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

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

• Up by just three at 75-72 with two minutes left, the Storm put up five-straight points by beating the shot clock buzzer twice: Jewell Loyd on a 3-pointer from the left corner at 1:48, then Sue Bird on a floater from the right side that banked off the board, making it 80-72 with just 43.4 seconds left.
• The game turned on a 15-3 run by the Storm which started with two free throws by Epiphanny Prince with two seconds left in the first quarter and ended on a Jordin Canada lay-up at the 6:28 mark of the second quarter. The run turned a 20-13 deficit into a 34-26 Seattle lead it would never give up.
• The Storm started the third quarter on a 15-2 run over the first 5:01 to stretch its five-point halftime lead to 18—its biggest lead of the game—at 59-41. Twelve of the 15 points came from three-pointers as the Storm connected on more from beyond the arc through the first five minutes of the second half (4) than in the entire first half (2).

KEY STATS OF THE GAME

• The Storm shot 10 percentage points better than in Friday’s 85-77 loss at Phoenix, shooting 48.4% (30-62) on Sunday vs its 37.7% (23-61) mark on Friday.
• Defensively, Seattle clamped down on Brittney Griner and Skylar Diggins-Smith. On Friday, the duo combined for 55 points (29 for Griner, 26 for Diggins-Smith) on 59.5% shooting (22-37). On Sunday, they tallied just 33 points (17 for Diggins-Smith, 16 for Griner) and shot just 40% combined (12-30).

STORM HIGHLIGHTS

• Katie Lou Samuelson tied her career high with 14 points, matching her total from Friday’s game at Phoenix. She started hot on Sunday, making 3-of-3 in the span of 1:08 in the first quarter, scoring six of the Storm’s first eight points. It is the first time in her career she has scored in double-figures in back-to-back games.
• Epiphanny Prince came off the bench to lead the Storm with 15 points. She also was the leading scorer at halftime with nine. Prince was the first Storm bench player to lead in scoring since she did it last season against the New York Liberty (Aug. 18, 2020).
• Mercedes Russell had another solid game defending Griner in the low post, finishing with eight points and 10 rebounds—out-rebounding Griner who finished with 9.
• Seattle out-rebounded Phoenix 34-32, improving to 12-1 when winning the battle of the boards.
• Every Storm player scored at least four points in the game and recorded at least one rebound.

MERCURY HIGHLIGHTS

• Kia Nurse held the Mercury with 28 points, a season-high for the Canadian guard. She got 21 of those from downtown, as she drained 7-of-14 from behind the arc and 9-of-19 overall.
• Brittney Griner came within one rebound of her 11^th double-double of the season, grabbing nine to go along with 16 points.

MILESTONES

• Jordin Canada scored her 750^th career point. She finished with seven points in the game.