Commissioner's Cup Champions! Storm win big over Connecticut 79-57
Add another trophy to the case!
(Phoenix, Arizona) - The Seattle Storm made history on Thursday night becoming the first WNBA team to win the inaugural Commissioner’s Cup championship game. It’s only fitting that the cup would come back to Seattle as the Storm have been the premier franchise in the league over the past 20+ years.
While there were concerns heading into this game about jet lag and tired legs, especially for Seattle’s five Olympians, it turned out that really benefitted them in this game.
“Two things come to mind when it comes to fatigue. Sometimes it becomes mind over matter. And those players are so elite where they can put their physical in a space where they can just perform at an amazing level. One benefit to them playing in Tokyo is that they are still in game shape. And had comfort in playing whether it was the Olympic team or with us. The feel for the game was still there. There was no rust because they had been playing over the last few weeks.” Coach Quinn said to me after the game.
Seattle dominated this game to the point where both teams emptied their benches by the time the fourth quarter began. The final score was 79-57 and at one point the Storm led by 31 points. They never trailed in this game. A statement to the rest of the league was made. If you want to win a WNBA Championship you’re going to have to go through the champs!
Fresh off their Olympic gold medal victory the Storm were led by their Big 3 - Sue Bird, Jewell Loyd, and Breanna Stewart. They made jokes after the game about jet lag not being a real thing as all three players scored in double figures combining for 43 points. All three sat and rested in the final period as the team finished the third leading by 28 points.
Stewart led the way with 17 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 assists, and 3 blocked shots. She scored 15 of her points in the first quarter including 3-3 from beyond the arc. It was good enough to earn her the MVP of the game and an extra $5,000 cash bonus.
The Connecticut Sun’s Head Coach Curt Miller praised Stewart after the game.
“Every player in this league can make open shots. But the elite players like Breanna Stewart can make shots with a 6’ 6” Jonquel Jones right on her with a hand in her face. That’s what separates Stewart from other players.” Miller stated after the game.
And while Stewart did a lot to get Seattle off to a hot start as Seattle led 28-18 after the first. It was really the third quarter where Seattle really put this game out of reach.
Leading 46-35 at the midway point Seattle would come out with much greater intensity in the third period. It was like a shark smelling blood in the water. Defensively, Seattle was all over Connecticut forcing them into 10 turnovers in the third quarter alone. The Storm outscored the Sun 22-5 in the third.
Jewell Loyd outscored Connecticut by herself in that period scoring seven of her 16 points. Seattle shot 50% (10-20) in the quarter while limiting Connecticut to just 12.5% (2-16).
Sue Bird hit back-to-back shots in the third to give Seattle a 17-point lead and at that moment it felt like Seattle was ready to put this game away. Connecticut was forced to call another timeout and then it just snowballed from there.
Bird finished the game with 10 points and five assists. Bird, Loyd, and Stewart all individually shot over 50% for this game.
After the game, Stewie mentioned how important it was for all three of them to play in this game. They knew how badly the team wanted to win this game and the Olympians wanted to win this game and the prize money for all their teammates. Especially, ones like Kiana Williams who nearly doubled her salary just from this single game.
Coach Noelle Quinn emphasized the team’s improved rebounding in the third period.
“The biggest thing was the rebounding! They had nine offensive rebounds and Jones had five of them. They had eight more shot attempts at the rim because of that. And I think once we solidified that and limited them to one shot we were able to run and get really good looks. But it really started with our defense.” she said.
And while the Sun outrebounded the Storm 36-26 for the game, Seattle was able to outrebound them 10-6 in that critical third period.
The bench also did their part in this game scoring 28 points with 11 of the team’s 12 players scoring at least once. Epiphanny Prince led the bench with seven points. Ezi Magbegor and Jordin Canada each added six points and Stephanie Talbot added five more. Canada was also very active defensively grabbing three steals. She also had four assists but did commit a team-high six turnovers.
Besides Seattle’s big three the real story in this game was the Storm’s defense which limited Connecticut to under 33% field goal shooting (23-70) and 28% (3-18) from three-point range. Seattle also forced Connecticut into 26 total turnovers including several shot-clock violations. The Storm’s defense was elite and with the refs not calling a ton of fouls on either team, they were really able to limit the Sun’s scoring opportunities.
Jonquel Jones was limited to just 10 points in this game. Well below her season average of 21 PPG. To be fair to Jones, she also did not play in the 4th quarter. Natisha Hiedeman and DeWanna Bonner were the only other Connecticut players to score in double figures with 11 points each.
“We need to get back into the gym. We were outplayed in this game. Our goal is to win a championship and the way we played isn’t going to get it done.” Jonquel Jones said during the post-game press conference.
DeWanna Bonner added, “(The Seattle Storm) are a well-oiled machine. They’ve been good for several years now. They have a championship mentality and we’re still trying to figure it out.”
Jersey Count
Do we count this game? Probably not as it won’t show up in the standings. But I did notice Seattle wore their green and white “Heroine” jerseys for this important game. They were 7-1 entering this game when wearing those specific uniforms. If you count this game, they’re now 8-1. But I won’t add it to the official tally as this game doesn’t count towards the regular-season standings.
Up Next
The Seattle Storm will remain on the road for the next two weeks as they play five road games before returning home. Coach Quinn emphasized the importance of completing that road trip with a winning record. This road trip won’t be easy as they face the Chicago Sky, the New York Liberty twice, the Washington Mystics, and finish against the red-hot Minnesota Lynx.
Seattle has 11 games remaining, they probably need to go 8-3 to guarantee a top-two seed and the double-bye.
The Chicago Sky host Seattle on Sunday at 1:00 PM. The game will air nationally on ABC (Channel 104 locally).
Editor’s Note: Thank you for your support! If you know any Storm fans that aren’t currently aware of my coverage through Substack and Twitter (@WNBAStormChaser), please let them know. Word of mouth is incredibly helpful and is greatly appreciated! Photo Credits to Neil Enns/Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography.
A fun read. 🙌