games in KeyArena.
Seattle is led in scoring (18.3 points per game) and rebounding (9.2) by Breanna Stewart, the top draft pick in the league this season and the prohibitive favorite for WNBA Rookie of the Year. Stewart scored 29 points in the first meeting with Dallas and 17 in the second.
Dallas, meanwhile returned from the break with two losses (to Phoenix on the road and to Chicago at home) and has hasn't won since July 5.
Five of those eight losses have been by seven points or fewer and have the Wings in 11th place in the 12-team league, albeit only 1 1/2 games behind eighth-place Washington and Seattle with seven games to play. The top eight teams earn playoff berths.
The Wings (9-18) are led in scoring (14.5) and assists (4) by Odyssey Sims.
