SEATTLE—It was the first time the Storm got to see its revamped roster in action and it paid immediate dividends in the preseason opener as it used a strong first half against the Phoenix starters to beat the defending champions 73-59 on Tuesday afternoon.

“I was really pleased, especially in the first half, with how they were sharing the ball and creating for each other,” Storm head coach Jenny Boucek said. “That’s what we want. We want to be able to create for each other and we did a pretty good job of that in the first half.”

The Storm had lost all five matchups with Phoenix last season but they made a point to push the ball in the first quarter and the team’s movement created opportunities on offense.

Sue Bird got Seattle going as she took the defensive rebound and quickly found the No. 1 overall pick Jewell Loyd streaking down the right sideline for the easy layup. It was one of Bird’s five first quarter assists.

The Storm also received some good energy from Renee Montgomery and she was the catalyst by scoring eight points and dishing out an assist in an 11-4 run that gave it a 15-8 lead. Seattle had 12 points in the paint and held a 19-16 lead after the first break.

The seven-year veteran, Montgomery, paced the Storm in the first half with a game-high 12 points.

Bird was right in the middle of another push in the second quarter where she scored five points and handed out another assist to give the Storm their largest lead of the game at nine (30-21).

She filled the stat sheet and finished with seven points, seven assists, and four assists.

The Storm began to pull away in the second and outscored Phoenix 26-15 and took a commanding 14-point halftime lead. Seattle shot 52 percent in the half and had 14 assists on the team’s 18 made baskets.

“Everyone here is unselfish,” Loyd said. “When you have an unselfish team like that, it makes it easy to have opportunities for everyone else.”

The defense also limited Phoenix’s chances and held it to 37.5 percent from the field.

Phoenix center Brittney Griner collected a double-double as she tallied a game-high 16 points and 11 rebounds in 22 minutes of action. The rest of the team shot 15-for-51 (29 percent) on the afternoon.

After having some early jitters, Loyd settled down and scored 10 of her team-high 15 points in the second half on 7-for-12 from the field in 24 minutes.

“We were all pretty excited. It’s the first time. It’s a new team,” Loyd said. “For me, I took my first couple of shots and was a little excited. I had to get advice from my teammates and then after that, we used each other’s energy and came together as a team.”

The Storm will wrap up the preseason with another matchup with Phoenix, this time at U.S. Airways Center on Thursday at 12:30 p.m.

NOTES:

Tuesday’s starters were Sue Bird, Jewell Loyd, Crystal Langhorne, Abby Bishop, and Jenna O’Hea… both first rounders Jewell Loyd and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis scored their first baskets off assists from Sue Bird… nine players had scored for the Storm by the break… all 14 players on the Storm roster entered the game and 11 of them played at least 10 minutes… former Storm Noelle Quinn returned to Seattle after signing with Phoenix on Feb. 5. She played last two seasons in Pacific Northwest.