BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Breanna Stewart and Sue Bird got back into action. Jewell Loyd stayed in her groove.
And the Seattle Storm returned to the win column.
Stewart put up a double-double of 19 points and 14 rebounds, Bird added 10 points and six assists, and Loyd bombed away from behind the arc for 29 points on Friday night to help the Storm pull ahead in the second half and beat the New York Liberty in Barclays Center, 99-83.
The victory was the first for the Storm (17-7) in league play since returning from the month-long Olympic break and snapped a two-game losing streak.
Seattle did roll to a 79-57 victory against Connecticut last Thursday in the inaugural Commissioner’s Cup championship. But after that contest, coach Noelle Quinn gave Stewart and Bird, who (along with Loyd) had just returned from the Tokyo Olympics, a two-game rest to start this late-season five-game road trip. The Storm dropped both of those contests, 87-75 in overtime at Chicago last Sunday and 83-79 at New York on Wednesday.
Loyd played in both of those, and came up big with 26 points against the Sky and a career-high tying 35 in the first of the two-game series against the Liberty.
On Friday, Loyd hit 8 of 13 from the field, including 7 of 9 from 3-point range. In fact, her first seven makes were from downtown before sinking a lay-in late in the fourth quarter for her final basket of the night. Along with her 29 points, she logged five rebounds, four assists, one blocked shot, and one steal.
After 11 ties and 12 lead changes, the Storm finished the final 4½ minutes of the third quarter on a 17-4 scoring run. That turned a 59-59 tie into a 76-63 Seattle lead heading into the fourth. Loyd (six points), Stewart (five), Jordin Canada (four) and Ezi Magbegor (two) helped put the Storm in command. That burst included the final eight points of the quarter.
The Liberty (11-13) were still within striking distance at 80-68 with 7:52 left in the game. But in the next 1 minute, 43 seconds, Seattle essentially put it out of reach with seven straight points: a 3-pointer by Stephanie Talbot, a short jumper by Canada, and a lay-in by Canada, making it 87-68 with 6:11 to go.
Stewart wound up with a team-high 33 minutes, adding three assists and two blocked shots to supplement her double-double. In fact, she and Bird accounted for 10 of the Storm’s first 13 points. Bird’s 10 points for the night gave her exactly 6,500 for her career.
Helping Seattle break open the game during the second half was flawless ball handling. After committing 12 first-half turnovers that netted 15 points for the Liberty, the Storm did not have any turnovers through the final 20 minutes. They forced New York into just 10 for the game, but converted those into 21 points.
Seattle had its most accurate free throw shooting night of the season, going a perfect 19 for 19.
The first half had eight ties and eight lead changes as the teams traded multiple scoring runs. New York ran off seven points in a row to wipe out an 11-4 Storm lead. With the Liberty up 32-23 early in the second quarter, Seattle rang up 10 straight to go up 33-32.
New York answered with five in a row for a 38-33 advantage, and was still up five at 40-35 when the Storm put together an 11-4 scoring burst late the quarter to go ahead 46-44. The Liberty took a 47-46 lead into halftime when Sami Whitcomb polished off her 18-point first half on a regular three-point play with 41.6 seconds left.
Whitcomb finished with 26, getting just eight after halftime.
The Storm visit the Washington Mystics on Sunday, tipping off at noon Pacific time (ESPN).