SEATTLE–With a San Antonio loss earlier in the night, the Storm had the chance to inch closer to the fourth and final playoff spot in the West and looked primed to do that early on.

The Storm shot a blistering 68 percent in the first half and went into the break with a lead but a cool down in the third set the pace for the end of the game as Indiana went on to pick up the 75-63 win on Friday night.

“I thought we played a good game for three quarters but we really laid an egg in the third quarter,” Storm head coach Jenny Boucek said. “And against good teams, which Indiana is a very good team, you just have to have 40 minutes of sustained focus and effort and we had a really bad third quarter.”

The Storm took a six-point lead into the locker room at half but Indiana turned the game around in the third.

Seattle attacked the basket in the first half, resulting in 26 points in the paint, but Indiana clogged the paint and forced the Storm outside and slowed its pace. The Storm shot 3-for-15 in the quarter and watch Indiana attack the hoop to shoot 53 percent from the field and go 9-for-9 from the line.

Indiana took a 67-52 lead after the third.

The Storm, which had outrebounded the Fever 17-9 in the first half, were beat to the glass and Indiana grabbed 12 rebounds to Seattle’s four.

Briann January scored seven of her nine in the third.

“Their last couple of games have been wins on the road and they did it by kind of being relentless,” Storm guard Sue Bird said.” Getting all the loose balls, probably playing harder at times, and they do share the ball really well and they have a lot of people on the floor who can score at every spot. You’re kind of picking your poison at times. What separates them is all those hustle plays they get.”

The Storm will get a full week off before hitting the court again when it takes on San Antonio on Aug. 28.

Seattle and Indiana battled back and forth early into the second quarter but then the Storm began to pull away.

With the Fever leading 29-28, Loyd went on the attack and used a crossover to get into the lane and banked one in off glass to give the Storm a one-point lead. On the next possession, Loyd came off a curl to hit the 18-foot jumper.

Loyd scored eight of her team-high 15 points in the half. She went 7-for-10 from the field and grabbed six rebounds.

“You have to bring it every night,” she said. “You can’t have any excuses or anything like that. We just have to compete and play together.”

After a timeout, it was Sue Bird’s turn and she hit a wide open three to move Seattle ahead 35-29. A pair of free throws from Markeisha Gatling gave the Storm a 37-30 lead. It was the team’s largest lead of the first half.

The defense also stepped up and, already with a seven-point lead, Jenna O’Hea got a block to send the Storm on the run and, on the next time down, the defense responded to force a shot clock violation.

Indiana was held to 40 percent shooting from the field while the Storm shot 68 percent in the half.

NOTES

Abby Bishop missed Friday’s game with a hamstring injury… Seattle outrebounded the Fever 17-9 in the first half but kept Indiana in the game with nine turnovers, which resulted in 10 points… Indiana had three score in double figures and was led by Shenise Johnson with 12… Indiana scored 20 points off 19 Seattle turnovers.