Sun too hot to handle as Storm fall 81-69
By Jason Fridge, edited by Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - The energy was high at Climate Pledge Arena as “Storm into Stem Kids Day” packed the stands with kids and summer campers eager to enjoy a rare Tuesday matinee game. Seattle was coming home on one of its best stretches of the season yet, winning three of their previous four games, and sought to put on a show for their hometown crowd. In typical pacific northwest fashion, it took a while for the sun to poke through the afternoon clouds but once it started shining, there was no putting the fire out.
The Storm dropped their third meeting with the Connecticut Sun 81-69 in their first of a four game homestand throughout the next two weeks. The last time Connecticut made the cross country trip out to Seattle in early June, they squeaked away with an 85-79 win despite a 33 point performance from Storm guard Jewell Loyd. While the Storm had a strong start and kept things close in the first quarter, the strength and depth of the Sun’s lineup allowed them to jump out to a big lead and cruise to their 21st victory on the year.
The Connecticut Sun were able to dominate the second quarter of this contest, setting themselves up for their 21st victory of the season (Photos by Chris Lu)
A tale of two quarters
The first part of the opening quarter was all Seattle as they came out with a balanced attack and formed an early seven point lead. Rebecca Allen would come out as an immediate answer for Connecticut offensively as she scored the first nine points for the Sun. Despite a quiet first quarter from Jewell Loyd, who was coming off her ninth game with 30+ points Saturday against Phoenix, Gabby Williams and Ezi Magbegor took advantage of an aggressive Sun defense to find gaps and capitalize on good looks inside.
Going into the game the Storm were looking to have a bigger presence in the rebounding game, which had been a struggle in recent outings. Head Coach Noelle Quinn had preached the importance of a strong effort on the glass and the team answered her calling. Seattle grabbed five offensive boards and used this advantage to make up for missed shots from beyond the arc.
This point in the game seemed to be the peak of the Storm’s success, as a sloppy final two minutes gave the Sun a prime opportunity to build momentum as they went on a 7-0 run to close the quarter with a one point lead.
Second quarter is when the Sun really started to shine. Outside of two juice three-pointers from Sami Whitcomb and Jordan Horston, Seattle continued their offensive stall and allowed another stretch of 11 unanswered points. The aggressive defense that the Storm took advantage of in the first quarter was now working its magic, forcing many turnovers which Connecticut quickly turned into easy points on the other end.
Overall, Seattle seemed to lose the edge that they came out of the gates with and gave room for the Sun to take over the game. The rebounding margins that the Storm took advantage of early also flipped in favor of the Sun, who won the quarter 11-5 on the glass.
Another hiccup in the second would come late in the quarter when Gabby Williams would take an awkward fall off a rebound and be taken to the locker room. Williams did not return the rest of the afternoon and the spark she had brought to the offense left the court with her. Seattle was only able to put up 12 field goal attempts the entire quarter only posting 14 points.
DeWanna Bonner also got off to a slow start, ending the first quarter without recording a point, but seamlessly returned to her All Star status as she exploded for 14 points in the second. The cherry on top of this massive quarter was a buzzer beater three-pointer to suck the wind out of Seattle and send the Sun into the half-time break with a daunting 16 point lead.
Connecticut did not take their foot off the gas in the second half, as the Storm continued to settle for tough shots and struggled to find answers to the Sun’s aggressive defense. A bright spot came midway through the third quarter as a flurry of defensive stops and impressive ball movement on offense gave way to a two-minute stretch where the Storm scored eight unanswered points. At every point Seattle looked to be mounting a comeback, Bonner and fellow All Star Alyssa Thomas came with responses that silenced the crowd.
Bonner’s ability to stretch the floor combined with Thomas’ strength in the paint gave Connecticut the edge that they needed to cushion their lead and cruise to victory. Bonner finished with a game high 21 points and Thomas notched a double-double with 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists.
Seattle’s scoring was spread out all game as Loyd and Whitcomb led the team with 11 points a piece. Jordan Horston was a spark off the bench in the second half as she finished with 9 points and Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu gathered 12 rebounds to lead the teams effort.
Seattle Storm guard Jewell Loyd points something out to her teammates on offense (Photo by Chris Lu)
Rule number one, ball control
Coach Quinn mentioned pregame two things that the Storm were going to look to control in this afternoon’s matchup: rebounding and turnovers. Seattle was able to control the glass and win the rebounding battle, but as has become a theme the turnover margin did not come out in their favor. Seattle committed 16 turnovers throughout the game that the Sun turned into 23 points.
The stifling defense from Connecticut caused the Storm a lot of trouble, especially after Williams’ exit in the second quarter. They sent traps to Loyd nearly every time she touched the ball and despite the strong showing in the first quarter, the team couldn’t keep pace and struggled under the pressure.
“We were sending drag screens early, and getting some good looks offensively,” said Quinn. “Our post players were doing an excellent job being playmakers [in the first quarter] and we went away from that.”
Quinn pointed to the versatility of Connecticut’s post players as a key reason why their trap defense was so effective slowing down the storm.
“They’re long, they’re lengthy, and they’re physical,” said Quinn. “We’re not a physical team and when you try to match their physicality and a lot of times finesse, they’re gonna win that battle every single time.”
Another struggle that held the storm back throughout the game was the Storm’s struggle producing from beyond the arc. The team ranked sixth in the WNBA in three-point shooting percentage entering into Tuesday but shot 5/23 on the game. The lack of three point production only made it harder for Seattle to find their rhythm as Connecticut put their foot on the gas.
“For us, we do like to shoot the three and I think it was the one’s early on that we weren’t hitting that allowed those threes late to feel pressed,” said Quinn. “If we saw some going down early I think those threes later on would’ve been dropping because we’re a rhythm team. In general, I thought our offense was a little bit stagnant and got stuck when we got into halfcourt play.”
With a quick turnaround for another home game on Thursday, Quinn highlights the focus on these controllable parts of the game that will help to spark the team with energy when it does start to stall.
“We know that when we have proper shots on goal, take care of the ball, and play how we want on the offensive end then we can score some buckets”
What’s next?
As mentioned, the Storm don’t have much time to sit on this loss as preparation begins for another big matchup with the Atlanta Dream on Thursday. Seattle dropped their first meeting with the Dream last month on the road 85-75 during their rough 10 game losing streak. It’s a prime opportunity to put their regrets from Tuesday into action and take advantage of the home crowd’s support to get a strong win under their belt.
Tipoff for Thursday’s game at Climate Pledge Arena is scheduled for 7:00 PM PST.
