Los Angeles- With a familiar face on the opposing sideline, the Seattle Storm managed a familiar result, defeating former Storm head coach Brian Agler and the Los Angeles Sparks for the fourth time this season, 85-77.

The Storm got into foul trouble almost immediately with Jewell Loyd, Alysha Clark, and Angel Goodrich each picking up multiple fouls early. Seattle’s bench came into the game averaging 27.8 points a game, second best in the league, and head coach Jenny Boucek looked to them early for support.

“We’ve stayed laser-focused on just trying to get better everyday. That’s just where we’re at everyday.” Boucek said. “That’s going to be the same tomorrow – every player individually and for us as a team. We’re just trying to learn and get better and we’re really studying ourselves and to grow. They’re maturing and they’re learning. They’re getting experience and that’s all we can ask for.”

One of the beneficiaries of that experience was rookie forward Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis. Playing in her home state of California, Mosqueda-Lewis had the hot hand Tuesday and her 12 second quarter points helped keep the Storm within striking distance for most of the first half. She finished with a career high 15.

Loyd sat for most of the first half with two fouls, but shone throughout the third quarter with 13 points and three rebounds in that period alone.

Trailing by 16 at one point, the Storm managed to claw back to take the lead late in the fourth quarter thanks to the strong offensive performances of its two heralded first round draft picks.

Not to be outdone by their rookie counterparts, veterans Crystal Langhorne and Sue Bird continued to be the cornerstones of the Storm game plan.

“We just kept fighting until the end.” Langhorne said. “[The Sparks] are a great team. We made our runs and made stops when we needed to. ”

Coming off a season-high 29 points on Saturday, Langhorne followed up with an 18-point performance, her eighth consecutive contest scoring in double digits.

Bird struggled with turnovers early but quietly added 15 points of her own in the win.

“We have a game plan each game and we always stick to it.” Bird said. “Even if [the Sparks] were picking us apart in the first half, we stuck to our game plan and never stopped playing. It wasn’t one thing particularly that changed the game. We just never stopped playing.”

Clark returned after not being with the team for the previous game in San Antonio. Clark had five points and one steal in 12 minutes played.

Playing in just her seventh game this season, Candace Parker continued to be the eponymous spark for Los Angeles, adding to her MVP-caliber numbers by tallying 12 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists. The two-time MVP was just one assist shy of her first career triple-double.

Front court members Parker, Nneka Ogwumike, and Jantel Lavender each reached double-digit scoring in the first half for a Sparks team that lead by 13 after two quarters, 48-35.

Lavender finished with 22 points, nearly triple her season average, and lead the Sparks in scoring.
The Storm concludes their six-game road-trip Wednesday, in Phoenix, as they take on the defending champion Mercury at 7 pm. The Storm finally returns home for a matchup with the Chicago Sky on Friday Aug. 14 at KeyArena.