Bradenton, Fla. — The Seattle Storm (2-1) fell to the Washington Mystics (3-0) and their successful three-point shooting on Thursday afternoon. Ariel Atkins scored 22 points, including five three-pointers, to lead the Mystics 89-71 over Seattle.
“They have some outstanding shooters and I felt like we just gave them too much room,” head coach Gary Kloppenburg said. “When a team gets momentum like that and hits some shots they get a lot of confidence, and I thought they were playing with a lot of energy on the defensive end.”
Breanna Stewart secured her second consecutive double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Sami Whitcomb came in off the bench for 11 points, shooting 57% from the field. Half of Seattle’s points came off the bench, with 35 of 71 points coming from bench players.
In the first half, the Mystics drained ten threes on 16 shots, shooting 62.5% from beyond the arc. Seattle made only three of 15 three-point attempts in the first half. Atkins dropped 13, shooting 66.7% through the first two quarters of the game.
At halftime, the Mystics were up 50-32. The 18-point deficit stretched even wider in the second half as the Storm weren’t able to make shots land quite often enough to close the gap.
In the fourth quarter, the Storm started to pick things up, starting off the frame 10-1. They trailed earlier in the game by as much as 25 points and closed the gap up to 12 points. It wasn’t enough to secure a win, however, as the deficit was just too much to overcome and Washington closed it out.
“We played them even in the second half, numbers-wise,” Kloppenburg said. “We just got in such a big hole in the first half that it’s difficult to climb out of against good teams like this. ”
KEY STATS
- #SayHerName: It has been 137 days since Breonna Taylor was shot and killed in her own apartment. The officers responsible for her death have not been arrested
- For the third time this season, Breanna Stewart led the Storm on the scoreboard with 15 points and 10 rebounds. It marked her 32nd career double-double.
- Mercedes Russell snagged 9 rebounds, just shy of her career high (11, against Washington on June 14, 2019). Russell finished with 7 points off the bench.
- Playing in her 100th WNBA game, Sami Whitcomb came off the bench for 11 points – her 15th career outing reaching double-figures.
- Two other Storm players celebrated notable career milestones: Jordin Canada swiped her 100th career steal, while Epiphanny Prince pulled down her 600th career rebound.
- Seattle moves on to face the Los Angeles Sparks on Saturday, Aug. 1 at 8 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network and locally on JOEtv.