That was a great preview to what the season may hold for Sacramento. The Monarchs are a hot ticket this summer. Be sure to be a part of the action here at ARCO Arena. Expect great basketball!

Click here to buy tickets to upcoming Monarchs games.

That's it for me here. Hope you enjoyed the live in-game blog and thank your for joining me!

Until next time (Opening Night - May 17 at 7 p.m.).

~ Hollis

9:08 - That was kind of funny. After missing her two free throws, Kim Smith was keen enough to get her own rebound and she tried desparately to get away from the Storm defense and pass the ball to someone else before she could be fouled. It didn't work. She was fouled and headed back to the line again.

She sank one of two, which was enough for the Monarchs to finish the game with a 70-68 victory.

9:01 - After making those two free throws, Lawson is at 18 points, leading all scorers.

13.4 seconds left.

8:57 - Monarchs lead 67 - 62 with :30 left.

8:53 - With a minute and a half left, Cash is still tops in both minutes played and scoring. She's got 16 points in just over 30 minutes played.

Lawson just caught up with her as she just hit the 16-point mark.

Okay, but Swin has still played the most minutes.

8:46 - Wow. Griffith doesn't know her own strength sometimes. She just tossed the ball from the opposite side of the court into the stands behind the Seattle bench. Luckily, no innocent bysitters were hurt in that play.

With her eighth point of the game, Charel Allen puts her team up by five, 63-59. The quick bucket by Kim Smith puts them up another two with 2:44 left in the game.

The Fan Cam is back. I love that. Tonight, however, it is very difficult to choose who should win the dance-off. I'm kind of partial to the little girl with the popcorn bucket hat, but the big guy is good, too. Or maybe the woman in black who is using every bit of extra space she can get to bust her moves. I just cannot decide. Glad I don't have to.

8:34 - Kara Lawson grabs her tenth point of the night, then follows it up quickly with a nice block on the defensive end against Yolanda. And then, again, makes another shot, bringing her total to 12. Nice start to the final quarter. Game is tied at 50 with just over seven minutes to play.

8:29 - Coming into the fourth quarter, the Storm's lead is only one point, with a score of 42-43.

Cash has surpassed Griffith in both points and minutes played. Scoring 12 points in nearly 23 minutes on the floor.

Charel Allen sinks two points, bringing her total to four points on the night.

8:25 - Aqua sinks her first bucket! Coming away with a successful two from the baseline.

8:22 - With the made shot and the made free-throw, Kim Smith sinks her first three points of the game, bringing the Monarchs to within four, 38-42.

8:17 - Griffith is not only leading her team in scoring (eight points, tied with both Swin Cash and Kaite Gearlds) but also in minutes played. She has currently seen over 18 minutes of action tonight, followed closely by Cash, with over 17 minutes played.

8:00 - Okay my interesting note from before (7:42 entry) is not so interesting. I know why Penicheiro and Newton have not played. Both are listed as day to day. Penicheiro with a right achilles tendon strain and Newton with a left groin strain. I was so excited to watch them play, I completely overlooked the fact that they were not going to participate tonight due to those injuries. My bad. On with the game.

During the half-time break, I spoke with some of the fans in the stands. The general consensus is that A'Quonesia Franklin is exciting to watch. The fans look forward to having her on the team to help out with the point guard duties as a valid backup to Ticha. The roster is not set yet, though, so we'll have to see how everything pans out.

7:50 - With the first half in the books, Penicheiro and Newton have still not seen playing time for the Monarchs, while Natalie Doma, Roneeka Hodges, Kristen O'Neill and rookie Allie Quigley haven't left the bench on the Storm side.

Brunson has surpassed Griffith and now leads all scorers with nine points, although the Storm have a two-point advantage going into the lockerroom with a half-time score of 26-28.

7:42 - Interesting note - Coach Boucek has yet to send veterans Ticha Penicheiro and Chelsea Newton into the game.

With just over two minutes left in the half, Griffith is still leading all scorers with eight points followed closely by Brunson, who is leading the Monarchs scoring with seven points.

7:39 - It's difficult not to watch Brunson play when...well, whenEVER she is on the court. She just tossed her full 6'2 extended body into the path of a pass on the defensive end and came up with the interception. (Yes, I know that's another sport, but I think she would excel in that sport, as well.) Anyway, credit one incredible steal to Brunson!

7:35 - It's...ummm...interesting to watch the 5'4 Franklin play defense against the 6'3 Griffith. She's holding her own!

7:28 - Two more Monarchs rookies are in for the first time - Charel Allen and Izabela Piekarska. Looks as if Coach Boucek is really rotating the players so she can get a good idea of who will work with the team.

Other players absent from the Monarchs active roster are Nicole Powell and Linda Fröhlich, both finishing up their overseas obligations.

7:20 - Monarchs 2008 first-round draft pick, Laura Harper checks in for the first time, along with Kim Smith.

Okay, Harper is not afraid to play with the big girls - nor should she be, as she has been playing with them for a while on the USA team. She just went up frantically for a rebound against Griffith. The ball came to the ground, so there was no clear winner in that. Still nice to see, however.

One of the neat things about doing this blog is I get to sit near press row, so I am privvy to some real 'behind-the-scenes' action. During that last time out, the stat folks back here were rather frantic as they were not told who took the time out. Hands were thrown about and voices were raised. I still don't know who was credited with the time out, but it was fun to watch on this side of the court.

7:11 - It's on. Both teams look a little disoriented so far. For the Monarchs, it's to be expected as the five on the floor have not had a lot of playing time together. A'Quonesia Franklin is running the floor - she is a ball of energy and quickness. She has been reminding me a little of Temeka Johnson , the L.A. Sparks guard. Both are on the smaller side, but as strong, quick and confident as ever. Also a little of the Indiana Fever's Tan White mixed in, I think.

It is very odd to see the number 13 on Yolanda Griffith's jersey, (aside from the green, of course). Seattle center Janelle Burse has the number 33, to which Yo and the Monarchs fans have grown so accustomed. Regardless, Yo is leading all scorers with 6 and there's 5:36 left in the first quarter. Monarchs are up by 4 with a score of 12 - 8.

7:04 p.m. - Player introductions are here. That Starting lineup for Seattle is just silly. Swoopes, Cash, Griffith...silly. Absent from their side of the court are two more starting former WNBA All-Stars, guard Sue Bird and forward / center Lauren Jackson.

Upon Griffith's introduction by the in-arena announcer, Jamie Coffee, the crowd gave a welcome (and loud) round of applause. Standing while doing so.

6:51 - Noticeably absent from the Monarchs bench, other than Yo, is forward DeMya Walker, who injured her right knee in Russia. Walker is expected to be out for about six months. DeMya underwent successful surgery this morning to repair the right knee patella fracture.

6:44 - Yeah, it might be preseason and it might be several minutes before gametime....but the crowd is already rockin' tonight as the Monarchs take the floor at ARCO Arena for the first time in 2008!

Sacramento will meet Seattle four times during the 2008 regular season. Twice on each team's home court. Here are the four dates:
May 20 - Tuesday - at Seattle - 7:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
July 8 - Tuesday - at Sacramento - 7 p.m.
July 27 - Sunday - at Seattle - 6 p.m.
September 9 - Tuesday - at Sacramento - 7 p.m.

6:35 - Okay...probable starters are:

A'Quonesia Franklin vs. Katie Gearlds
Kara Lawson vs. Kimberly Beck
Adrian Williams-Strong vs. Ashley Robinson
La'Tangela Atkinson vs. Sheryl Swoopes....
...
and it looks like Rebekkah "Jump Out Of The Gym" Brunson will be facing up with Yolanda Griffith.

4 p.m. - Hello Monarchs Fans! It's May 2, 2008 and the time has come. No, not that time...not the time for the MONARCHS HOME OPENER . That will be May 17 at 7 p.m. as the Monarchs look to start their season with a victory against the San Antonio Silver Stars at ARCO Arena.

No, tonight it's time for the Monarchs to tip-off their 2008 preseason at home against the new-look Seattle Storm.

It all begins at 7 p.m. at ARCO Arena . The Storm already have one preseason game behind them, losing a 66-46 contest in Chicago against the Sky on Wednesday. Former Monarchs center, Yolanda Griffith, played her first game in the green and yellow and led her team with nine points. With new head coach Brian Agler and several players wearing the Storm uni for the first time, Seattle is sure to be a team to watch this season, having also acquired many former WNBA All-Stars, MVP's and Olympic Gold recipients. They include Swin Cash (signed Feb. 19), Sheryl Swoopes (signed March 3) and Griffith (signed April 8). Add those to an already strong Storm team that includes veterans Lauren Jackson, Sue Bird and Janelle Burse and you come up with a team that is likely to hit the playoff trail this summer.

The Monarchs began training camp on April 22. Click here to check out some training camp quotes as well as some of the latest Monarchs news!

I'll be back closer to game time with starting lineups for tonight's preseason start!

~ Hollis