Jewell Loyd, Storm pull away from Mystics for first win

Field Level Media|published: Sun 19th May, 17:32 2024

WNBA: Finals-Chicago Sky at Phoenix Mercury

Oct 10, 2021; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; A view of the offical game ball during the second half of game one of the 2021 WNBA Finals between the Phoenix Mercury and the Chicago Sky at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Jewell Loyd scored 24 points and the Seattle Storm recorded their first victory of the season by dispatching the host Washington Mystics 84-75 on Sunday afternoon.

Skylar Diggins-Smith added 18 points, five rebounds and five assists for the Storm (1-2), who were without eight-time All-Star Nneka Ogwumike (ankle). Ezi Magbegor registered 15 points and 14 rebounds for Seattle.

Ariel Atkins scored 19 points for the Mystics (0-3). Karlie Samuelson had 13 points and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough added 12 for Washington.

Loyd, the reigning WNBA scoring champion, made 6 of 19 field-goal attempts against Washington. She is shooting just 22 percent (13 of 59) through three games.

The Mystics played without Brittney Sykes (ankle) and Shakira Austin (hip).

Aaliyah Edwards collected 11 rebounds for Washington, which shot 40.3 percent from the field and made 9 of 26 attempts from 3-point range.

Seattle connected on 41.2 percent of its shots and was 5-of-20 from behind the arc.

The Storm outscored Washington 22-11 in the final quarter and took the lead for good with an 11-1 surge. Victoria Vivians drilled a 3-pointer and Loyd and Diggins-Smith each made two free throws before Diggins-Smith drove for a hoop to give Seattle a 73-68 lead with 6:18 left.

After Stefanie Dolson split two free throws for the Mystics, Loyd converted a reverse layup to cap the burst and give the Storm a six-point advantage with 3:51 left.

A layup by Diggins-Smith made it 82-73 with 1:36 to play and Vivians added two free throws 19 seconds later as Seattle closed it out.

Washington trailed by five at halftime but scored 30 points in the third quarter and had runs of 11-4 and 8-2. The latter burst saw Atkins score five points and Walker-Kimbrough nail a trey to give the Mystics a 56-51 with 2:21 left in the period.

Diggins-Smith sank a 3-pointer to bring Seattle within 64-62 entering the final stanza.

Loyd scored 13 first-half points as Seattle led 39-34 at the break. Samuelson had 11 in the half to lead Washington.

The Storm led by four midway through the second quarter when Loyd got hot. She scored 10 points during a 14-3 surge that saw Seattle open up a game-best 39-24 advantage with 1:43 left.

The Mystics scored the final 10 of the half to trail by five.

--Field Level Media