Natasha Howard scored a career-high 25 points and five players on the Storm hit double digits in a 103-92 win over Connecticut.
Behind a career-high 25 points from Natasha Howard and 23 points from Breanna Stewart the Storm held off Connecticut 103-92 on Friday night.
The 7,004 at KeyArena were treated to a thrilling shootout between the two highest-scoring teams in the WNBA.
The Storm had five players score in double figures, including Kaleena Mosqueda Lewis, who finished with 18 points off the bench — one shy of her personal best.
Sue Bird tallied 14 points and Alysha Clark 11. The Storm (8-3) tied its best start in franchise history.
Chiney Ogwumike finished with 30 points for Connecticut (7-3) before fouling out with 1:49 left. The Sun lost Jonquel Jones (10 points) seconds later as she fouled out.
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Emotions reached a fever pitch when Sun coach Curt Miller picked up a technical foul in the fourth for arguing with officials.
The Storm led from start to finish, but the game was in doubt when Connecticut cut its deficit to 96-91 with 2:31 left.
Seattle finished with a 7-1 to pull away at the end.
The Storm jumped on the Sun early and led 21-10 with 3:39 left in the first quarter. Seattle pushed its lead to 14 points (28-18) before Connecticut strung together a 7-2 run to finish the quarter and cut its deficit to 30-21 heading into the second.
Behind nine points in the second quarter from Mosqueda-Lewis, Seattle regained control and went up by 16 (41-25) with 6:58 left before halftime.
From there, the Sun outscored the Storm 20-11 to finish the half as Seattle took a 52-45 lead into halftime.
Notes
• The Storm paid tribute to former coach Anne Donovan, who died this week due to heart failure, with a video tribute and moment of silence before Friday’s game. Seattle and Connecticut players also wore jerseys with a black stripe on the shoulder.
• Connecticut’s All-Star forward Alyssa Thomas missed her first game of the season Friday due to a shoulder injury.