SEATTLE–Despite playing shorthanded again, the Storm was able to battle back against Minnesota and used a strong run in the third to pull away behind four players in double figures to take the 78-64 win on Friday night.

“We had a game plan to protect the paint collectively, especially once we found out Maya [Moore] was out,” Storm head coach Jenny Boucek said. “They’ve got really good post players and Sylvia Fowles is an Olympian and we had a sense they would pound it in to her so we knew it was going to be a group effort and I thought we did a good job collectively of protecting the paint.”

Already with a six-point lead at the half, the Storm started the third quarter on an 8-2 run, including a layup and free throw from Jewell Loyd, to take a 47-35 lead. Minnesota was able to close the gap to four but Seattle pushed back.

Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis hit a runner and Jenna O’Hea drilled a three to push the lead back to nine.

Mosqueda-Lewis finished with a career-high 16 points on 6-for-16 from the field and a career-best four rebounds and four assists.

“I think that it’s developed a lot,” she said about her ability to drive to the basket. “It has a lot to do with being able to use my shot to bait the defender in. I think once I figured I can use that against them, it made it a lot easier to get to the basket.”

Markeisha Gatling also come up big in the second half and finished with her first double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

“I think our post players have taken it upon themselves to make sure they have a presence in there,” Mosqueda-Lewis said. “Also we know that if they’re going to have strong post presence from the other team, we’re going to have to help guard as much as we can to make sure that they’re not that big of a factor.”

Angel Goodrich, who started in place of Sue Bird, chipped in a season-high 11 points with five assists and helped guide the team a mere nine turnovers.

“She ran our team well and I think that is indicative of us only having nine turnovers,” Boucek said. “Nine turnovers without the best point guard in the world says a lot about how we’re growing in our efficiency offensively.”

Gatling said, “I think tonight was a night for everyone to show what we bring to the team. It’s not just one person, it’s a full team effort. I think that was our statement for night.”

Minnesota forward Sylvia Fowles led the Lynx with 21 points and 12 rebounds.

The Storm will conclude the 2015 season when it plays host to the San Antonio Stars on Sunday night. It will be the fifth meeting between the teams and the Storm split the first four meetings.

Seattle found itself trailing 23-17 after a jumper from Anna Cruz in the second quarter but then battled back.

O’Hea drove to the baseline and found Quantira Hollingsworth cutting to the basket for the easy two points to cut the deficit to four. It jumpstarted a 9-0 run and gave the Storm a 26-23 lead.

After Renee Montgomery drilled a three to tie it up, Seattle kept the pressure on and got buckets from Mosqueda-Lewis and Goodrich to take a five-point lead.

Loyd led the way in the first half with nine points and finished with 14 points on 5-for-8 shooting in 19 minutes.

NOTES

Sue Bird missed the game due to rest… Minnesota’s MVP candidate Maya Moore missed the game, snapping a streak of 169 straight games played… Former Storm guard Renee Montgomery scored 13 points.