May 24, 2019

The Seattle Storm begins the 2019 regular season by once again meeting the Phoenix Mercury this Saturday at the Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, Wash. with tip-off scheduled for 12:30 p.m. PT. Opening Day presented by Swedish will also feature a pregame ring ceremony celebrating the third title in franchise history.

HOW TO FOLLOW

In its first of 11 nationally televised games, the Storm season opener will be aired on ABC. Fans can also follow live stats at StormBasketball.com, or on Twitter by following @SeattleStorm.

LAST TIME OUT

The Storm is returning from a loss in its preseason finale against the Los Angeles Sparks.

Jordin Canada led the team in scoring with 18 points and tallied six assists. Jewell Loyd made her 2019 preseason debut with 16 points, five rebounds and four assists and finished 7-7 from the free throw line. Natasha Howard also hit double-digits, scoring 14 points and grabbing seven rebounds, but it was not enough to overcome a strong second half performance by the Sparks, who were paced by Nneka Ogwumike’s 18 points, seven rebounds and four steals.

STORM IN HOME OPENERS

Entering its 20^th season, Seattle holds a 9-10 record in season openers and an 11-8 record in home openers.

The Storm has hosted Phoenix four times in home openers; after winning the first three such contests, the Storm dropped last year’s home opener, 87-82.

Saturday will mark the first Storm home opener at the Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, Wash.

SCOUTING PHOENIX

The Mercury is coming off of an 87-84 preseason victory against the Storm.

DeWanna Bonner and Brittney Griner each scored 15 points and were followed by rookie Alanna Smith with 11 points.

With the game tied in the last 30 seconds of the game, rookie guard Sophie Cunningham hit a three-pointer with 3.4 seconds left to give the Mercury the win.

Diana Taurasi, the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer, is expected to remain out for another six to eight weeks (back).

UP NEXT

After opening the season in Everett, the Storm will embark on a three-game road trip to play the Minnesota Lynx on Wednesday, May 29 at 5 p.m. PT, followed by visits to the Atlanta Dream on Friday, May 31 at 4:30 p.m. PT and the Chicago Sky on Saturday, June 1 at 5 p.m. PT. Seattle will return home on Tuesday, June 4 to host the Minnesota Lynx at the Angel of the Winds Arena at 7 p.m. PT.