by Seth Dahle
The Seattle Storm will be part of history on Sunday, as the team takes its two-game winning streak to Las Vegas in what will be the Aces’ first-ever regular season game played at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. PT.
HOW TO FOLLOW
For the first time, JOEtv will air the Storm on the road, and the contest can also be watched on WNBA League Pass. Live stats are available at StormBasketball.com, and live updates will be provided on Twitter by following @SeattleStorm.
LAST TIME OUT
Seattle rallied from a 14-point, second half deficit to defeat Chicago on Friday night in overtime by a 95-91 count at KeyArena.
The win marked the Storm’s first overtime win since 2014, as Jewell Loyd and Breanna Stewart led the way offensively with 29 and 28 points, respectively.
Natasha Howard provided a huge lift in the paint, recording her second-career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds to go along with four blocks, all of which came in the fourth quarter and overtime. She had the overtime-sending rejection with just with 4.9 seconds remaining in regulation.
Seattle trailed 80-66 with 5:59 left to play and then outscored Chicago 29-11 the rest of the way. Thirteen of those 29 points came from Stewart, seven of which came in overtime.
STORM SNIPPETS
- Sue Bird reached two significant milestones in Friday’s win against the Sky. She played in her 480th career game to move to No. 4 all-time in games played in the WNBA, passing former Storm teammate Swin Cash. Bird also nabbed a steal with 15.7 seconds left in the second quarter, putting her at 620 for her career to move into sole possession of No. 7 all-time, passing DeLisha Milton Jones.
- For the 17th time in her career and second game in a row, Loyd scored 25+ points against Chicago, finishing with a game-high 29 points on 8-for-21 shooting, including a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line.
- Storm head coach Dan Hughes earned his first-career regular season home win at KeyArena.
SCOUTING LAS VEGAS
Under head coach Bill Laimbeer, the Aces are still seeking their first win of the season, dropping their first two games at Connecticut (101-65) and at Washington (75-70).
After being throttled by the Sun, the Aces went wire-to-wire with the Mystics and actually led for the entire first half, entering the locker room with a 31-23 advantage. Despite eventually falling on the road, Las Vegas had a balanced scoring attack, getting 16 points from top draft pick A’ja Wilson, 14 from Nia Coffey and 13 from Tamera Young.
Young tallies a team-best 18 points per game on 48 percent shooting, while Wilson is off to a strong start in her rookie campaign, posting 15 points, nine boards and 1.5 blocks per outing.
SERIES HISTORY
Before relocating to Las Vegas, the Aces played in San Antonio for Vickie Johnson, who is now an assistant coach for the Aces under Laimbeer.
Against San Antonio, Seattle owned a 35-24 record – 23 of those wins came at KeyArena.
UP NEXT
Seattle returns to the Emerald City to welcome Elena Delle Donne and the Washington Mystics on Tuesday at 7 p.m. PT.