Seattle Storms Back, Crushes Connecticut

By Bob Phillips

Chiney Ogumike led the Sun with 21 points and
grabbed 12 boards, but didn't have much help as
the league-leading Seattle Storm rallied late for a
come-from-behind victory on Friday night. (Photo
by Bob Phillips)

UNCASVILLE—Jewel Loyd scored 31 points—20 in the second half—to lead the Seattle Storm to a 78-65 victory before 7,908 fans at the Mohegan Sun Arena on Friday night. It was the fourth time in her career that Loyd has scored 30 or more points in a game. Despite not scoring until 3:32 remained until halftime—a three-pointer—MVP candidate Breanna Stewart ended the contest 10 points, grabbed six rebounds, and dished out three assists for the first-place Storm, who improved to 18-6.

Chiney Ogwumike was the only Sun player to score in double digits. The former Stanford star and No. 1 overall draft pick had a double-double scoring 21 points and grabbing 12 boards.

The Sun led early, with a 15-10 advantage at the first turn, and taking a 33-29 lead into the locker room at halftime. But behind a super-charged Loyd, a first-time All Star this season, the Storm came storming back and totally dominated the second half. Seattle, AKA “UConn West” (besides Stewie and Bird, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis also contributes off the Storm bench), outscored Connecticut 23-15 in the third period and rounded the final pole with a 52-48 advantage. Seattle’s dominance continued in Q4, with the league leaders pulling away in the final period of regulation.

“Great win for us,” said Bird, the WNBA’s all-time assist leader named All-WNBA First Team five times and Second Team three times. She also has four Olympic Gold Medals on her Hall of Fame resume. Bird, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2002 WNBA Draft, will be participating in next week’s will be participating in her 11th All Star Game on July 28 at the Target Center in Minneapolis as a member of Team Delle Donne, where she will join the Ogwumike sisters, Nneke and Chiney. This will be the first year of the new format where captains Elena Delle Donne and “Anytime you come into a another team’s house and you are able to pull out a win it feels good, especially because we did not have a great start to tonight’s game. We were down most of the game, but finally it turned around for us and we were able to pull it out.”

“We like to play with a fast tempo, and so do they,” said Ogwumike, the former All American from Stanford, drafted No. 1 overall in the 2014 WNBA draft. “In the first half, it worked to our benefit. In the second half, it sort of worked to their benefit. I think in those situations, we have to make sure we maintain the pace. When we maintain the pace, we feel more in control of what we do. In the second half, they got easy baskets that sort of opened the flood gates for them, especially in the fourth quarter.”

With the win, the Storm have won all three games played between the two teams this season—the fourth season sweep over the Sun in franchise history, and lead the league with an 18-6 record, 3.5 games ahead of both Atlanta and Phoenix in the WNBA’s overall standings. The Sun, meanwhile, fall to 12-12, and occupy the No. 8 overall spot in the standings. Only the top eight teams qualify for the postseason in the WNBA. Connecticut is currently two games behind Minnesota/Los Angeles/Dallas/Washington, all with 14-10 records but ranked 4-5-6-7 respectively with tiebreakers factored into the equation. The Sun also lead No. 9 Las Vegas by just one game.

Next up for Connecticut is a trip to Dallas where the Sun will challenge the 14-10 Wings this afternoon. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m. ET, and the game will be televised on WCCT and streamed on WNBA League Pass. Fans in Texas can watch the game live on Fox Sports West-Dallas+.

The Storm head to Atlanta where they will face the 14-9 Dream. Tip-off is at 3 p.m., and the game will be televised live on NBA-TV.

—with staff reports