Includes games played through June 28, 2004 WNBA.com Power Rankings - June 29 By Matt Wurst, WNBA.com After another week in the topsy-turvy WNBA and sleepless nights of discussion and deliberation, the Power Rankings staff was confused and indecisive. We nearly ranked every team either tied for fourth or ninth place overall and called it a day. But alas, as the sun did its duty and rose this morning, we saw the light through the misty haze... 2004 WNBA.com POWER RANKINGS: Week 6 TEAM (last week) REC. NOTES 1 Seattle (1) 8-4 Seattle's six-game winning streak came to an end with two straight losses last week, but the Storm were still able to hold onto the No. 1 overall spot. Barely. They looked lax on defense at times and could have fallen from the top, but remain there for the third straight week on account of other teams' inconsistencies. Upcoming: vs. San Antonio; vs. Sacramento 2 Los Angeles (3) 9-6 The Sparks dismantled the Liberty in N.Y. last week, but lost a close game on the road in Indiana. In addition to the veteran core playing at the top of its game, rookies Laura Macchi and Christi Thomas are regular contributors in the rotation. Upcoming: vs. New York; vs. San Antonio 3 Detroit (2) 7-6 The Shock only lost nine games all of last season en route to the title, but have already lost six games so far this season. Swin Cash continues to play like an MVP candidate, but just about everyone else has been bitten by the inconsistency bug of late. Upcoming: vs. Indiana; at Minnesota 4 Charlotte (7) 7-6 The Sting have made things interesting by winning four of their last five games and moving into a four-way tie with Detroit, Indiana and Connecticut for first place. The resurgence of Tammy Sutton-Brown has been a primary reason for Charlotte's success. Upcoming: vs. Phoenix; at Houston 5 Indiana (4) 7-6 As good as the Fever have been at stretches this season, they are still only one game above .500. On the bright side, that is tied for first place. Things are just so tight in the Eastern conference Standings that the standings could be completely different next week. Upcoming: at Detroit; at Washington 6 Houston (6) 8-7 The Comets have not only managed to keep their heads above water during Tina Thompson's absence, but everyone else has picked up their game. Best of all, Swoopes is playing like Swoopes and Thompson is on the mend. Upcoming: at Minnesota; vs. Charlotte 7 Connecticut (10) 8-7 The Sun have won four in a row, including sweeping a home-and-home with the defending champion Detroit Shock over the weekend. Nykesha Sales was the Player of the Week, Lindsay Whalen has 30 assists in the last three games and the Sun have passed the Liberty to overtake fourth place. Upcoming: vs. Washington 8 New York (5) 7-7 The New York Liberty finally got back on track this weekend with a win against the Storm in Spokane. With two more games on the West Coast, the Liberty need at least a split to come back home without a losing record. Upcoming: at Los Angeles; at Sacramento 9 Phoenix (9) 6-7 Phoenix has shown all the signs of a middle-of-the-pack team all season, but has lost two in a row to Western Conference opponents since beating the Liberty at home last Thursday. In Mercury wins, Diana Taurasi is averaging 19.3 ppg and shooting .470 from the field but in losses she's only averaging 17.0 ppg on .397 shooting. Upcoming: at San Antonio; at Charlotte 10 Sacramento (12) 5-7 Last week, we wrote: "All three of the Monarchs' wins have come against Western Conference teams. The good news is that the next two teams to come to town are Western teams. This could be the lift that the Monarchs have been waiting for to turn things around." Wow, we're good. Two in a row... Upcoming: vs. New York; at Seattle 11 Washington (11) 5-7 Washington looks like it could be on the right track. They are 3-2 in their last five games and are only 1.5 games out of first place in the standings. The Mystics pulled out a big win on the road in Detroit but lost some momentun in not having another game for five days. That game ended up being a loss in Houston on Sunday. Upcoming: at Connecticut; vs. Indiana 12 Minnesota (8) 5-8 Despite dropping three games in a row and four of their last five, there is no need for panic just yet in Minnesapolis. After all, Katie Smith and Tamika Williams are each having solid years and rookies Nicole Ohlde and Vanessa Hayden continue to improve. Upcoming: vs. Houston; vs. Detroit 13 San Antonio (13) 5-9 The Silver Stars have now won two games in a row thanks to balanced scoring and hard-nosed play. The two wins over Minnesota and Phoenix were almost enough to get them out of the cellar, but wins in the next two games will almost certainly do the trick. Upcoming: vs. Phoenix; at Seattle --

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