Another thrilling fourth-quarter comeback powered the Storm to a win over Connecticut last night at KeyArena on ESPN2. Game recaps and other news this morning:

Storm holds off Sun, 83-82 – Jayda Evans, Seattle Times

Each Storm player stepped up to help their team win 83-82 before a crowd of 7,539 Thursday night. For Seattle (23-4), which set a franchise record for wins, the victory ended a two-game WNBA skid and continued a 14-game win streak at home. Connecticut dropped its fourth consecutive game, falling further outside the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference.

“It feels like we’re headed back in the right direction,” said Storm forward Swin Cash, who finished with 21 points. “This wasn’t, I would say, our best game. But overall I felt we were able to get back to the old us, where we dug it out at the end, and it started with our defense — not trying to always outscore someone.”

Gallery: Storm vs. Connecticut Sun – SeattleTimes.com (By the way, the official box score did not credit Ashley Robinson with a block last night. Photo seven would agree to disagree.)

Storm rallies in fourth quarter to edge Sun, 83-82 – Todd Dybas, seattlepi.com

The record would indicate otherwise.

A gaudy 23-4 overall and 14-0 at KeyArena presents a sterling finality to all of these matchups for the Storm. But a deeper view shows a team that is 11-4 after trailing at the end of the third quarter. One that has used fourth-quarter comebacks in more than half of its games.

Such was the case again on Thursday. The Storm held off a talented Connecticut Sun team 83-82 thanks to two late free throws by Tanisha Wright. Another completed comeback left the Storm a smiling and relieved bunch. It left Connecticut Sun coach Mike Thibault as hot as, well, the sun.

Storm Relieved to Snatch Victory from the Jaws of Defeat – Nate Parham, SB Nation Seattle

As rare is it is to hear in professional sports — especially for a dominant team that is undefeated at home — there almost seemed to be an underlying acknowledgment in the Storm locker room that they got away with something tonight. It was definitely the first time that their post-game remarks reflected an awareness that the possibility of a loss was imminent in the waning minutes.

“This game I think for us, we really didn’t play our best tonight,” said Storm point guard Sue Bird. “I’m sure Connecticut is over there kicking themselves because they had control of the game in the second half. Just being honest…Even though we didn’t play our best we won and everyone can be at ease a little bit.”

Dishin & Swishin: Sue Bird Audio Interview – SwishAppeal.com

Previews as the Storm tries to snap a two-game losing streak tonight against Connecticut, as well as some national features.

Storm hopes to end back-to-back losses against Connecticut – Jayda Evans, Seattle Times

“We’re a little off kilter right now and it could be a variety of things, but I don’t think it’s unusual. Every team has gone through stretches where they’ve lost some games,” said Storm coach Brian Agler. “We weren’t playing at a reality clip either. We were sort of playing at a one-in-every-five-year type of stretch there.”

Storm still setting pace in the WNBA – Mechelle Voepel, ESPN.com

TULSA, Okla. — The comparison that might come to mind about Tuesday’s Shock-over-Storm upset is that of a spelling bee in which one competitor has a more limited vocabulary and understandably might have given up awhile back — yet didn’t. And on this night, the latter speller kept getting the right words and/or making the right guesses.

Meanwhile, her counterpart was inarguably more talented and was fully expected to win — yet didn’t. On this night, to her great annoyance, she got tripped up by words she normally handles with relative ease.

Lauren Jackson still No. 1 in the Race to the MVP Rankings on WNBA.com.

Instead, let’s talk about LJ spraining her thumb, which ultimately led to only 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting and four rebounds for the top MVP candidate. If you needed to gauge Jackson’s value than let this be the means of doing it. Serious injury or not, surely Coach Agler isn’t opposed to letting her rest up and/or heal for a game or two at this point in the season. A healthy postseason should be Seattle’s focus right now. No sense in limping into the playoffs.

WNBA Power Rankings – Q McCall, SwishAppeal.com

Dick Fain had Storm CEO Karen Bryant on his show on KJR 950 AM last week. Here’s the podcast.

Going around the Web the day after the Storm suffered consecutive losses for the first time all season, losing 84-75 in Tulsa to match the largest margin of defeat of the year.

Storm loses second straight game, falls 84-75 to the Shock – Duane DaPron, special to the Seattle Times

Meanwhile, the win snapped a seven-game losing streak for the Shock and a string of nine consecutive home losses. Before Tuesday night, Tulsa had not won at home since June 4 in a 92-79 victory against Minnesota.

“One thing I have learned in this league is that the hungrier team generally wins,” Agler said.

“We went a long stretch of being hungry. Now, for whatever reason, we have lost that.”

Statistical summary: Turnovers calm the Storm in Tulsa – Q McCall, SwishAppeal.com

Key stat: Turnover percentage

Against the Lynx, the differential in turnover percentage (22.58% to 18.47%) was a significant reason for the Storm’s loss. Against the Shock the turnover differential of 30.38% to 20.73% was again a huge reason for the loss. The Storm normally take care of the ball better than any team in the league but have struggled with pressure in their losses, especially against the Indiana Fever, Lynx, and Shock. What’s interesting is that the biggest culprits tonight were the Storm’s frontcourt players — Swin Cash and Camille Little each had turnover percentages over 35% and Lauren Jackson had five turnovers for a percentage of 28.53%. Perhaps it’s safe to say now that forcing turnovers is the key to beating the Storm, but even that can be difficult to do with a point guard like Sue Bird running the offense and it is very likely their frontcourt will turn the ball over like that with any sort of regularity. Nevertheless, there’s undeniably a clear pattern to their losses

Shock beats Seattle Storm, league’s top team – Lynn Jacobsen, Tulsa World

Tulsa pulled off the biggest upset this season in the WNBA on the birthday of Nolan Richardson’s daughter Yvonne, who died at the age of 15 from leukemia.

“Rose (Richardson’s wife) and I have spent the last 23 years in El Paso celebrating our daughter’s life,” the Shock coach said. “Obviously, we are here tonight. It was an emotional game for me. This was something wonderful for me to be coaching the women and to have lost a daughter that loved the game so much. My wife and I will always cherish this win.”

Bird talks to Mechelle Voepel about the Storm’s back-to-back losses:

Shootaround with Storm star Lauren Jackson – Seattle Times

Q: I’ve heard someone you pretty know well (coach Brian Agler) will be overseeing that exam. True?

LJ: It’s weird, definitely weird. You need to have someone in authority and someone that’s trustworthy. He’s my coach. I said, “Brian, can you watch me do my exam?” He said, “Sure, what do I have to do? I was like, “Well, you just have to sit there for two hours and make sure I don’t cheat.” And that was the conversation.

All good things must come to an end, and the Storm’s winning streak was no exception. The stories on yesterday’s loss to the Minnesota Lynx and more:

Minnesota ends Storm’s 13-game winning streak – Pat Borzi, special to the Seattle Times

Jackson sprained the thumb midway through in the second quarter and managed only 12 points in the Storm’s 72-71 loss to Minnesota, ending the third-longest winning streak in WNBA history at 13 games.

Coach Brian Agler said X-rays showed nothing broken. It wasn’t clear whether Jackson, who was not in the locker room after the game, will play Tuesday in Tulsa.

“Hopefully, it’s nothing serious,” Bird said.

Why the Storm’s Loss “Could Pay Dividends Bigger Than Any Win Could’ve” - Nate Parham, SB Nation Seattle

When NBA TV commentator Dennis Scott asked about ending the record conversation with the loss — tying for the best start in WNBA history, claiming the best start in Seattle sports history, in the middle of the third-longest winning streak in WNBA history, and still chasing the 1998 Houston Comets for the best start in WNBA history — Sue Bird smiled and said pretty much what the Storm have been telling media for weeks.

“To be honest, I’m so glad in a way that the record stuff’s out of the way,” said Bird in the video above. “I know this loss is actually going to pay bigger dividends than any win could’ve, which is great. Now we can kind of just get back to focusing on the playoffs what we need to do to get home court advantage throughout and on to the next one. We’ve got Tulsa next and that’s what we’re focused on.”

Statistical summary of an upset: The Lynx end the Storm’s 13-game win streak – Q McCall, SwishAppeal.com

Storm statistical MVP: Sue Bird

With Jackson playing through a strained right thumb, Bird picked up the slack with 16 points on 7-14 shooting — including a 2 point percentage of 71.42 — and 10 assists. Again, her passing numbers were outstanding: an assist rate of 38.46% and turnover percentage of 7.69% that resulted in a pure point rating of 12.96.

Up from sick bed, Lynx center ends Seattle’s 13-game streak – Roman Augustoviz, Star Tribune

Nicky Anosike was too sick to start for the Lynx against Seattle, but the 6-3 center was on the floor when it mattered most: the end.

Anosike made a 14-foot baseline jumper with 47 seconds left and the second of two free throws with 5.5 seconds as the Lynx upset Seattle 72-71 on Sunday at Target Center. She finished with seven points and six rebounds in 16-plus minutes.

Storm’s Jana Veselá continues to adjust to the WNBA, America – Jayda Evans, Seattle Times

Off the court was the same clumsy route to comfort. Vesela said she’d spend up to three hours in grocery stores trying to translate names of foods to find familiar flavors. At restaurants she’d just stare at menus.

Teammates had fun introducing her to funnel cakes and watching Vesela get the powder all over her face. Abrosimova, who’s Russian, has been the tour guide, since the pair knew each other from play overseas.

Mailbag: Lauren Jackson’s free throw shooting ridiculous? – Jayda Evans, seattletimes.com Women’s Hoops Blog

Jackson is shooting 91.4 percent from the FT line this season. Yet, it’s not the best in the WNBA or even Jackson’s career-high. San Antonio PG Becky Hammon is closer to perfect from the line at a league-leading 97.1 percent. Jackson, a 6 foot 5 post, has attempted 139 FTs compared to Hammon’s 59 this season, however.

Still, Jackson’s best season shooting the free shots was in 2008 with a 93.4 percent showing (99 of 106). That was before the ankle and back injuries, so it’s impressive how the native Australian is working her way back to pre-injury numbers.

Nationally, the day’s big story was President Barack Obama attending Washington’s win over Tulsa with daughter Sasha. Here’s a photo gallery from WNBA.com.