Storm offense outlasts Phoenix, 97-91
By Bella Munson, edited by Charles Hamaker
Phoenix, AZ - The Seattle Storm came out struggling in this game, but turned things around in the third quarter on both ends of the floor to come away with another win against the Phoenix Mercury, making it three wins in their last four games.
The Storm fell into an early hole in this match, going down by a game-high ten points with roughly two minutes left in the first quarter. Seattle managed to tie things up at the start of the second quarter but once again fell in a hole, down by nine at the half
Seattle came out of the locker room determined to turn things around and they did just that. The defense turned up and as a result the offense thrived. The Mercury didn’t have a single turnover on the stat sheet outside of the third quarter when Seattle forced them into seven. As a result, they outscored Phoenix 27-15 in that pivotal quarter.
Phoenix came back to force lead changes in the fourth quarter but Seattle led for the last four minutes, able to keep hitting shots, led by Loyd’s 17 point in the final quarter alone, they overcame the Mercury’s late buckets.
Shey Peddy
With 1:34 left in the first half the Mercury lost veteran Shey Peddy after Jordan Horston made incidental contact with Peddy’s head. The Mercury guard had to be stretchered off after she lay on the hardwood not moving for a significant amount of time. The team announced during the second half that Peddy had “movement in her limbs” and was headed to the hospital for further evaluation. After the game they announced she sustained a concussion but tests at the hospital cleared her to go home the same night. It was a scary moment, and couldn’t have been easy for her teammates to witness.
What went well
Rebounding: Head coach Noelle Quinn always talks about the importance of rebounding and Saturday’s rebounding performance was one to be proud of. Seattle pulled down 36 total rebounds to the Mercury’s 27 and were even more dominant on the offensive glass as they recorded 12 offensive rebounds to the home side’s 4. These boards are important because they led to 18 second-chance points.
Agressive offense: Seattle’s offense works best when they are aggressive! In the third quarter they did a fantastic job of driving to the basket, Ezi Magbegor in particular. After the game Magbegor spoke about what led to their success in the pivotal third quarter.
“I think just being more aggressive offensively. Our defense is something that leads to offense too. So, I think we did a better job of not being as relaxed in the second half and I think that just translated to our offensive. Obviously, we just knew we needed to be better in that second half offensively.”
Improving mentality: This one can be difficult to pinpoint as an observer but coach Quinn made it very clear in her post-game comments.
“We’re growing up in a lot of ways…. we’re playing together and we’re playing with confidence. The energy level is different coming into the huddles, and a lot of those situations, it’s very positive and their next play mentality is showing, they’re communicating and they’re talking things through, and I think that shows a lot of growth and maturity.”
Jewell Loyd spoke on the mentality and how it helped them win the game.
“That’s what we’ve been, we’ve been fighters, regardless of the score We want to compete, and we know we want to push ourselves and I think honestly, today Gabby really rallied us through. She brought effort and energy all game and we used her energy to fuel us. Teams are going to go on runs, and it’s just how you respond... Our motto is to just compete and that’s what we did today.”
Getting to the free throw line: Loyd has been terrific this entire season at getting herself to the free throw line but today she was phenomenal. Loyd shot only one fewer free throw than the entire Mercury team, with each making 13 of them.
Jewell Loyd in general: 32 points—17 of those in the fourth quarter alone—, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal. Enough said.
Sami, Sami, Sami, Oi, Oi, Oi!: Sami Whitcomb contributed a strong 14 points on 50% shooting percentage, making four three pointers, and adding three rebounds, four assists, and two blocks.
Her biggest play of the night came with under 30 seconds left in the game when she hit the dagger three-pointer to seal the win. Whitcomb flung it up with the shot clock expiring and it seemed, to fans at least, like she was just hoping to hit rim to extend the shot clock. She drained it.
After the game Loyd said she knew it was going in.
“You know, they’re not crazy when you practice them. I’ve seen her take those shots all the time in practice. Actually, I just told her before I knew that three was going in because she practiced that shot going into halftime. I’ve seen her work ethic and that’s what it really comes down to. She’s always in the gym. She’s there before any of us and she’s just she reps it. So, I’m not surprised by her shot selection, by her shot making. She gives 100% effort all the time, and that’s what she’s been since I’ve known her, so it’s been pretty cool to see her growth and her consistency.”
Gabby Williams contributing on both ends of the floor: Gabby Williams is simply key to this Storm team winning. In this game she recorded a massive statline of 14 points, five rebounds, six assists, four steals, a pair of blocks, all without a turnover. This marked the first time in WNBA history a player posted those numbers or better in a game.
What needs work
The Storm still had defensive issues in this game. They had a particularly difficult time stopping Brittney Griner who scored 22 points on 10-15 shooting. She could’ve scored even more if she wasn’t limited by foul trouble and her own conditioning coming back from a mental health break. She played only 23 minutes in the end.
The offense eventually came through in this game but defense is what allows you to win games when the offense isn’t clicking as much as you’d like. These past wins have been their offense producing enough to overcome their defensive deficiencies. That’s not to say it’s constant horrible defense, there are of course some good stops in there like this third quarter, but conceding 91 points is not really what you want.
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Cover photo by Mathew Bermudez