By Wyatt Yearout
For the second time this season, the Seattle Storm completed a 14 point comeback over the Chicago Sky, winning 96-85.
Breanna Stewart led the way for the Storm with 30 points and seven rebounds. This game marks the fifth 30 point game for Stewart in her three year career.
Jewell Loyd tallied 19 points, five rebounds and five assists as well. Natasha Howard chipped in 15 points, going 6-for-7 from the field.
The Storm as a team shot 56.5 percent from the field and 47.4 percent from three, connecting on nine shots from behind the arc.
DEFINING MOMENTS
Chicago opened up the third quarter on a 16-2 run, turning a six point Seattle lead into a 10 point lead for the Sky. Chicago remained in a rhythm on the offensive end throughout the quarter, at one point stretching its lead to 14. Seattle closed the quarter with back-to-back three-pointers from Noelle Quinn and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis to trim the deficit to eight entering the fourth quarter.
Seattle opened the fourth period on an 14-2 run to reclaim the lead at 79-75. Chicago fought back, and tied the game back up at 83-83 with 4:07 remaining. Seattle went on a 13-2 run over the last four minutes of the game to complete the comeback, and ultimately win by 11.
HUGHES’ TAKE
Although the starting group did a bulk of the scoring, head coach Dan Hughes noted the bench play as a key factor in the comeback.
“I thought they brought an energy defensively. Quite honestly, we weren’t seeing (the energy) on the court. We were scoring, but we didn’t have that energy defensively, and I thought (the bench) started that, and then they were able to score, so I just went with them for a while.”
NOTES
- Stewart buried a season-high four three-pointers en route to a game-high 30 points
- The Storm improved to 10-5 all-time at home against the Sky and won its second straight at home against Chicago for the first time since 2011-12. Seattle defeated the Sky on 9/11/11 (81-70) and then again on 9/18/12 (75-60).
- In six of the Storm’s seven wins this season, Loyd has shot 50 percent or better. In the team’s three losses, she has shot below 30 percent. Tonight she connected eight of her 11 field goals, good for 72.7 percent.
- Crystal Langhorne missed her seventh game of the 2018 season, equaling the seven games she missed in her previous 10 WNBA seasons. Since 2008, she’s played in the second-most games (336) in the WNBA (Camille Lyttle, 346).
- The Storm’s 56.3 percent (18-for-32) shooting clip in the opening 20 minutes was the second-highest, first-half shooting clip of the season. The team shot 57.1 percent (20-for-35) vs. Las Vegas on 5/31/18.
- The Storm’s entire bench had a positive +/- rating when playing in tonight’s contest. Seattle outscored Chicago by 17 points when Mosqueda-Lewis was in the game.
UP NEXT
Seattle continues its home stand on Friday against the Connecticut Sun at KeyArena. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m./PT.