Loyd tallies 27 points with Magbegor narrowly missing a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds

SEATTLE – The New York Liberty started fast and just never let the Seattle Storm catch up on Sunday.

The Liberty scored the first seven points of the game, had a double-digit lead midway through the first quarter, and stayed in front all afternoon on the way to an 81-66 victory in Climate Pledge Arena.

Jewell Loyd came alive in the second half for the Storm (4-12), scoring 19 of her 27 points, getting 13 of those during the third quarter.

Ezi Magbegor added 12 points for Seattle, along with a team-high nine rebounds. Kia Nurse chipped in 10.

The Liberty’s Breanna Stewart tallied 20 points against her former team, with 14 of those on 6-of-8 shooting coming during New York’s 26-point first quarter. The Storm clamped down on Stewart the rest of the way, limiting her to just six more points on 2-of-11 accuracy from the floor. She also had eight rebounds, six assists, and five steals for the day.

New York (11-4) kept Seattle off the board for the first 3½ minutes of the game until Nurse knocked down a 3-pointer from the left of the lane. The Liberty answered with another six straight points to make it 13-3, and were up 26-14 after one.

The Storm got it back down to nine at 31-22 midway through the second quarter. New York closed the half on a 13-5 run to make it 44-27 at the break..

The margin grew to as many as 21 at 57-36 halfway through the third quarter. The Storm found a spark during the fourth with a 7-0 run to get back within single digits a 66-57 and 6:31 still on the clock.

But the Liberty responded with a 7-1 burst, rebuilding the lead to 15 at 73-58 and kept control the rest of the way.

“It’s quite difficult,” Magbegor said of the Storm’s knack for falling behind early, but then regularly climbing back into contention. “I think we’ve proved that we can get ourselves back into games. But that’s not what we want to do. We want to compete with teams from the opening jump ball.”

Head coach Noelle Quinn said it’s just part of the process figuring out an identity.

“Our lineups have been different; they haven’t been that consistent,” Quinn said. “We’re just trying to find some physicality, some rebounding, some energy to jump-start us. I wouldn’t classify it as a rut as much as it is trying to figure out how to play, how to win games, and how to be consistent at both ends of the floor.”

The Storm did outscore New York in each of the third and fourth quarters, 21-20, and 18-17.

“The resiliency is there,” Quinn said. “We talk about it at halftime and make some adjustments. We need to start games better.  We just have to continue to find some success on the floor with whoever can bring it. … We’re not a finished product. We have a lot of work to do.”

BY THE NUMBERS 

— Ezi Magbegor’s 12-point outing was her eighth straight double-digit game and 14^th in the last 15 games.

— Rookie Jordan Horston returned to action after missing three straight games with a right shoulder injury. She did not score, but did have three assists and two rebounds in 17 minutes.

–With 10 points, Sami Whitcomb logged her fourth straight double-digit game, the second-longest stretch of her career. It was her 200^th WNBA contest, 144 of which have been with Seattle.

–Turnovers once again were costly for the Storm. They had 20, leading to 19 New York points. They had 19 turnovers in Thursday’s 99-97 overtime loss to Minnesota, which the Lynx converted into 15 points.

— New York hit 10 more field goals than the Storm, 33 of 71 (46.5 percent). Seattle was 23 of 65 (35.4 percent).

— The Liberty’s Courtney Vandersloot, a product of Kentwood High School just southeast of Seattle, had a double-double of 18 points and 12 assists. New York, which averages a league-leading 23.8 assists per game, had 30 on 33 baskets.

UP NEXT 

After 11 home games in the first six weeks of the season, the Storm head out for their first extended road trip, with four games in a span of seven days. The first of those is Thursday, July 6, at Connecticut, tipping off at 4:00 p.m. Pacific time (Fox 13 and streaming on Prime Video).

—— StormBasketball.com ——