After a rocky shooting slump in the Storm’s first two games of the season, Jewell Loyd is back to her normal self. Loyd scored a game-high 32 points to lead the Storm to a gritty 85 to 83 win over the Indiana Fever in front of a Climate Pledge Arena record crowd of 18,343. Loyd’s 32 points is on the back end of a 13-point, 9-rebound loss to the New York Liberty. Loyd scored 24 points in the Storm’s first win against the Mystics on May 19th at Washington. In the Storm’s home and away two-game series with the Minnesota Lynx Loyd scored 30 points but shot a paltry 7 of 40 from the field. The bottom line is when Loyd is making her shots the Storm win.
CONNECTIVITY
In her pregame press conference head coach Noell Quinn talked about how the team continues to be more connected with each other. The result according to Quinn is a team in synch on both ends of the floor.
“ I think that we are not there yet but I thought there were great moments where the connectedness show with Skylar Diggins-Smith on Caitlin Clark, Sammy Whitcomb hitting that three and Jordan playing Kelsey Mitchell tough,” Quinn said after the game.
“It starts with the point of attack and with impacting the ball on defense.”
THE RETURN OF NECK OGWUMIKE HELPED
Nneka Ogwumike returned to the Storm lineup after missing the last two games with an ankle injury and finished the game with a season-high 22 points and nine rebounds. Rookie Nika Muhl saw her first action of the season and received roaring applause from the crowd. Muhl played a little over two minutes and missed her only three-pointer. Muhl was introduced to the fast pace of the WNBA by fellow rookie Caitlin Clark when Clark went after Muhl on a pull-up jumper to prove who was the better rookie. The WNBA’s rookie attraction was 6 of 16 from the field and made 2 of 8 three-pointers to finish the game with 21 points. For Storm head coach Noelle Quinn the return of Ogwumike was a difference maker in the game
TEAM EFFORT ON OFFENSE
Rounding out the double-digit scoring for the Storm was Ezi Magbegor who chipped 14 points and pulled down six rebounds and Sami Whitcomb who finished with ten points. But this in was really about team defense and the willingness of all the Storm players to hustle for loose balls, grab the errand rebounds, and win the jump balls.
“ Having players like Sammy, Jordan, and Victoria coming in making the big plays is important for us, Ogwumike said after the game. “ People are just stepping up and people need to know their role, tonight was great and important for this team moving forward”.
GAME NOTES
–The Storm hit 41.5 percent from the floor (34 of 82). Along with Loyd’s 12 of 24, Ogwumike drained 10 of 15. She is at 62.2 percent for the season (28 of 45).
— Seattle cut way down on its turnovers, committing just nine that led to just six points for the Fever.
— With her visa issue now cleared up, rookie guard Nika Muhl made her official pro debut, coming in with 2:39 left in the third quarter. She grabbed two rebounds and had a good look at a 3-pointer that barely rimmed out.
–Loyd had three double-doubles in her first 286 career games. Wednesday’s was her second of the season and her fourth in the past nine games, dating back to last year.
UP NEXT
The Storm has an off day on Thursday, return to practice on Friday, then tip off against the Washington Mystics on Saturday at 6:00 p.
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