Another close game lost, another lesson learned for the Seattle Storm. On Thursday night Storm guard Jewell Loyd scored a career 41 points but it was for naught as the Storm suffered a 99-97 overtime loss to the Minnesota Lynx. The two teams were completing their home-to-home two-game set. The Lynx won Tuesday’s game in Minnesota 104- 93 with a physically aggressive style that overwhelmed the Storm. After the loss Storm head coach Noelle Quinn pointed out that her team lacked physicality on both ends of the court and focus on basic defensive schemes.
SLOW START
With a focus on fundamentals and execution, the Storm looked to be thinking too much as the game began. The result of the overthinking equated to a slow start for the Storm who trailed by 13 points halfway through the quarter. A 5-0 run to end the first quarter saw the Storm give hope to the fans and avoided a disastrous first quarter. Quinn started Joyner Holmes for Mercedes Russell to aid with the physicality and the plan worked early on. Despite making 6 of 19 shots the Storm outrebounded the Lynx 12-11. The Lynx 11 of 20 shooting from the floor gave them a 25-17 lead after the first.
SECOND QUARTER
Continued focus on the defense allowed the Storm to get out in transition and find its rhythm in the quarter and narrow the lead to three points at 25-22. The Lynx continued its hot shooting and ballooned its lead to 11 points at 45-34. A 12-2 run to finish the quarter put the Storm in striking distance at the halftime break down just two points at 48-46.
STRONG THIRD QUARTER
With Loyd practically scoring at will the Storm were able to keep up with the Lynx who continued their hot shooting streak. Loyd had 24 points to lead the Storm and surpass the Lynx’s Collier who had 21 points to lead the visitors. It is no accident that the two teams were deadlocked at 73 all after the third quarter. Collier and Loyd put on an absolute shooting clinic.
FOURTH LIKE THE THIRD
The two teams cooled down in the fourth quarter with both side scoring just 14 points and neither squad able to pull away from the other.The Storm had no answer for Collier and the Lynx had no answer for Loyd. As a result, the game was tied at 87 all after four quarters of play and went into overtime.
GOOD START IN EXTRA TIME
Sami Whitcomb’s three-pointer to start the overtime energized the home crowd. The euphoria was short-lived. On the next play, Ivan Dojkic fouled the Lynx Lindsay Allen who completed a three-point play to tie the game at 90 all. Loyd answered with a three-pointer that was quickly answered by Collier who made two free throws to cut the lead to one point. Loyd hit an 11-point jumper to expand the lead to three points at 95-92. Other defensive laps saw a wide-open Kayla Mcbride hit a deep three-pointer to tie the game at 95 all. A Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu layup gave the Storm their last lead of the night at 97 to 95.
A Diamond Miller‘s driving layup with 11 seconds tied the game at 97-97. With the ball in hand, the Storm had a chance to win the game. The Midcourt inbounds pass to Loyd saw the ball go off her foot after a couple of dribbles. The turnover by Loyd gave the ball back to the Lynx who called a time out. After a time the Lynx’s Collier caught the inbounds pass took a couple of dribbles to her right then spun back to her left and hit the game-winner with 1.1 seconds left in the game.
BIG TAKE A AWAY
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- STUDS and DUDS from Sounders’ 1-0 win over Dynamo FC
- Mariners waste strong Emerson Hancock start in 1-0 loss to Angels
- Sounders pull a classic “smash and grab” 1-0 win over Dynamos
- Mariners lean heavily on Bryan Woo in historic 3-1 win vs. Angels
This is a game the Storm could have put away several times in the fourth and overtime period. The lack of execution on the defensive end led to some key rebounds by the Lynx and lack of communication allowed too many open shots. Yes, this was a better effort than the previous game but it is not about moral victories. There is a handful of games the Storm will have a chance to win, this was one of them.
Nice meeting you last night. One thing I’m not sure if I mentioned, the refs were terrible (this is not news, they’ve been bad all season all across the league). Jewell was getting absolutely mauled out there. I’m not surprised that the team that got 4 fouls vs 0 in their favor won in OT.
As far as the Storm themselves? They need to rebound better. I commented on Dulcy as (for a wee rookie), she hustles down there…We miss Horston on this too, as she is aggressive with boards. And yes, I do question some of the rotations.