The Storm did not look very focused or confident for the first three quarters of their game with the Sparks. But they made a furious rally in the fourth quarter behind Lauren Jackson's 13 points to get within one point with just over 25 seconds left in the game. Despite having opportunities to tie or take the lead, the Storm never did and ultimately lost 68-63.

Sue Bird played with the mask to protect her bruised nose and finished with 15 points, but could not convert on most of the late game opportunities for her team. Ted Miller argues that while Bird did not lose the game, she did not win it either. Bird said her last attempt, a mid range jumper with 9.5 second left will "will haunt me for a very, very long time."

The Storm did not help themselves by only connecting on 30% of their shots from the floor and only 7-26 from 3 point range. "It was obvious what our demise was – we don’t shoot the ball that poorly very often,” Anne Donovan said. The Sparks were not much better from the floor, but did not rely on the three point shot as much.

With Lisa Leslie quiet in the first and fourth quarters, Temeka Johnson stepped up. The point guard attacked the rim, hit open jumpers and finished with 14 points, 6 assists, and 1 turnover. Bird described the difficulty of the matchup with Johnson. "She's so low to the ground. Some people can look at her height as a disadvantage, but the way she's able to penetrate -- I don't how she gets those layups up, but she does. You can't pick her, you just have to try and stay in front of her."

Coach Bryant was not surprised about the comeback by the Storm and that his team is not built to win by 20. But he added the Sparks were determined not to be eliminated in the first round for the third year in a row.

With their season now over, Donovan and three of her players will turn their focus to preparing for the World Championship. Most of the others will try to recover from injuries.