Stewart scores 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting for Seattle in defeat
In the second thrilling battle between the two teams in as many days, it was the Washington Mystics turn to hold on for a win, edging the Seattle Storm 78-75 on Sunday afternoon at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Washington D.C.
The two teams wrap up the two-game series back even in the WNBA standings at 19-12, though Seattle now holds the tiebreaker by virtue of winning the season series with yesterday’s victory.
Breanna Stewart led the Storm with 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting, adding five rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block. Jewell Loyd contributed 15 points, four steals, four rebounds and three assists while Sue Bird contributed 12 points and recorded seven assists for the third-straight game.
The first quarter started with the teams going back and forth before Washington slowly pulled away late, scoring four points over the final minute to extend the lead to 22-15 after one. Seattle came out hot in the second quarter, outscoring the Mystics 19-7 through the first eight minutes, taking a 34-29 lead on a Sue Bird three-pointer at the 2:17 mark. Washington would rally to close the period, scoring seven of the last 10 points but Seattle took a 37-36 lead to the half.
In the third, Washington scored the first five points of the half to take back the lead at 41-37 early on. After the teams going back and forth through the first part of the third, Loyd hit a pair of free throws at the 4:53 mark to cut the Mystics lead to 50-49. But Washington rallied from there, outscoring Seattle 12-6 over the final 4:35 to take a 62-55 lead after three. Loyd had a solid third quarter, scoring nine of her 15 points in the period, while Stewart added six.
In the fourth, the lead stayed around seven for the Mystics through the first 3:30 of the period before Seattle rattled off six-straight to cut the lead to one at 68-67 on a layup by Bird at the 5:20 mark. Washington responded with four-straight points to go back up five at 72-67 with 3:11 to go. The Storm would cut the lead to two on a pair of occasions, the last after a Bird three made it 75-73 with 2:03 to go, but could get no closer as the Mystics matched each Storm bucket down the stretch with a pair of last minute three pointers by Seattle rattled off as the buzzer sounded.
The Storm returns to Seattle for its final two home games of the regular season, beginning with a showdown against Minnesota on Wednesday, Aug. 3, at 7pm. Less than 250 tickets for the game remain with the Storm’s regular-season finale on Sunday, Aug. 7, completely sold out already.
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