SEATTLE — After a somewhat successful 7-2 homestand — the longest in WNBA history — the Storm travel to Los Angeles for Tuesday's 12:30 p.m. game against the struggling Sparks looking to head into the four-week Paris Olympics break on a high note.

It's the first road game for the Storm since a double-digit loss at Las Vegas on June 19.

The matinee matchup also marks first-year Storm forward Nneka Ogwumike's initial return to L.A. where she starred the previous 12 years, garnered eight WNBA All-Star Game invitations, won a 2016 WNBA title and captured the league's MVP award the same season.

In the run-up to her first meeting against her former team, Ogwumike downplayed the significance of the reunion before the Storm's May 4 preseason-opening 84-79 loss in the WNBA Canada Game.

And after dropping a season-high 26 points on 11-for-15 shooting while collecting eight rebounds and blocking two shots to lead the Storm to a 95-79 win against the Sparks on June 11, Ogwumike once again attempted to sidestep the spotlight.

"That's just kind of who I am," she said. "I'm really good at staying focused."

Ogwumike, the No. 1 overall WNBA draft pick in 2012 who led the Stanford Cardinal to four consecutive NCAA Final Four appearances, has also proven she's really good at basketball no matter what team she's playing for.

Admittedly, she had doubts about whether she'd be able to continue playing at an elite level on a new team that includes veteran stars Jewell Loyd and Skylar Diggins-Smith as well as up-and-coming standouts Ezi Magbegor and Jordan Horston.

"I don't think you really know," Ogwumike said after receiving her ninth invite to the WNBA All-Star Game. "I wanted to come here and make sure that I was contributing to this organization and this team and the rest kind of follows.

"I have one goal in mind and I think we all share a similar goal. And along the way you get individual accolades. It's not that I knew or that I expected, but I am very grateful."

Remarkably, Ogwumike, who turned 34 on July 2, has been as steady as a metronome for more than a decade.

This season, the 6-foot-2 forward is averaging 17.1 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.7 steals and 0.7 blocks, which are better than her career averages.

On Friday, Ogwumike tied her season high with 26 points and 48 hours later she notched her sixth double-double performance with 10 points and 12 rebounds during the Storm's 81-70 win against the Atlanta Dream on Sunday.

"Nneka is doing Nneka," Diggins-Smith said. "She's one of the best in the world and one of the best to play in our league. She's the definition of a Steady Betty. She's the most dominant player that I've played with. I'm just lucky that I get to lace them up every night with her.

"I always leave the game thinking, 'How do I get Nneka more shots because nobody in this league can stop her?'"

Ogwumike is shooting 52.3%, which is tied for eighth in the league among players who average at least five shots per game.

"She's known for being efficient, but that's the thing because we've been encouraging her to shoot even more and do things she maybe hasn't done before," Loyd said. "We want her pushing the ball. She's so cerebral that you want Nneka making decisions with the ball in her hands.

"It's only been 20 or so games, but we're all still getting used to each other. ... We're way more connected than we were in (the preseason opener) and that's only going to build the longer we're together."

Ogwumike says she's found a home in Seattle and speaks in reverence of the Storm's culture and commitment to fielding a championship contender, which is evidenced by the team's new $64 million practice facility.

Still, it's unclear if Ogwumike, a Houston native, will return next year after signing a one-year deal worth $204,500 in February.

There's leaguewide speculation the WNBA expansion Golden State Valkyries, which begin play next season, will target the former Stanford star in free agency and attempt to lure her back to the Bay Area.

But that's a concern for another day.

For now, the Storm (16-8) are trying to keep pace with the WNBA's title-contending teams with a second straight win against the Sparks (6-17), which have lost eight of their past 10 games.

New York (20-4) and Connecticut (18-5), which meet Tuesday, are separated by 1 1/2 games at the top of the standings.

The Storm are jockeying with Las Vegas (16-7) and Minnesota (16-8) for an all-important top-four finish in the eight-team playoffs, which guarantees home-court advantage in the best-of-three first-round series.

The Storm play 10 of their final 16 games on the road, starting Tuesday in Los Angeles.

"Now we've got to become road warriors," coach Noelle Quinn said, noting the Storm's impressive 11-3 record at Climate Pledge Arena.

Still, it remains to be seen if the Storm, who are 5-5 on the road, will lament an 88-84 upset home loss to the Chicago Sky on June 5 at the end of a hotly contested postseason race.

"I think we did a great job," Magbegor said when asked about the Storm's nine-game homestand. "I think 7-2 is a great record. ... It's great for the fans to see us win and keep us in games a lot of the times. It sets us up well going into the (Olympic) break.

"I'm really proud of how we played at home."

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