Monday WNBA links: Sancho Lyttle to miss 6-8 weeks, Phoenix Mercury struggling without Brittney Griner, Ashley Robinson makes her Seattle Storm debut

If it seems that every time we wrap up the weekend, injuries are at the forefront... it might be because they are.

This time, it's Atlanta who got hit hard.

• The Atlanta Dream have announced via a press release that forward Sancho Lyttle will miss 6-8 weeks after successful surgery on a fractured left foot suffered on July 9 against the Minnesota Lynx. According to the release, "Lyttle was injured during her first game back with the Dream after missing six games while leading Spain to the gold medal at EuroBasket Women 2013, earning the tournament MVP award."

• Jayda Evans of the Seattle Times reports that the Seattle Storm were expected to make changes after a disappointing stretch of games and they made a few for last night's game against the Atlanta Dream, who were without Sancho Lyttle: in addition to signing Ashley Robinson and releasing Cierra Bravard, Storm coach Brian Agler moved second-year player Shekinna Stricklen into the starting lineup for Noelle Quinn. Robinson, a member of the Storm's 2010 championship team, moved ahead of rookie Tianna Hawkins in the rotation with Agler saying she has to earn her time in practice. Read more >>>

• Odeen Domingo of the Arizona Republic reports that the Phoenix Mercury's defense near the basket was exposed without star rookie Brittney Griner for the second consecutive game. With the interior defense struggling, the Los Angeles Sparks shot 50.7% from the field and had four players in double figures. Read more >>>

• Marc Allard of the Norwich Bulletin reported that the Connecticut Sun saw Sunday's home game against the San Antonio Silver Stars as "gut-check time" as the team has already matched their loss total from all of last season. Of course they won, but there are still a number of questions they need to answer before creeping back into the playoff race. Read more >>>

• Van Williams of the Alaska Dispatch checks in on Alaska native Kelsey Griffin of the Connecticut Sun and her career year thus far. Griffin says in the article, ""I’ve found myself again in basketball."
  Read more >>>

• Aneela Khan of the Silver Stars Fans & News blog writes that although the San Antonio Silver Stars lost, they "...out rebounded the Sun 36-35. In a season in which they are dead last in the league, it’s a good sign to see it." Read more >>>

• Jake Sundstrom of Silver Star Stream blog noted that the Silver Stars shot 7-for-20 in their previous game against the Washington Mystics, writing, "You know what I see when I see 7-20 from 3-point range? I see 13 higher-percentage shots that could have been taking...Relying on that shot will kill you. It has before this season, and it will again." The Stars went 8-for-19 against the Sun. Read more >>>

• Kelly Hines of the Tulsa World reported that rookie Skylar Diggins rolled her right ankle in Saturday's loss against the Minnesota Lynx but "it doesn't look too bad", according to Tulsa Shock coach Gary Kloppenburg. The Shock were already without forward Glory Johnson who sat out Saturday's game due to a neck injury. Read more >>>

• David Moulton of the Naples News runs down FGCU coach Karl Smesko's recommendations for improving women's basketball that were previously published at Swish Appeal, summing them up by writing: "Smesko concludes that the next generation of sports fans want more action, less dead time and shorter games. He believes the sports that adopt the best will be the ones that grow the most. His reasoning is certainly backed up by the significant national ratings increase in hockey and decline in baseball." Moulton notes that Smesko will have a second installment for Swish Appeal coming soon. Read more >>>
• Hines also gave a rundown of the number of sports power couples with ties to Oklahoma, highlighting Kevin Durant and Monica Wright of course. Among them are Midwest City native Shelden Williams and WNBA star Candace Parker. Read more >>>

As usual, feel free to drop any other links of interest in the comments or create a fan post or fan shot if you have something longer to say or a video/photo to share.