BRADENTON, Fla. — Led again by its strong defense and a dominant Breanna Stewart, the Seattle Storm (9-1) led from start to finish in a 83-65 win over the Dallas Wings (3-7).

Stewart bounced back from a seven-point outing against the Atlanta Dream with a 21-point, six rebound performance Friday night, with Alysha Clark (15 points) and Jewell Loyd (12 points) close behind in the scoring column.

“Tonight [Stewart] got some open looks and knocked them down, you never worry about her,” head coach Gary Kloppenburg said. “She’s such a great competitor that you know she’s always going to be a force out there and an impactful player.”

Holding the Wings to a 32.4% shooting percentage and forcing 12 turnovers, the Storm once again dominated on the defensive side of the ball.

Led by a hot shooting start by Loyd, the Storm rocketed out to a double-digit 27-16 lead in the first quarter. Loyd scored eight points in the opening frame, and Stewart wasn’t far behind with six points.

In the second quarter, Stewart took off, going for 11 points in the frame to lead Seattle with 17 points at halftime. As a team the Storm shot 42.5% and were holding the Wings to a 30.6% shooting percentage, en route to a dominant 44-31 lead at the break.

The strong play by the Storm continued in the second half, holding the Wings to just 12 third-quarter points and a season-low 65 total team points. Seattle finished with three double-figure scorers in Stewart, Clark, and Loyd.

Clark also finished with seven rebounds, just one behind team leader Natasha Howard’s eight rebounds.

“Any time you get a win in this league, obviously, you’re happy,” Kloppenburg said. “We want to keep getting better in some of the things we’re doing too.”

TOP STAT TO KNOW

#SayHerName: It has been 154 days since Breonna Taylor was shot and killed in her own apartment. The officers responsible for her death have not been arrested.

SEATTLE NOTES

• After scoring just seven points in her last outing against the Atlanta Dream, Breanna Stewart scored 17 points by halftime alone. The forward finished with 21 points by game’s end. Stewart is averaging 18.9 points per game this season and has scored at least 15 points in every game this season but one.
• With their win streak now at seven, the Storm have tied their second-best win streak in franchise history, having only achieved a seven-game win streak previously during the 2008 and 2010 seasons. The franchise record for longest win streak is 13 games, set during the 2010 championship-winning season.
• Alysha Clark’s double-digit scoring streak is now up to seven games, with the forward scoring 15 points in the win Friday. Clark is averaging a career-high 10.6 points per game through 10 games this season.
• Holding Dallas to a 32.4% shooting percentage, the Storm continue to lead the WNBA by a wide margin in opponent field goal percentage, with opponents averaging a 38.6% field goal percentage.

UP NEXT

The Storm will take the floor next against the Connecticut Sun on Sunday, Aug. 16 at Noon PT on ABC, followed by a matchup with the New York Liberty on Tuesday, Aug. 18 at 7 p.m. PT.