GAME HIGHLIGHTS
— Seattle continued its dominance at home against Washington, improving to
13-1 against the Mystics since the 2006 season at KeyArena.
— For the third-straight game, Jewell Loydand Breanna Stewart eclipsed the
20-point mark, finishing with 27 and 25, respectively.
— The Storm opened the game 7-for-8 from the floor, including 3-for-3 from
deep, to take a 17-8 lead at the first media timeout of the first
quarter. Jewell Loydstarted 3-for-4, hitting two three’s to kick-start
the run.
KEY STATS OF THE GAME
— Seattle outscored Washington in the paint, 42-30.
— Of Washington’s 14 turnovers, Seattle forced five of them in the fourth
quarter, including a game-sealing steal byNatasha Howard with 1.7
seconds left to play.
— The Storm ended the first quarter with a 24-12 run in the final 7:37 and
kept in front for the remainder of the first half, entering the locker
room with a slight 41-39 edge.
STORM HIGHLIGHTS
— Four the first time in her career, Jewell Loyd scored 20 or more points
in four straight games, finishing with a game-high 27 on 10-for-18
shooting. She also pulled down a team-best eight rebounds.
— Breanna Stewartnailed a season-high 11 field goals en route to scoring
25 points to go along with five rebounds and three assists.
— With the win, Dan Hughesimproved to 4-1 overall and notched the best
start for a first-year head coach in franchise history. In 2008, Brian
Agler went 3-2 in his first five games, while Anne Donovan (2003) and
Jenny Boucek (2015) issued 2-3 records in their first five contests. Lin
Dunn, Seattle’s first-ever head coach, started 1-4 during the 2000
campaign. Gary Kloppenburg, one of the Storm’s current assistant
coaches, started 4-1 as an interim head coach when he took over in Aug.
2017.
— Seattle’s 29 first-quarter points tied a season high, which the Storm
set on 5/27/18 at Las Vegas. Seattle shot 12-for-18 in the first
quarter, including 4-for-8 from deep. Once again, Breanna Stewartand
Jewell Loydshouldered the load offensively early on, tallying 14 and 10
points, respectively, in the quarter.
— Jewell Loydhas now connected on 28 straight free throws after going
4-for-4 tonight (28-for-29 on the season).
— Sue Birdnabbed two steals tonight to move to 623 for her career, tying
Katie Douglas for sixth all-time in the WNBA.
— Seattle won despite shooting a season-low 10 free throws, connecting on
eight of them.
— Natasha Howardscored in double figures for the fourth time this season,
registering 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting.
— Sue Bird registered five or more assists for the third time this season,
logging a game-high seven in 24 minutes of play.
— Seattle is starting 4-1 or better for the fifth time in franchise
history. The Storm also went 4-1 in its first five games in 2017, 2010,
2008 and 2005.
MYSTICS HIGHLIGHTS
— Kristi Tolivernetted a team- and season-high 20 points on 7-for-16
shooting.
— Myisha Hines-Allen recorded 10 points and 11 rebounds for her second
double-double of the season.
— Tierra Ruffin-Prattdished out a season-high five assists.
— Tianna Hawkinstied a career-high 17 points on 7-for-14 shooting. She
also matched that high of 17 this season against Las Vegas on 5/22.
— Rookie Ariel Atkinsscored a career high with 18 points on 6-for-14
shooting.
— The Mystics, which were off to their first 4-0 start in franchise
history, dropped their first game of the season.
— Washington played without Elena Delle Donne due to illness.
NEXT GAME:Seattle returns to the hardwood on Thursday against Las Vegas. Tipoff
is set for 7 p.m./PT at KeyArena
MYSTICS HEAD COACH MIKE THIBAULT
(On the game)
“I just told them that I was proud of how we played. We’re about as shorthanded
as you can get right now. We’re missing a lot of really good players and we
battled all night and had a chance. The flagrant (foul) call was a huge turning
point in the game. It was a three-point game at the time and that’s a big
possession. I can’t understand it, I don’t know it and I’ll have to go back and
look at it. I thought we tried to do some of the things that we needed to get
better at, but they just made a couple more shots than us. They shoot 46 percent
and we shoot 43 percent and that’s the difference in the game. We made more
threes, but they got a few more up than us.”
(On what happened in the last minute)
“We have some young players on the floor, made a couple mistakes. I gambled on
their last play when we were down one and how we were going to play it and
Jewell Loyd made me pay for it. That’s on me. We changed one thing defensively
and we ended up letting her have a free shot – that’s on me.” (On their quick
turnaround playing at Phoenix tomorrow night) “Yeah, the whole week is a quick
turnaround. I haven’t even started looking at Phoenix film. I told our players
that we get the opportunity to go play basketball instead of doing something
else tomorrow. We could be working somewhere else so get some sleep, get some
rest tomorrow and go see what happens.” (On if he expects any players back
against Phoenix) “We’ll get LaToya Sanders maybe, but she’s going to be on
limited minutes tomorrow. I don’t think we’re going to have anybody else back.”
MYSTICS GUARD KRISTI TOLIVER
(On the game)
“We played hard. Obviously we were shorthanded, but we didn’t want to use that
as an excuse. We believe in everybody’s abilities and everybody makes
contributions on this team. We fought until the end and certain plays didn’t go
our way, but Seattle played hard, too, and obviously wanted to protect their
home court. Overall, it was a good game, but I just wish we were on the other
end of it.”
(On what the difference was at the end of the game)
“They were able to make more plays than we did down the stretch. They were able
to execute. They got Jewell (Loyd) and (Breanna Stewart) going and we missed
some defensive assignments. Our communication wasn’t so great, but we also just
put in new schemes today so I think we did a very good job of learning on the
fly. That shows the growth of this team compared to last year with us adapting
to new things as they come.”
STORM HEAD COACH DAN HUGHES
(On the game overall)
“It was a good basketball game. We knew Washington had a second half against
Minnesota without [Elena] Delle Donne and had been able to pull that game out,
so we were aware Delle Donne didn’t play; they were a successful team you got to
tip your hat they are good team. They are good with her and they are good
without here. I was really pleased down stretch, I thought Alysha Clark came in;
Toliver had been really carrying them, we switched it up and put Alysha on her.
Her work on Toliver was really exceptional. That’s her role, to help us in those
situations. There were periods of really good play for us and periods where it
was tough, that is a tribute to Washington. I think that they make it tough on
everybody, but I was really glad to see us have the lead and play with the lead
against a good basketball team and find a way to finish.”
(On keeping the team fresh during this stretch of games)
“You do as much as you can without putting them back on the court. We do things
by film by maximizing the time that we are exerting energy. I think that that
the players do a good job of realizing that rest, nutrition, hydration and all
of those things; when you are in a schedule like this you have to be smart. You
have to mentally prepare them. We thought it through we came into the season,
knowing that. Our key is going to be in this stretch early, others are going to
have it some other time. We are just doing as much mental work as we can.”
(On what you’ve seen from Jewell Loyd over the last four games)
“What I have seen is maturity. This is a talented player but where she is
seeking to make plays I have really seen her mature in that stretch. Obviously,
she is getting attention, but she has had the patience to allow opportunities to
come and what she makes of those opportunities, she had 9 assists in the last
game against Las Vegas, she just played to spots on the floor that are
advantageous for basketball plays. She is making a lot of them, but she is also
creating for her teammates. That’s what I have really seen maturity of her
realizing where to take her game and where to place herself to be most
successful. I think that we’ve got several players doing that and she is one of
them. I sure extremely glad that she is on our team.”
(On the play of the bench)
Well I think that is the other thing you have to look at in this stretch it is
going to be important to use them and Jordan is a prize to watch. She has
learned something every day with that. Just the little things like them hitting
a timely shot and all that. That is something that we have to continue to
develop I don’t think that it is something we have arrived at yet, because this
schedule not only this stretch we are in but this schedule in general we are
going to need some timely plays to accomplish what we want to do.
STORM GUARD JEWELL LOYD
(On her four game scoring stretch)
“I just think in general my mindset is different. I think it definitely helped
being here early in the season and working out with Breanna [Stewart] and Sue
[Bird] and Ryan [Webb] and getting a rhythm of what is to come. I think our team
does a really good job of putting me in great spots and then trusting that I can
make the shot. I’m just really relaxed and not thinking and just want to not let
my teammates down for the most part.”
(On the schedule and having games every other night)
“We don’t want to lose. Our mindset is just that we’re going to go in here and
battle. We may not be able to shoot 100% all of the time or get beat a couple
times on defense, but we’re going to stay in games. We’re going to compete and
have that mindset of just to go out there and get it done as much as we can.
It’s tough but it’s what we do and it’s our job to be prepared every game and go
out there and compete.”
(On how to prepare for Las Vegas)
“We have film. We’re going to watch our game and watch their tendencies. Really
just approach this game how we approach every game, to go to our game plan,
execute, worry about us. We can’t always be concerned about other teams. If
we’re doing what we need to do on the offensive end and the defensive end, we’ll
be alright. Obviously they’re a really good team, they came back and stuff but
if we do what we do things will come in our favor.”
STORM FORWARD BREANNA STEWART
(On the differences she sees in Jewell Loyd’s game)
“I just think the way she goes into the game and plays the game. There may be
quarters that aren’t so amazing, that we don’t shoot the ball well or she
doesn’t shoot the ball well but she lets the game continue to come to her and
makes big plays down the stretch when we need her most.”
(On playing a Mystics team without Elena Delle Donne)
“I think that every game is a grind and to Sue’s point at halftime, they only
had 11 active players. Usually when you have a team like that and you know
you’re missing your best player and other players, you just go out and you have
nothing to lose and play with that mindset. Obviously they have a west coast
swing right now so they want to get these wins while they can and hopefully get
their players back as soon as possible.”
(On what kept the Mystics a few points behind down the stretch)
“I think it was the play where Sue got hit, honestly. When you have someone who
is our leader and obviously really important to this team go down like that,
especially at home, we have to step up for her. We didn’t know what was going to
happen. Thankfully she came back into the game but we knew we needed to close
out the game and that’s what we did.”
