Skylar Diggins-Smith sets Storm assists record in rout of Mercury

Skylar Diggins-Smith broke the Seattle Storm record for most assists in a season in a 90-66 victory Saturday against her former team, the Phoenix Mercury, in Seattle.

Diggins-Smith tallied 11 assists to give her 227 this year. Sue Bird had the previous record of 221, achieved twice (in 2003 and 2018). Diggins-Smith also scored 12 points and had two steals.

The Storm (21-14) moved to 1 1/2 games behind the Las Vegas Aces (22-14) for the No. 4 seed in the WNBA playoffs.

Seattle has five regular-season games remaining, including the finale at Phoenix (17-19) on Sept. 19.

The Mercury, presently at No. 7 in the WNBA standings, have lost two of the three meetings with the Storm this season. Both losses were in Seattle.

Jewell Loyd led Seattle with 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field (3-of-6 from 3-point range) on Saturday night.

Jordan Horston had 16 points and five rebounds off the bench. Horston made 7 of 8 shots from the field, 2 of 3 from beyond the arc.

Phoenix was led by Diana Taurasi's 18 points. She also had five rebounds and four assists.

Kahleah Copper added 11 points and five rebounds.

Brittney Griner was limited to four points but had eight rebounds.

After Phoenix tied the game at 19 with 8:54 left in the second quarter on one of the two shots Griner made from the field, Seattle went on a 10-1 run.

The Storm led 29-20 after Horston made a 3-pointer with 5:51 left in the half.

Seattle led by as many as 17 points the remainder of the half before taking a 45-30 lead into halftime.

The Storm continued to build their lead in the third quarter behind 10 points in the quarter by Loyd.

They took a 73-51 lead into the fourth quarter, and Phoenix didn't come closer than 19 points in the final period.

Seattle outscored Phoenix 40-24 in the paint behind while outrebounding the Mercury 46-34.

--Field Level Media