Jewell Loyd pushed the Storm back into a game in which they trailed by 20 in the fourth quarter, reaching 30 points with just under five minutes to play. She sank another three-pointer less than a minute later for good measure.
“It’s just a joy to watch when she’s able to hit shots consecutively,” Storm coach Noelle Quinn said. “She’s carried a huge load of our offense this year.”
The Storm trailed by single digits, which hadn’t been the case since the first 12 seconds of the third quarter. They were down by seven late but got no closer, falling 93-86 to the Washington Mystics on Tuesday.
The Storm dropped their sixth straight game, but not without another noteworthy effort from Loyd, who sank nine three-pointers on 15 attempts, a career best. She had as many three-pointers as the whole Mystics group.
She tied a WNBA record for single-game threes and had a chance to claim it outright, but a buzzer bid clanged off the rim.
Loyd, the WNBA’s scoring leader, suffered a sprained ankle in the Storm’s last outing but didn’t miss a game. Set for her fifth All-Star Game this weekend, Loyd recorded her sixth game of 30 or more points this season. She had 39 on Tuesday, two off her season and career high from June 29 against the Minnesota Lynx.
Still, the Mystics’ lead ballooned to 25 at one point. They completed a season sweep of the Storm after taking back-to-back games in Seattle in early June.
Washington, which had dropped four of six games, was dealing with injury concerns and gave Seattle some new looks. Elena Delle Donne didn’t play Tuesday and is also expected to miss Saturday’s All-Star Game after re-aggravating an ankle injury. It was her seventh All-Star selection.
Washington was also missing center Shakira Austin (hip) and guard Kristi Toliver (foot). Starter Ariel Atkins tweaked her ankle late in the second quarter. Further undermanned, they stumbled but recovered.
Recently the Storm have been overrun in the first quarter, but they got off to a solid start in Washington. They jumped out to a 5-0 lead, courtesy of Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu and Kia Nurse. Mendjiadeu’s first Seattle start featured a double-double (12 points, 14 rebounds) and the rookie followed up with another Tuesday (12 points, 11 rebounds).
“I’ll continue to reiterate — she works so hard. She works hard in practice, after and before practice,” Quinn said. “What we’re seeing is the hard work paying off.
“She’s very active. The activity helps … she’s a reason why our rebounding is improving.”
However the Mystics tied it at 15 late in the first quarter and led by six after it. They never trailed again. The Storm were plagued by turnovers, with eight first-half miscues leading to 13 Washington points at the other end. They’d collected 20 total points off Storm turnovers by the end of the game.
“That’s been our Achilles’ heel all season,” Loyd said. “It’s hard to win games when you turn the ball over against really good teams that can score and like to push.
“We want more possessions and good possessions, so we’ve got to be able to track the ball.”
The timing of the turnovers is compounding the trouble, Quinn said.
“That needs to continue to be addressed,” the coach said.
The Mystics pulled away from the Storm in the third quarter, when the hosts opened and nurtured a 20-point lead. They outscored the Storm 27-15.
The Storm had a chance to pull back within five, however, after a technical foul was called on Natasha Cloud with three minutes left. Seattle missed two of three free throws and the Mystics recovered momentum after the timeout.
“They hit some tough, big shots, but a lot of the runs they had were because of our turnovers,” Loyd said.
“They made shots. We couldn’t get consistent stops. That’s life.”
Gabby Williams, a 2022 WNBA All-Defense second-team selection, saw game action for the first time this season. She re-signed with the Storm on a rest-of-season contract this month.
Williams suffered a concussion in April while playing for eventual EuroCup winners ASVEL. She had planned on playing in the EuroBasket tournament in June with France’s national team but had to miss it, paving the way for a WNBA return before the league’s May 19 deadline.
Williams said there were three weeks where she wasn’t able to do cardio during concussion protocol. She then eased her way back in.
“She didn’t look tired. I thought that her wind was good. It’s just a matter of getting rhythm,” Quinn said.
Williams spent just over 20 minutes on the floor and contributed two rebounds, two assists and a steal but didn’t land any of seven field goal attempts. The focus Tuesday was on progress.
“Some of those looks, I know as the season progresses and she gets more comfortable, I think those are going to be buckets,” Quinn said.
“I’ve trusted her since last year, so having played in a long time or not, I know she’s going to execute what I’m asking [of] her.”
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