Storm (9-23) at Minnesota Lynx (22-11)

KeyArena | Seattle, Wash.

September 11, 2015 | 7 p.m. PT

Broadcast: Live Access

2015 vs. Minnesota: 0-4

Last meeting:  L 73-67 (September 8, 2015)

Leading scorer: Crystal Langhorne 14

It is the final two games for the Storm on the season with both coming at KeyArena and it will begin with the second of a back-to-back with the Minnesota Lynx on Friday night.

PLAYER TO WATCH: Jenna O’Hea

Jenna O’Hea has come on strong towards the end of the season and has been a critical piece for the Storm. Over her last five games, she is coming off the bench to average 10.2 points and shoot 50 percent from three (8-for-16).

SCOUTING MINNESOTA

This should be easy with the Storm having seen the Lynx on Tuesday. Minnesota blitzed the Storm in the first half by shooting 66 percent from the field but only held an 11-point lead at the break. Rest may come for some players as the win on Tuesday clinched the top seed in the West for Minnesota. However, Maya Moore is still in an MVP race and her 20-point performance on Tuesday surely didn’t hurt her cause.

KEYS TO THE GAME

Stay hungry. The Storm come into the final two games of the season looking towards next season and coming down to the wire on the road with the top seed in the West had to give the Storm plenty of confidence. It is probably good that they get them back-to-back but this time at KeyArena. The defensive intensity in the second half held Minnesota to 27.5 percent shooting in the second half. If that carries over to Friday, the Storm could come away with win No. 10.

#LoydROY

Jewell Loyd continues to add to her Rookie of the Year candidacy. Already with a Rookie of the Month award under her belt, Loyd is the only rookie in the top five in points, rebounds, and assists and averaged 12.2 points (1st among rookies), 4.4 rebounds (2nd), 2.3 assists (5th), 28.5 minutes (1st), and was shooting 92.1 percent from the line (1st) in the month of August. Loyd has reached double figure scoring in 10 of her last 13 games and is averaging 17 points over the last four games, including a 21-point performance at Chicago on Sept. 6. She has also been near automatic from the line and has made 69 of her last 73 attempts (94.5 percent).

AMONG THE LEAGUE’S BEST

One of the more important parts of a player’s game is consistency and Jewell Loyd is starting to show just that. Between Aug. 21 and Sept. 6, she was averaging 15.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.2 assists, which puts her in elite company. She was one of only seven players to be averaging at least 14 points, five rebounds, and two assists during that span. The others were Candace Parker, Tamika Catchings, Maya Moore, Tina Charles, Jantel Lavender and Chelsea Bone.

THE RETURN OF TOK

After a four game absence, Ramu Tokashiki made her return to the Storm on Tuesday at Minnesota and came back from the FIBA Asia Championships with some hardware. The Japanese team finished a perfect 7-0 en route to claim a bid to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio De Janiero and Tokashiki played a major part in that, earning MVP honors for the tournament. She averaged 16.5 points, seven rebounds, two blocks, and 3.5 steals during the semifinals and finals of the tournament.

AUTOMATIC

Jewell Loyd is not only great at the free throw line. The rookie is all-time great. She is shooting 90.1 percent from the line for the season and this after missing five of her first 18 on the season. Loyd is second in the league in free throw percentage with at least three attempts per game and has made the ninth most (100). That 90.1 percent is the second best in WNBA history behind only Elena Delle Donne and if she were to maintain that 90 percent clip, she would become only the third rookie in WNBA or NBA history to make 90 percent with at least three attempts per game. The other two are Delle Donne and Sue Bird.

LANG FILLING UP THE STAT SHEET

Crystal Langhorne has been one of the more efficient and effective players in the league this season. She is third in the league with a 54.9 shooting percentage from the field and had a stretch of eight straight games in double figures, including a 29-point performance where she shot 12-for-13 from the field. Langhorne picked up her first double-double of the season on Friday against San Antonio with 22 points and 10 rebounds and then followed it up with 15 points and four rebounds against Washington on Aug. 30. She is also one of only two players in the league to be averaging 10 points, five rebounds, one steal, and be shooting better than 50 percent from the field. The other is Nneka Ogwumike.

JEWELL LOYD > LAUREN JACKSON

Jewell Loyd did something on Sunday night that had never been done before in franchise history. Loyd’s two free throws late in the fourth quarter were her 13th and 14th attempts of the night, having made all of them. The rookie’s 14-for-14 performance bested the previous single game record, held by all-time great Lauren Jackson at 13-for-13, for the most free throws attempted without a miss.

BIRD FLYING UP THE CHARTS

It has been a season of milestones for one of the all-time greats. With her three pointer late in the fourth quarter on June 25, Sue Bird eclipsed Sheryl Swoopes for 13th on the WNBA’s all-time scoring list. On August 2 at Madison Square Garden, she surpassed the 5,000-point mark to become the only player in league history to record 5,000 points and 2,000 assists for a career and did it in front of her hometown crowd. She is at 5,087 points and passed Tangela Smith for 11th all-time after scoring 13 in the win over San Antonio on Aug. 16. Bird will have a long road to trek to potentially break into the top 10 with Katie Douglas sitting at 5,563.

BIRD IN THE HAND, WORTH TWO IN THE BASKET

Sue Bird continues to be one of the better distributors in the league and dished out a season-high 13 assists, one off a career-high, on August 8 at San Antonio. She also collected 12 on July 18 against Atlanta. Bird is second in the league with 5.4 assists per game and is one of only two players to be averaging 10 points and five assists (Courtney Vandersloot).