Storm heads to break with what else a gritty 82-75 win over Phoenix

The Seattle Storm (16-5) closed out the first half of the season with a nail biting 82-75 win over the Phoenix Mercury ( 9-10) . With the win the Storm  now head into the Olympic break with the best record in the WNBA . The Storm looked like they would waltz into the night when they built an 18 point lead in the third quarter ( 59-41). As has been the case in the first half of the season nothing has come easy for the Storm.

NOT READY TO PACK IT IN

Someone forgot to tell the Mercury that the game was over and it was time to pack their bags. A 15-4 tear by the visitors whittled the Storm’s lead to just seven points ( 63-56) with 24.7 seconds left in the third quarter. A 24 ft three pointer by Epiphany Prince with 5.1 seconds left saw the Storm lead balloon  back  to double digits at 66-56 with one quarter to play.

Mercury guard Kia Nurse continued her career night  shooting and quieted  the crowd with another clutch three pointer that  saw the Storm led by three at 75-73 with 2:18 to go.  In danger of losing back to back games to the Mercury  Sue Bird and  Jewel Loyd decided it was time for some late game heroics. Bird and Loyd both hit shot clock buzzer butter in the final two minutes creating enough separation for the Storm to win yet another nail bitter

Bird finished with 13 points and Loyd had just eight. But Epiphanny Prince came through with a big effort off the bench, pumping in a team-high 15 points. An improved offensive effort by the Storm was the notable difference between  Sundays win and Fridays loss. After shooting a mere  38 percent from the field the Storm improved by 10 percentage points on Sunday with a 48.4 percentage.

NOT EVERYONE IS ON BREAK

While the team is off for the next month, half of Seattle’s roster will be heading to the Olympics. Bird, Loyd, and Stewart will play for the U.S. and report to training camp on Monday. Ezi Magbegor and Stephanie Talbot are already in the Australian team camp. Samuelson will don a USA jersey for the inaugural 3-on-3 Olympic tournament. 

The Storm will return to action on Aug. 12 in Phoenix for the first-ever Commissioner’s Cup final, facing the Connecticut Sun. They’ll resume league competition with a five-game road trip, starting on Sunday, Aug. 15 at Chicago at 1 p.m. (ABC). Seattle’s next home game comes on Aug. 27 as it hosts Chicago at Angel Of The Winds Arena at 7 p.m.

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