Storm exact their revenge beat Indiana Fever 87-74 (Free Edition)
The Storm return to the Win Column behind Breanna Stewart's 27 points.
(Bradenton, FL) - The Seattle Storm (12-3) did what they had to do on Tuesday night. It wasn’t always pretty. It certainly wasn’t completely dominant like we’ve seen from them this season. But at the end of the day, they got their revenge over Indiana defeating the Fever 87-74.
The Storm were led by their frontcourt in this one. Breanna Stewart led the team in scoring with 27 points. She also had nine rebounds, four assists, four steals, and two blocked shots as Stewart continues to make her case for the league’s MVP award.
Natasha Howard continues to improve her game after getting off to a slow start this season. Howard had 13 points, nine rebounds, and three steals against Indiana. She also made several good hustle plays and a beautiful outlet pass to Jewell Loyd at one point.
Alysha Clark started the game strong scoring all 11 of her points in the first half. She also had eight rebounds. The three starting frontcourt players combined for 51 of Seattle’s 87 points and 26 of the team’s 30 rebounds.
While Seattle’s bench continues to struggle to score with Jordin Canada moving into the starting lineup due to the Sue Bird injury, Sami Whitcomb did have a strong night scoring 11 points off the bench for Seattle.
Overall, the team got much stronger contributions than we have seen over their previous two defeats.
Seattle also won this game how they’ve won most of their games this season, with defense. The Storm held the Fever to under 40% field goal shooting (25-64) and just under 31% (8-26) from three-point range. One of the biggest differences between the two games was Indiana’s three-point shooting. In the first game, they were on fire from beyond the arc going 12-24 (50%). Seattle also forced Indiana into 20 turnovers and the Storm were able to capitalize with 26 points off turnovers.
And while Indiana still rebounded well against Seattle. Converting on two separate possessions where they got three shot attempts after pulling down multiple offensive rebounds, much to the frustration of many Storm fans. Seattle at least kept the rebounding differential much closer this time. In the first game, Seattle was outrebounded 46-30. On Tuesday night, they closed that gap to 35-30.
Indiana was led in scoring by Kennedy Burke who had 17 points. Kelsey Mitchell added 15 points while Natalie Achonwa had 11 points. Rookie of the Year candidate Julie Allemand played really well, especially early in this game where she scored eight of her 11 points in the first half. She also had five assists which tied for a team-high.
Around the W
Upset alert! The New York Liberty (2-12) upset the Chicago Sky (10-5) 101-99. It was just the Liberty’s 2nd win all season long. Layshia Clarendon got fouled with the game tied 99-99 with less than one second left in the 4th quarter. She calmly knocked down both free throws and it allowed the Liberty to pull off one of the biggest upsets this WNBA season.
Amanda Zahui B. had a monster game for New York with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Layshia Clarendon had 17 points, five assists, and the game-winning free throws. Five players in total scored in double figures including Kiah Stokes (14 points), Jocelyn Willoughby (14 points), and Paris Kea (10 points).
All five starters scored in double figures for Chicago. Allie Quigley led all scorers with 29 points. Courtney Vandersloot had 15 points, nine assists, and four rebounds as she continues to prove she should be in the MVP discussion. Kahleah Copper (15 points, 6 rebounds), Gabby Williams (12 points, 8 rebounds), and Stefanie Dolson (10 points, five rebounds) were the other players in double figures. Cheyenne Parker added nine points off the bench. But the Sky were limited to just eight players in this game with both Azura Stevens and Diamond DeShields still out with injuries.
The Las Vegas Aces (11-3) took care of business defeating the Dallas Wings (5-10) by a score of 96-92. The Wings kept the game reasonably close, but just as they did against Seattle, the Aces used a huge 2nd quarter to outscore the Wings by ten 29-19 to take control of this game.
A’ja Wilson continues her quest for her first MVP trophy with another impressive stat line. She scored 26 points, pulled down nine rebounds, and had three assists. Dearica Hamby was huge off the bench with 18 points and 14 rebounds. It reminded me why I was hoping the Storm could sign Hamby away from the Aces a couple of years ago.
In total, Vegas had five players score in double figures. On top of Wilson and Hamby, Kayla McBride chipped in 15 points, Angel McCoughtry had 12 points, and last year’s number one overall pick, Jackie Young, scored 11 points and had four assists off the bench.
If you enjoy what you’ve read and want significantly more discussion on the Seattle Storm, including how the Storm switched up their strategies in this game, the concerning situation with Sue Bird, quarter by quarter info, and all the Coach and player interviews - make sure to check out the link below for the Complete Edition!
Complete Edition of the Seattle Storm’s big win over the Indiana Fever!