By Wyatt Yearout
After winning its first two matchups with the Aces this season, the Seattle Storm dropped its third meeting against Las Vegas on Tuesday night by a final score of 89-77.
Breanna Stewart led the way for Seattle with 27 points to go along with nine rebounds.
A’ja Wilson, the number one selection in the 2018 WNBA draft, put in 25 points and 16 rebounds for the Aces.
DEFINING MOMENTS
With Seattle struggling to score early, the Aces were able to open up the game on an 17-3 run to gain the early advantage. However, despite the early run by the Aces, Seattle was able to turn it around on offense and close the first quarter strong to cut the lead to just six points at 22-16 after one.
The Storm continued to chip away at the lead in the second period and secured its first lead of the game off of a pair of Stewart free throws to take a 39-38 lead into halftime.
Seattle and Las Vegas traded buckets for a majority of the second half until the Aces went on an 13-2 run beginning around the eight minute mark to extend its lead to 11. The Storm couldn’t put together any sort of run in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, eventually falling by 12.
HUGHES’ TAKE
Despite a couple big individual performances from Aces, head coach Dan Hughes felt that the biggest factor in the game was the rebounding.
“When you get beat 47-30, and you’re a team that’s done a pretty good job rebounding, that’s an issue.”
NOTES
- Stewart eclipsed the 20-point mark for the ninth time this season, finishing with a game-high 27 on 8-for-20 shooting. She also had a team-high nine rebounds and three assists.
- Jewell Loyd has scored in double figures in all but one game this season. She finished with 14 points on 6-for-18 shooting to go along with a team-high seven assists.
- Jordin Canada came off the bench to tally eight points and five assists, her third game with five or more dimes.
- Natasha Howard totaled three blocks. She now has 22 on the season and needs just five more to tie her single-season career high of 27, set during the 2016 campaign in Minnesota.
- With her sixth field goal of the game at the 3:18 mark of the fourth quarter, Loyd booked her 600th-career basket.
- Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis notched her second-career start in the WNBA. Her only other start came on 9/3/16 at Chicago. She had six points and tied a career-high with four rebounds, which she has now achieved four times.
- Crystal Langhorne saw her first action since May 25, when she suffered a right rib injury against the Chicago Sky. She posted four points and two rebounds.
- The Storm played without Alysha Clark (right ankle) and Sue Bird (rest).
UP NEXT
Seattle will conclude its five-game home stand on Friday at KeyArena against the Indiana Fever, with a tip-off set for 7 p.m./ PT.