By Wyatt Yearout
The Seattle Storm defeated the Washington Mystics, 98-82 to sweep the WNBA finals and secure its third championship in franchise history.
Regular season MVP Breanna Stewart posted a playoff best 30 points in the win, marking the high scoring output in a finals game in Storm history. Stewart was named the WNBA Finals MVP player with her performance over the three games, averaging 25.6 points and 6.0 rebounds.
Natasha Howard capped her best season as a pro with career best game, tallying 29 points and pulling down 14 rebounds.
Alysha Clark chipped in 14 points and nine rebounds while Sue Bird added a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
DEFINING MOMENTS
Stewart and Howard combined for 32 first half points to help Seattle take a 16 point edge after the first two quarters at 46-30. The Mystics’ 30 first half points from marked the fewest points the Storm has allowed in the first two periods this season.
Washington knocked down a couple big shots in the third period to trim the Seattle lead to just 10 points before the Storm answered with a 10-2 run to extend its lead to lead to 18 points late in the third period.
The Mystics opened up the fourth period on an 11-3 run to trim the deficit to just five points with 6:49 left in the period. Seattle however was able counter the Washington run once again, this time answering with an 8-0 run to put the lead back to 13 points with just over five minutes remaining.
The Storm continued to hit some big shots late in the fourth helping extend its lead to 19 points late in the fourth, putting the game out of reach.
NOTES
- The Seattle Storm secured its third championship in franchise history (2004, 2010, 2018), sweeping the Washington Mystics (3-0).
- Stewart eclipsed the 25-point mark for the 5th time in the postseason, registering a playoff career-high 30 points en route to being named the 2018 WNBA Finals MVP.
- Since 2005, Seattle is the 4th team to sweep its opponent in the WNBA Finals.
- Seattle extended its league-leading record for most consecutive WNBA Finals games won, with 8 (2 in 2004, 3 in 2010, 3 in 2018).
- During halftime of tonight’s game, the league announced that Stewart was a unanimous selection for 2018 All-WNBA First Team.
- The Storm set franchise postseason records for points (98), field goals made (36) and assists (26).