Storm defeat lowly Mercury with ease, 90-66
By Christan Braswell
Seattle, WA - Before tip-off, Storm coach Noelle Quinn said the quiet part out loud about her team’s ability to produce points from behind the arc, but also provided a path to win games in other ways.
“Play in transistion,” she said. Finding points off of our defense. Finding ways to be energized from what we do on the defensive end. Generating turnovers; we’ve been pretty consistent in that area. Points in the paint, something that’s been very positive for us.
Yes, we don’t shoot the three at a high level. It is very clear. But we hit open threes, and I’m going to trust my pros to continue to be pros, take them and make them. Getting to the free throw line. It’s an area we’ve excelled in as well. We’re the top team in free-throw percentage. There are a lot of positives to take away from what we’ve been doing.”
In a dominating 90-66 win over the lowly Phoenix Mercury, the Storm advantages of 40-24 in the paint, 46-34 in rebounds, and a pristine team effort on defense carried them. It also didn’t hurt that they turned in one of their best performances from downtown, going 12-for-32 (37.5 percent).
The first quarter saw a season-high eight lead changes and neither team led by three as they attempted to feel each other out. After one, the score was tied at 17.
The second period is where the Storm began to brew in strength, outscoring the Mercury 28-13 and taking a 45-30 lead into the break. Sophmore wing Jordan Horston scored 11 points in the quarter, finishing with 16 points, five rebounds, and two assists.
Phoenix came out of the locker room swinging, notching their only 20-plus point quarter of the night, but it was all Seattle by then as the lead increased to 22 at 73-51. The game was all but finished when Quinn pulled her starters while the bench recieved ample playing time, which is crucial heading into the playoffs.
“It’s how we do things that bother me sometimes because I know what’s in the locker room,” Storm guard Skylar Diggins-Smith said. “I know what we worked on and I see it in spurts and I just want us to put it together on both sides for 40 minutes. Thtat’s why I’m optimistic about it becasue we have not painted the masterpiece yet. I’ve said that. And now is the time to do it.”
As expected just as she’s done throughout her storied career, Diggins-Smith leads by example, not just words. She scored 12 points, collected 11 assists and has 227 on the season, which breaks Seattle’s single-season record of 221 set by Sue Bird in 2003 and 2018.
Jewell Loyd delivered one of her best outings of the season as she poured in 20 points on a 60.7 effective field-goal percentage. Nneka Ogwumike started 0-for-5 but went 4-for-4 the rest of the way, finishing with 10 points and eight rebounds.
Seattle has three days off before a two-day roadtrip that begins in Los Angeles against the Sparks.
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