Top > Sport > 2004 > October > 2004-10-03

Storm tries to regroup after dramatic loss

DeMya Walker made a leaning underhand shot in the lane, lifting the Sacramento Monarchs to a 74-72 overtime victory over Seattle, which led by 10 points early in the second half and by 14 in the first half.

``At this point in the season, you can`t lose your focus,`` Donovan said. ``You can`t have a letdown. Teams are too good. Sacramento made us pay in the second half because we didn`t stay focused.``

Sue Bird agreed that losing the lead was in some ways more difficult to handle than losing the game. She said it will be important for the Storm to rebound with two strong performances.

``I`m not going to take anything away from them,`` Bird said. ``They did a great job of doing what they do. They ran, they got the ball inside, they rebounded and they got back in the game.``

The good news for the Storm is that the next two games, if both are necessary in the best-of-three series, will be in Seattle. Game 2 is today and Game 3, if needed, will be Tuesday night.

``If we lost, we would have a hard time if we had to go to Seattle and try to win two,`` Walker said. ``This puts the pressure back on them.``

Yolando Griffith scored 15 points as Sacramento took over inside in the second half. The Monarchs didn`t lead until the opening moments of overtime, but they pressured the Storm and forced the pace.

After a first-round series win over Los Angeles, Sacramento is rolling.

``We do believe in ourselves,`` Griffith said. ``We have a lot of confidence, but we can`t get too high. We didn`t come to play in the first half, and we were down, but we got ourselves together.``