By Wyatt Yearout
In its regular-season finale, the Seattle Storm defeated the Dallas Wings by a final margin of 84-68.
Seattle finished the season as the No. 1 seed with a record of 26-8, marking the second best record in franchise history. The last time the Storm entered the postseason as the top seed was in 2010, the same year Seattle last won the WNBA championship.
Breanna Stewart posted 15 points and four assists for the Storm in the victory. With her scoring output on the evening, Stewart beat Lauren Jackson’s Storm record for points in season, finishing the regular season with 742 points (previous record was 739).
Crystal Langhorne tallied a season-high 15 points for the Storm as well, knocking down a season-high seven field goals.
DEFINING MOMENTS
Seattle knocked down six of its first seven three-point attempts to take a seven-point edge after one at 26-19. The Storm remained in a groove on the offensive end in the second and rattled off a 18-5 run to extend its lead to 18 points midway through the quarter, although Dallas managed to trim the lead to 12 by halftime, at 57-45.
After a back and forth third period, Seattle closed out the quarter with a 14-2 run led by back-to-back Sami Whitcomb three-pointers to take a 77-54 lead into the fourth. Dallas was unable to put any significant dent in the lead in the final period, leading to the 26th Storm victory.
HUGHES’ TAKE
Head coach Dan Hughes was pleased in what his team achieved on night where its seed wouldn’t be affected regardless of the result.
“We got something out of it as a team. My mindset was that we needed to create opportunities to not only look for the win, but look for opportunities for every player to get something out of it.”
NOTES
- In a career-high 28 minutes, Sami Whitcomb scored nine points to go along with a career-high four steals.
- Rookie center Mercedes Russell posted career- and season-highs in points (eight) and rebounds (nine). She also tied a career-high in minutes with 19.
- Guard Sue Bird finished the season with 221 assists on the season, equaling her own franchise record for assists in a season (2003, 221).
- Bird completed the regular season with career bests in field goal percentage (46.6), three-point field goal percentage (44.8) and assists (7.1 per game). Her turnovers per game number was the second lowest of her career. Her long-range shooting percentage is second on the Storm’s single-season record list (Lauren Jackson, 2 percent in 2004).
- With 15 points today, Breanna Stewart, set the franchise’s single-season scoring record with 742, previously held by Lauren Jackson (739 points, 2007).
- Breanna Stewart finished the season averaging 21.8 points per game, second in the WNBA. Her 742 points were the most points scored in the league this season.
- Natasha Howard finished the season with 67 blocks on the season, second most in the WNBA. It is also 2nd only to Lauren Jackson’s 81 blocks in 2002.
- Jordin Canada started in her second-career game, recording four points and a team-high five assists.
UP NEXT
Seattle’s next contest will be Game 1 of the WNBA Semifinals. The game is scheduled for Aug. 26, with tip-off time still to be determined.