Liberty-Storm Preview

It is a case of first meeting worst in the WNBA "wubble" on Tuesday when the league-leading Seattle Storm face the last-place New York Liberty.

The Storm (10-1) reached the halfway point of the season on an eight-game winning streak, including the last four by double-digit margins after blowing past Connecticut 95-72 on Sunday. Breanna Stewart scored 19 points while Natasha Howard added season highs of 12 and 11 rebounds as Seattle extended its best start in club history.

"She's been increasingly a lot more active on the defensive end and rebounds in these last 3-4 games," Storm coach Gary Kloppenburg told the Seattle Times about Howard, who averaged 18.1 points and 8.2 rebounds as the team's focal point last year when Stewart was sidelined with a torn Achilles. "She finished her shots tonight. We knew she was working her way back into the type of conditioning that we're used to. That was a good effort by her."

Stewart has shown no ill effects from the year off, averaging 18.9 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists while shooting 51.4 percent. She has scored 40 points in the last two wins on 16-of-21 shooting.

Seattle has not won nine in a row since reeling off 13 straight victories from June 18 to July 30 en route to the 2010 WNBA title.

The Liberty (1-9) continue to toil without No. 1 pick Sabrina Ionescu, who remains sidelined with a sprained ankle. They have lost four straight since upending defending champion Washington and were throttled 94-64 by Minnesota on Saturday.

Jazmine Jones scored 13 points for New York, which hung with the Lynx for most of the first half before being overwhelmed by a 24-6 burst that bridged the second and third quarters. Ionescu's absence again magnified the Liberty's struggles offensively -- they shot a season-worst 30.3 percent and were held to a season low in points.

Jones has been a recent bright spot for the young squad, scoring in double figures in three straight games and averaging 16 points in that span. On the other end of the spectrum, Kia Nurse's season-long shooting woes continued as she missed all nine of her shots and finished with four points.

Nurse is averaging 9.9 points but shooting a ghastly 19.6 percent.

Seattle opened the season with an 87-71 victory over New York on July 25 as Stewart scored 18 points to lead four Storm players in double figures. Layshia Clarendon had 20 for the Liberty, who have lost five of the last six meetings between the teams.