By Wyatt Yearout
In the Aces’ inaugural regular season home game, the Seattle Storm rattled off a 105-98 win against the newly acquainted team for its third straight win.
Breanna Stewart led the way for the Seattle, narrowly missing a double-double with 23 points and nine rebounds.
Jewell Loyd, who is coming off of back-to-back 29 point outings, had 20 points plus nine assists – just one shy of tying her career-high.
Natasha Howard tied a career-high with 21 points to go along with five rebounds on 7-for-8 shooting. She also had two blocks and made her first three-pointer of the season.
As a team, the Storm shot a 52.2 percent from the field while also knocking down a season-high 12 three-pointers.
DEFINING MOMENTS
The Storm got off to a strong start, knocking down four three-pointers and shooting 67 percent from the field in the opening quarter. A 15-0 run late in the first period gave Seattle a 10 point lead after one at 29-19.
The sharp shooting continued for Seattle along with very strong defensive play throughout the second quarter, as the Storm took a 53-35 lead into halftime.
Late in the fourth quarter, the Aces went on 9-1 run and cut the lead to just four points at 98-94 with just one minute remaining. Seattle got possession with a Sue Bird steal with just under 50 seconds left. Bird then drilled a dagger three-pointer on the other end of the court to extend the lead to seven points with just 33 seconds remaining.
The Aces fouled a number of times down the stretch in an attempt to get back in the game, but Seattle was able to convert on its free throws and eventually win the game by seven.
HUGHES’ TAKE
Head coach Dan Hughes enjoyed how his team opened up the game on the offensive end, knocking down perimeter shots leading to lot of easy baskets inside.
“We had a great flow early in the game, and we were able to get some separation from them in the first quarter, which hasn’t happened a lot,” Hughes said.
Coach was also pleased on how his team reacted to the aggressive second half play from the Aces, citing his bench as a key part in keeping the lead throughout the second half despite the runs from Las Vegas.
“I was real pleased with (Kaleena) Mosqueda-Lewis. I thought that group came in, and we were able to give our starters some quality rest and at the same time kind of deal with them coming at us. I thought the key was Mosqueda-Lewis, I thought she did a great job of getting in a rhythm and we could play to her.”
NOTES
- Seattle dished out a season-high 25 assists, led by Loyd’s nine.
- Seattle crossed the century mark for the first time in 2018, finishing with 105 points on 36-for-69 shooting.
- Bird registered 10 points to go along with four assists. This marked her third game this season in double figures.
- Alysha Clark dished out her 200th career assist at the 9:32 mark of the third quarter.
- Mosqueda-Lewis came off the bench to score a season-high 13 points on 4-for-5 shooting.
UP NEXT
The Storm returns to the Emerald City for its next contest against the Washington Mystics. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m./PT at KeyArena.