Storm complete undefeated road trip with 79-69 win over Fever

Brenna Stewart scored 21points and pulled down a season-high 15  rebounds to record her second consecutive double, double. The Storm used a 10-3 scoring in the final 6 ½ minutes to repel the  Indiana Fever and complete a perfect 5-0 record trip. The marauding Storm started their Road Warri ring ways by winning two games in Atlanta one in Connecticut and two against the Fever. More amazing is that the Storm won all five by 10 or more points and are now 7-0 away from home this season—the only perfect road ledger in the league. 

RECORD-SETTING WIN

Thursday’s victory was Seattle’s 14th in a row on the road, including playoffs, tying the overall WNBA record streak set by the Los Angeles Sparks bridging the 2002 and 2003 seasons. It also was the Storm’s 11th-straight regular-season road win, just one short of the Sparks’ record streak of 12 set in 2000. 

But as was the case on Tuesday when Seattle put an 87-70 victory into the book, the Fever (1-13) were well within reach most of the night. Thanks to a 10-2 run at the outset of the second quarter, they forged a 31-26 lead – the first time on the entire road trip the Storm had trailed by more than two. (The last time they trailed by more than that was 13-7 at home against Dallas on June 4.) 

But Seattle closed the half on a 14-5 run to take a 40-36 lead into the locker room. It stretched to 55-48 midway through the third quarter when the Fever ran off seven straights to forge a 55-55 tie. 

The Storm responded with 10 in a row for a 65-55 lead and never trailed again. Indiana, which has lost nine straight, got as close as three at 69-66 with 6:31 left. The Storm came out of a timeout and finished the game with a 10-3 burst, forcing the Fever into seven straight missed field goal tries in a span of five minutes. 

STEWART DOUBLE DOUBLES

Stewart’s double-double was her seventh of the year, topped the 20-point mark for the eighth time. Her 15 boards pushed her average back above 10 for the season, now at 10.1. 

Jewell Loyd added 15 points for the Storm, and Sue Bird had 13 to go along with a game-high seven assists. Seattle, the league’s best passing team, had 22 assists on its 31 made shots. 

The Storm returns home to Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett on Tuesday to play the Washington Mystics at 7:00 p.m. (JOEtv). They will alternate home and road games for the final three weeks leading up to the Olympic break.