CHICAGO – Natasha Howard scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds, but the Seattle Storm couldn’t contain the clutch Courtney Vandersloot in the final minute, falling 83-79 to the Chicago Sky.

Playing on the road for the second straight night, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis showed no signs of weariness, scoring or assisting on 12 of the Storm’s first 14 points. Illinois native Jewell Loyd then added eight straight points of her own in under 60 seconds to put the Storm ahead with under three minutes left in the first quarter. Meanwhile, Chicago’s Allie Quigley wreaked havoc early on from beyond the arc, netting 13 points while making three-of-for attempts from deep in the first 10 minutes.

Trailing by as many as 10 points in the second quarter, Seattle went on a 12-2 run to tie the game with under a minute left in the half. Diamond DeShields hit a pull-up jumper to give Chicago the edge going into the locker room. The Sky shot over 50 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, with DeShieldsand Quigley combining for 29 of the team’s 48 points on 12-of-17 shooting.

Chicago once again forged a 10-point lead in the third quarter, but Natasha Howard scored seven points and Jordin Canada collected three steals to bring the Storm within three points of the Sky entering the final frame.

Coming off a one-day layoff, Sami Whitcomb drained a corner three to tie the game, forcing Chicago to call a timeout with 5:47 left in the game. Though Quigley scored or assisted to counter each Storm blow, it was the clutch Vandersloot who hit the go-ahead pull-up jumper with under a minute to play.Vandersloot then drove in a layup to extend Chicago’s lead to four points. The 2018 assists leader finished the night with a near triple-double of 10 points, 11 dimes and eight rebounds.

KEY STATS

– After Sami Whitcomb tied the game with a three-pointer with 5:49 left to play, Allie Quigley scored or assisted on the Sky’s next four baskets to keep Chicago in the game.

– Jordin Canada collected a career-high seven steals, including five in the second half.

• – The Storm was playing on zero rest, coming off a 16-point win in Atlanta on Friday. With the loss, the team falls to 26-34 all-time on the second game of a back-to-back stretch.

– Natasha Howard finished the night with 21 points shooting nine-of-16 from the field. She fell just short of her third double-double of the season with nine rebounds.

STORM PLAYS

– Finishing the night with 17 points, five rebounds and three assists, Jewell Loyd made a baseline shovel pass to an on-coming Crystal Langhorne who netted her first points of the game to give the Storm the lead with 1:40 remaining (79-77).

– Jewell Loyd scored eight straight points for the Storm in less than a 60-second span to put Seattle ahead, 22-21, with under three minutes to play in the first quarter.

– Anriel Howard scored the Storm’s first points of the second quarter at the 7:36 mark to snap an 0-for-six shooting spell for the Storm.

SKY PLAYS 

– Courtney Vandersloot, who set a league single-season assists record in 2018, dished out her 10th dime with 2:58 left in the third quarter. It was the 34th time in her nine-year WNBA career that she has recorded at least 10 assists, good for third in league history. She trails only Tina Penicheiro (64) and Sue Bird (44).

– Allie Quigley finished with a game-high 25 points, with 13 coming in the first quarter alone.

– Diamond DeShields put together a perfect second quarter, going four-for-four from the field for nine points.

– The Sky finished the night shooting 51.4 percent from the field, up from 40.0 percent in its season-opening loss to Minnesota. Since the start of last season, Chicago is 6-1 when shooting over 50 percent.

UP NEXT

The Storm returns to Everett, Wash. on Tuesday to host the Minnesota Lynx at Angel of the Winds Arena before returning to Chicago on Sunday, June 9.