By Wyatt Yearout

The Storm dropped its second straight game for the first time all season, falling to the Mercury, 86-84. The loss sends the series to Game 5, which will be played on Tuesday, Sept. 4 at 7 p.m. PT on ESPN2.

Breanna Stewart tallied 22 points and eight rebounds to lead the way for the Storm.

Jewell Loyd was just shy of a triple-double with 11 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

DEFINING MOMENTS

After Phoenix opened up the game scoring four straight, Seattle countered outscoring the Mercury 25-6 over the span of seven minutes to secure a 31-16 lead after the first period.

The Mercury offense came alive early in the second and trimmed the Storm lead to eight points early in the quarter at 39-31. Despite Sue Bird having to exit the game due to injury, the Seattle offense came back alive and managed to extend the lead back to 11 after two quarters at 53-42.

The Storm rattled off a 7-2 run to open the third quarter to extend the lead back to 16 points early in the period. Phoenix, however, regrouped after the Seattle run, and managed to trim the lead back to just five points at the end of the third period at 71-66.

The Mercury found a rhythm on the offensive end in the fourth and took a six-point advantage of its own at 82-76 with 4:36 remaining. The Storm did not panic, and managed to chip away at the deficit and tie the game back at 84-84 with 37 seconds remaining after a driving layup by Howard.

The Storm stopped Phoenix in the next trip down, but Camille Little snagged the offensive rebound and got the ball to Brittney Griner who converted on the layup to put the Mercury up two with 14 seconds left. The Storm failed to get off a shot in the final possession, sealing the game for the Mercury.

NOTES 

• Seattle is now 5-2 in series that are at least five games (3-0 in 2010, 2-1 in 2018).

• The Storm opened the game shooting 13-for-18 (72.2%) from the floor, including 4-for-4 from deep, notching a 31-16 lead. Seattle’s 31 points set a new franchise playoffs record for points in a single quarter (previously 30, 3 times). The 72.2 FG% was also a franchise playoff high (previous 69.2%, @ Minnesota, 9/20/13).
• Howard has scored in double figures in all 4 of Seattle’s 2018 postseason games. She finished with 14 points tonight on 6-for-11 shooting and connected on a playoff career-high two three-pointers, going a perfect 2-for-2 from distance.
• Alysha Clark poured in a playoff career-high 13 points on 5-for-8 shooting. She hit a playoff career-high three treys as well.
• Bird sustained a broken nose and was ruled out for the remainder of the game with 4:23 left to play in the second quarter. She posted seven points, including 2-for-2 from deep, and dished out two assists in 10 minutes.

UP NEXT

The Storm returns to action in Game 5 of the WNBA Semifinals on Tuesday, Sept. 4 at KeyArena. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. PT.