Big three of Stewart, Loyd and Bird lead Seattle to 87-70 victory over Indiana

INDIANAPOLIS – The winding road keeps leading straight to the win column for the Seattle Storm.

Breanna Stewart had 20 points and 12 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season, and Jewell Loyd bounced back from a rare single-digit scoring day with 18 points as Seattle used a 13-2 run in the fourth quarter to help secure an 87-70 victory against the Indiana Fever.

With the victory in Indiana Farmers Coliseum, the Storm (11-2) matched the best 13-game start in franchise history. The 2010 and 2020 squads also won 11 of their first 13, and ultimately went on to win the WNBA championship.

The Storm are now 6-0 on the road this year. They have won 10 straight regular-season away contests, just two short of the league record. Counting playoff games, they have 13 road victories in a row, one shy of the record.

Seattle trailed just once at 11-9 midway through the first quarter. From there, the Storm ran off 10 straight points for a 19-11 advantage.

Still, the Fever (1-12) kept themselves in it, trimming a 41-29 Seattle lead to 41-33 by halftime.

The margin was still in single digits at 64-55 with 7:55 left in the game when Storm coach Noelle Quinn called timeout. Her team responded with a 13-2 scoring surge – with the last 11 points in a row – through the next three minutes, stretching it to a 20-point bulge at 77-57 with 4:56 to go.

Loyd got 10 of her 18 points during the first quarter, hitting 4 of 6 from the field. She set the tone right away, burying a 3-pointer for the left of the lane just 12 seconds into the game. In fact, the Storm’s first nine points of the game came from downtown: Loyd, then Stewart, then Loyd again.

Seattle continued its recent run of solid defensive play, keeping its opponent below 75 points for the seventh time in the last eight games.

Sue Bird chipped in 17 points for the Storm, with eight of those during the fourth quarter. It was back-to-back 3-pointers by Bird – first from beyond the top of the key, then from the left of the lane – that polished off the 13-2 fourth-quarter run and produced the 20-pont lead. For the game, she hit 6 of 7 from the floor, with 3 of 4 from downtown.

The Storm put together another pile of assists, with 27 on their 34 baskets. Stewart led the way with five, the third time in the four games of this road trip she has had that many.

Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana with 26 points, well above her 15.1 average. But it wasn’t enough to keep the Fever from dropping their eighth straight game.

Seattle and the Fever tangle again on Thursday, tipping off at 4:00 p.m. (Joe TV).