Seattle Times reporter Jayda Evans has a weekly conversation with a newsmaker in the WNBA. This week, she speaks with Allie Quigley, a fourth-year WNBA player who signed a seven-day contract with the Storm.

Q: You've been a journeyman kind of player. Is it any more difficult to make ends meet, since WNBA pay is comparatively low anyway?

Quigley: Honestly, this is my first summer that I haven't been doing anything, because I have been on teams (in the past). I kind of planned to just relax. I was working some camps at DePaul, but nothing 9 to 5. I've enjoyed doing whatever I wanted.

Q: How is the mentality different when you're hopping around to different teams?

Quigley: You can't really think about it. You get to play with all of these different kind of players, different leaders, different talents, different coaching styles. You get to see and learn from so many different personalities. That was kind of cool.

Q: Who was the most fun to play with?

Quigley: It was pretty special to play with Diana (Taurasi) and Cappie (Pondexter, both with Phoenix in 2009). Obviously, they're two of the best guards in the world. That was fun, personality-wise and talent-wise. They're hilarious. And Phoenix was easiest to jump into because it was a running system, it's stress free. Just run and shoot, run and shoot.

Q: That's you, too, a shooter.

Quigley: Yeah, so it was easy to do.

Q: What about playing overseas?

Quigley: I was in Turkey my first year, then Hungary the last two years. The league isn't very strong. There are, like, two or three top teams and they are in EuroLeague. So we got to play better competition one time a week. But the rest of the league is not very good. The country is cool. It's pretty Americanized. I lived a couple of hours from Budapest, which is nice. I've gotten comfortable with it. You're always playing against somebody you know.

Q: Seattle wanted backcourt depth to give some players a break, especially in practice. What did you like about playing here?

Quigley: The weather. It's so hot right now in Chicago and I was just in North Carolina, where it was even worse with the humidity. It surprised me a little bit getting off the plane. I knew it was going to be cooler, but I didn't know it was going to be this cool. Otherwise, I was here for three weeks a couple of years ago, and I always liked the city. Downtown is really cool. I have an aunt a couple hours away in Eastern Washington, and I like Pagliacci.

Q: If the seven-day contract doesn't work, will you continue trying until you can't?

Quigley: Basically. (Playing) overseas is more of a guarantee. When it comes to the WNBA, I'm always willing and ready. I mean, I was hopeful at the beginning of the summer that something would pop up. When it didn't, I was working out, swimming, going on vacations and enjoying family. But this is a nice surprise.

Jayda Evans: 206-464-2067 or jevans@seattletimes.com