Storm finish 5-game road trip with another win over the Fever 79-69

Breanna Stewart led the way with 21 points and 15 rebounds to help Seattle secure the road victory.

(Indianapolis, Indiana) - For the 5th time in eight days the Seattle Storm won a WNBA game on the road. An accomplishment that is rarely seen in professional basketball. No matter who the opponents were or which star player was missing from a team, to win five games on the road when they’re literally playing every other day is remarkable.

“A last good game over a tough road trip, with this team just growing every step of the way, finding ways to get the job done. Today, it was kind of mind over matter in a sense. Physically, I know some fatigue had hit in, but we pushed through that and were able to have a decent fourth quarter to push us over the hump a little bit. I’m happy with their effort and just happy to be going home with the successful road trip.” Coach Noelle Quinn told the media after the game.

Seattle won all five games by double figures. Their defense was exceptional holding opponents to an average of 70.2 PPG during this five-game road trip. The Storm’s average margin of victory was by 17 points.

After the game, I asked the coach what she learned about her team after they were able to go undefeated on the road trip.

“We're a resilient group. We're trying to figure it out within the games. And every night we figure something new about ourselves. Tonight, it was again just the resiliency that we showed and the ability to push through in a game, having spent a lot of days on the road. We're kind of midway through the season and understanding that a road trip like this, usually, in the WNBA, you come through a game like this and you don't prevail just because of some fatigue, mentally or physically. But this team has shown that they're professional in what they do, they’re locked in and just get the job done.” Coach Quinn said.

With the 79-69 victory over the Indiana Fever, the Storm improve to a WNBA league-best 12-2 on the season.

Breanna Stewart led the way scoring a game-high 21 points and pulling down 15 rebounds to lead all players. While Stewart put up the MVP-type numbers, all five starters played really well in this game and frankly carried the team to victory.

Stewart talked about the team’s performance after the game.

“I think we're just continuing to build the chemistry. We're continuing to do the hard things. To go on a five-game road trip and win all the games isn't easy. These games where you play the same team twice in a row aren’t easy because [it requires] a certain level of focus, a certain level of maturity that you need to go into the game. And yeah, there were some X's and O's and things we could have done better, but we're happy with the way the game went. We’re happy to be going back to Seattle.” Stewart said.

When she was asked what areas she’s continuing to develop and grow this season.

“I think continuing to kind of do what I can on the court, obviously knowing when to take shots and when to find the open person, and just continuing to be aggressive. Playing with so many great players makes it easy to play my best and continue to help them be at their best. (…) I think for me, obviously, I want to continue to be the best in as many areas as possible on the court. And, you know, one thing is rebounding. Continuing to kind of try to get a double-double every night. And I just want to be an efficient all-around employer.” Stewart added.

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✈️ Heading home with five more road wins! Full game highlights presented by @Symetra. #TakeCover

I asked Katie Lou Samuelson after the game if she’s still impressed with these performances from Stewie after seeing it so many times.

“I mean, it's always impressive when you see stuff like that. As a player, you know, you try to play as much as you can. And you see the stats that she gets. It's just crazy that she can do that so consistently. But I've played with her for a long time. I know that she's capable of that every single day.” Lou told me.

Jewell Loyd was the second-leading scorer with 15 points. She also had five rebounds and four assists to show the versatility of her game. She also kept Kelsey Mitchell in check limiting her to 12 points on 3-9 FG shooting.

Sue Bird scored 13 points and dished out a game-high seven assists. Katie Lou Samuelson had a terrific shooting night scoring 10 points on 80% (4-5) Field Goal shooting. Samuelson’s one miss came when she received the ball with one second left on the shot clock and had to toss up a three before the team was called for a shot-clock violation.

I spoke to Katie Lou after the game about her hot shooting in the game and if she feels she’s been aggressive enough on the offensive end.

“I think there are moments where I feel I can be more aggressive for myself. But I’m trying to make sure we get the best shot down the court every single time.”

Then I asked her about taking advantage of smaller guards in the low post whether it’s her or Stephanie Talbot, how important it is to add that to their game to take advantage of those opportunities.

“It’s really big. For us, we’re both bigger guards in this league. We’re going to have opportunities where we are in positions to get a mismatch and if we can get easy buckets like that then we can really help the team out.” Samuelson added.

Lastly, Mercedes Russell also played well scoring eight points and pulling down five rebounds. She also did a good job of limiting Teaira McCowan in the low post when both players were in the game together. Russell’s size and length are huge assets to Seattle defensively, especially combined with Stewart’s length as well.

For the Indiana Fever, this was by far the best game they’ve played against Seattle in the three games they’ve faced off against one another this season. They even led Seattle by five points in the first half of this game and were within three points in the fourth quarter.

Indiana was led by Teaira McCowan off the bench who had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds in 24 minutes of action. She did most of her damage in the first half where she scored 11 of her 13 points.

The Fever actually had more players score in double figures than Seattle (5 to 4) which is a big reason why they kept this game close. Kelsey Mitchell and Tiffany Mitchell both scored 12 points. Then Jessica Breland and Jantel Lavender each added 10 points apiece. Breland had a very impressive game as she had a double-double with 10 points, 11 rebounds and she had four blocked shots!

Game Breakdown

The Storm got out to a 7-3 lead early in the game scoring down low with Mercedes Russell getting the first points of the game. The Fever battled back tying the game at 11-11. Both teams battled pretty evenly with the Storm leading 22-17.

Jewell Loyd led the Storm with five points after one period. Tiffany Mitchell led the Fever with six points.

Indiana started the second quarter on a 14-4 run taking a 31-26 point lead with five minutes left in the first half.

Trailing 31-26, the Storm went on a 10-2 run to regain a three-point lead at 36-33. Seattle then finished up four at the halftime break leading 40-36.

The Storm had balanced scoring with Breanna Stewart leading Seattle with 10 points. Jewell Loyd had seven points. Mercedes Russell and Sue Bird each chipped in with six points apiece.

Teaira McCowan led the Fever with 11 points on 5-5 FG shooting in 11 minutes. She also had six rebounds. Jessica Breland was a defensive menace in the first half blocking four shots. She also had seven rebounds and added five points for Indiana.

Indiana shot the ball better than Seattle in the first half shooting nearly 49% (16-34) but struggled from long-range shooting under 17% (1-7) from three-point range. Seattle shot 43% (16-36) and 33% (3-7) from deep. Rebounding and assists were nearly even with the Fever holding an 18-17 edge in rebounding and the Storm holding an 11-10 advantage with assists.

Sue Bird knocked down a three to begin the third quarter and Katie Lou Samuelson followed that up with a three of her own. Samuelson was also able to convert an AND1 three-point play down in the low post to push Seattle’s lead to seven at 51-44.

The lead didn’t last long, however, as Indiana tied the game back up at 55-55 with four minutes to play in the third period.

Seattle then went on a 10-0 run to push their lead back up to 65-55, but Indiana finished the quarter on a 5-0 run to make it 65-60 as they entered the fourth and final period.

Stephanie Talbot hit a circus shot to begin the final quarter to put Seattle up seven at 67-60. However, with most of Seattle’s bench on the court, the Fever pounded the paint between Teaira McCowan and Jantel Lavender. Seattle also got lost on defense on one play leaving Candice Dupree to guard both McCowan and Lavender. Lavender scored an easy uncontested layup and Coach Noelle Quinn was forced to call timeout with Seattle leading 69-66 with 6:31 left to play in the game.

After the timeout, Seattle’s starters were back into the game. Loyd immediately came in and knocked down a shot in the paint. Stewart missed two three-point attempts but on her third attempt, she drove to the basket instead of settling for the three. She made the layup and got fouled.

Bird got a transition layup on a beautiful pass from Jewell Loyd when Seattle got a defensive stop. Just like that, the Storm were up nine at 75-66 with four and a half minutes left to play.

They got four more points from Stewart to cap off a 10-1 run by Seattle. It pushed Seattle’s lead to 12 points at 79-67.

The Storm didn’t score over the final three minutes. They missed their final five shots. Indiana went 1-4 during that time.

Seattle won the game 79-69. They capped off their five-game road trip winning all five games by double figures.

Sue Bird talked about finishing the game strong in the 4th quarter to get the victory.

“I think it actually was more [about] getting the stops. That was a big part of it. I thought we did a great job down the stretch of rebounding. They took some makeable shots, but we were able to take care of the boards. It's things that we talked about in practice, just understanding that there's always going to be another opportunity and you can't let what happened in the early stages of the game impact the end.” Bird told the media during the post-game press conference.

Additional Analysis

It’s good to see Katie Lou Samuelson find more success in Seattle. While her numbers are still pretty similar to her sophomore year with Dallas, her scoring and shooting percentage are both up. Katie Lou is averaging 6.8 PPG while shooting 49% from the floor and 36% from the three-point range. That’s an improvement from 41% and 32% last season. The more confidence she can gain the better she will become. Seattle is going to need her scoring moving forward, especially against tougher teams in the playoffs.

Right now Sue Bird is the team’s third-leading scorer behind Breanna Stewart (21.1 PPG) and Jewell Loyd (18.9 PPG). Bird is averaging 11.4 PPG this season and leads all guards in field goal shooting at 52%. Sue is probably playing more minutes than Coach Quinn would like, however. At 28 MPG it is her highest total since the 2017 season.

I’m not sure if relying on Bird to be the team’s third-leading scorer playing nearly 30 minutes a game is the best strategy for long-term success this season.

While the bench, in general, played extremely well during this five-game road trip, they didn’t play particularly well in this game scoring just 12 points on Thursday night. It was the first time during the five games that they didn’t come up with at least 25 points.

Seattle’s bench should be one of their strongest attributes on this team, but certain players have regressed or are outright struggling.

From what I gathered from coaches during training camp and what we saw (limited visibility) of those two preseason games against the Mercury, I felt that both Candice Dupree and Ezi Magbegor would play pretty large roles on this team this season. Neither have really found success up to this point.

Magbegor’s minutes have been pretty limited to less than 12 per game as she sits behind Breanna Stewart, Mercedes Russell, and Candice Dupree on the depth chart. But her minutes are really only down about two minutes per game but her scoring is down to just 3.7 PPG compared to 6.5 PPG her rookie year.

Dupree’s performance has become even more concerning. It’s been noted that she isn’t exactly thrilled with her role on the team, which seems to have reduced even further since Noelle Quinn took over for coaching. She’s averaging just under 17 minutes per game (under 14 mins per game in games Coach Quinn has coached). Dupree is averaging career-lows in just about every single category. Points (5.9 PPG), rebounds (2.7 RPG), assists (0.8 APG), and Field Goal % (41.9%). The lowest shooting percentage is the most surprising stat to me. I didn’t expect her to necessarily average 13-15 PPG, especially with reduced minutes. But 8-10 PPG didn’t seem unreasonable. Instant offense off the bench as so many other great players have done in the past. But so far, it really hasn’t been working. The hope is that you see improvement as the season goes on and she gets more comfortable in this role.

Jordin Canada is the other player that seems to be having a down season. Canada’s scoring is at an all-time low at just 4.9 PPG. Now part of that is the fact that Sue has been playing so many minutes and Jordin is playing just 17.3 MPG right now. A stark contrast from the past two years where she averaged 24.2 MPG in 2020 and 28.8 MPG in 2019 (with Sue Bird out). But even with the reduced minutes, something seems off. Her numbers are down across the board. While she’s never been a great shooter the 36.4% is nearly identical to her rookie season where she shot 35.7%. It’s still considerably down from 42.4% in 2020. Her assists are at a career-low as well at 3.0 APG. And maybe most concerning of all, her steals are down to just 0.6 SPG. In 2019 she average 2.3 SPG and in 2020 it was still 1.5 SPG.

Canada is not getting her hands on deflections and in the passing lane nearly as frequently as the past two years. She’s also not attacking the rim nearly as much as she has done in the past.

I do know that she mentioned she had to leave overseas play early during the WNBA’s offseason due to an injury. With the way, WNBA players go from league to league to league without ever getting a real chance to take time off and recover. I have to wonder if Jordin is 100% healthy. While all professional athletes are usually dealing with something, I wonder if Canada’s injury this offseason is the main cause for her drop in production.

Jersey Count

Seattle donned their Heroine jerseys on Thursday afternoon against the Indiana Fever. Meanwhile, Indiana wore their Stranger Things rebel jerseys which look fantastic! The Storm improved to a league-best 12-2 and are now a perfect 6-0 when wearing their green and white uniforms.

Records per jersey type this season:
Rebel: 3-1
Explorer: 3-1
Heroine: 6-0
Overall Record: 12-2

Up Next

The Storm finally return home to Seattle to face the Washington Mystics on Tuesday, June 22nd. The game will take place in Everett, WA at Angel of the Winds Arena at 7:00 PM PT. It will air locally on JoeTV (Channel 110 for Comcast/Xfinity).

I asked Sue Bird how they balance between getting rest and continuing to improve in practices after this difficult road trip.

“I have zero doubt that Noey is going to have a good game plan for us in the next couple of days. I think we do need rest. It'd be nice to have a day off, to be honest. And it’ll just be nice to be home. I think that'll be really good for everybody to recharge. Being home, just does wonders for you, so that part will be good. And then we get back on the court be ready to go.” Bird said after the game.

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 can be super helpful and is greatly appreciated! Photo Credits to Neil Enns/Seattle Storm/WNBA.