Chicago Sky spoil Storm Homecoming Party with Gritty 73-69 victory

The Seattle Storm returned home after 47 days to an enthusiastic crowd that was ecstatic to welcome home their heroes. Olympians and Commissioner Cup winners.

For the  Storm, the intention was about getting down to business from the get-go with just six games left in the regular season.  Despite the well-intended intentions, the Sky had their own plans. The visitors jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead. The Storm found its footing and reeled off a  12 – 4 run to end the first quarter with  14-12 lead.

Both teams struggled shooting from the floor but the floor somehow managed to reel off another impactful run similar to the first quarter. A 14-8 run by the Storm saw the lead expand to eight points on a Jewell Loyd basket with 4:07 to go in the second quarter. The Sky went on a mini  8-4 run that cut the Storms lead to just four points to end the half. The  Storm went into the break clinging to a 32-28 lead.

The cat and mouse game continued all the way through the third quarter with the Storm matching their biggest lead of seven points at 46-53. Another mini-run by the Sky this time a 5-2 deficit erasing spree saw the Storm clinging to a 56-51 lead after three-quarters of play.

 COLD SHOOTING FOURTH QUARTER

The Sky’s determination and pure grit saw them dwindle the Storm’s lead to just one point 59-58  with 5: 56 left in the game. The visitor’s unwillingness to lose saw them take a 68-65  lead on a  Cooper bucket with 2:27 left the game. The Storm went cold down the last two minutes of the game mustering just three more points to end the game with 68 points to the Chicago’s 73.  Cooper finished with a game-high 28 points.

While Seattle has clinched a playoff berth, having done so with last Sunday’s 85-78 victory at Washington, it was not able to close any ground on league-leading Connecticut or second-place Las Vegas to gain a double-bye into the semifinals. The Storm are two games behind the Sun (19-6) and one behind the Aces (18-7). 

LOYD STEAL MILESTONE

Loyd came up with her 250^th career steal, and it was an eye-catcher. Midway through the first quarter, Sue Bird had just scored on a driving lay-in to get Seattle within 11-8. Loyd stole the ensuing inbounds pass and laid it in to make it 11-10 with 4:48 left in the quarter. 

The Storm play the second half of their two-game home set against Chicago on Sunday, tipping off at 3:00 p.m. (KCPQ channel 13 in Seattle and Facebook).