KRISTI TOLIVER

WNBA enters final month of the season with 11 of 12 teams in contention for playoff spots and five franchises within three games of each other atop the standings.

With less than a week remaining before the WNBA begins its Olympic break, teams are jockeying for position in the standings knowing that it will be a sprint to the finish once play resumes in August following the Tokyo Games and a monthlong hiatus.

NEW YORK The Seattle Storm are healthy to begin the season with Breanna Stewart and Sue Bird back in the lineup and sit atop the preseason Associated Press WNBA poll. 1 in the preseason since the AP has been doing the poll. You have to go out there and play the games, said Bird, who missed last season while recovering from knee surgery. Connecticut and Washington, who met for the WNBA title last year, were sixth and seventh in the poll. The first regular season power poll will be released on Tuesday, July 28___Follow Doug on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dougfeinberg