GAME HIGHLIGHTS
— The Storm outscored the Wings by 15 (26-11) in the third quarter,
turning a 17-point halftime deficit into a two-point game entering the
fourth quarter, but could never get in front.
— Breanna Stewart tied a season-high with 28 points on 10-for-15 shooting,
while Jordin Canada registered nine points, nine assists and a
career-high five steals in her first career start.
KEY STAT OF THE GAME
— The Storm suffered a 36-26 margin on the glass and gave up 34 points in
the first quarter, the most allowed in any quarter this season. The team
was able to close the gap and tie the game twice midway through the
fourth quarter, but could not take the lead.
STORM HIGHLIGHTS
— Making her first career WNBA start, rookie Jordin Canada finished with
nine points. She also had nine assists and five steals, both of which
were career highs.
— Jordin Canada became just the second Storm rookie (Breanna Stewart,
2016) in franchise history to nab four or more steals in at least two
games in a single season.
— Jordin Canada’s five steals ties the franchise record for steals in a
game by a rookie. Lauren Jackson (2001) and Sue Bird (2002) also
accomplished the feat.
— Storm forward Natasha Howard scored the team’s first four points en
route to finishing with 19 points and nine rebounds.
— Natasha Howard posted two or more blocks in a game for the fifth time
this season. She now has 12 blocks in 2018.
— Jewell Loyd has now connected on 36 straight free throws after going
5-for-5 tonight (36-for-37 on the season).
— Seattle was without veterans Sue Bird (rest) and Crystal Langhorne
(right rib).
— Jordin Canada’s nine assists ties Breanna Stewart for second all-time in
the Storm record books for assists in a game for a rookie. Sue Bird
dished out 12 in a game during the 2002 campaign.
— Jewell Loyd saw her 20-point streak snap at five games. She finished
with 16 points on 5-for-17 shooting.
— Breanna Stewart has hit the 20-point mark five out of the six games this
season, including tonight’s 28 point effort.
— The Storm held the Wings to just 11 points in the third quarter, owning
a 26-11 advantage in the frame. The 11 points marked a season low for
points allowed by the Storm in any quarter.
— Seattle shot 87 percent from the free throw line, going 20-for-23 at the
stripe. The Storm has shot 87 percent or better in five of its seven
games this season.
HEAD COACH FRED WILLIAMS
(On team toughness) “Overall, I like the effort of our team to close out a close
game. It is a good lesson for us to learn this early in the season. This is a
tough league. Those are the types of teams that can come back and win games like
that.”
CENTER LIZ CAMBAGE
(On fighting in the game) “I think we were still thinking about the New York
game. We knew that we could not do that again. We put ourselves in a corner and
had to get out of it. We really should not have let that lead go. It is
frustrating but we have to get better. I guess winning the game is a step
better.”
GUARD SKYLAR DIGGINS-SMITH
(On team effort) “I think the effort was there. We kind of got some fouls too
and got in foul trouble. They got to the line and they got in the bonus. We made
clutch free throws at the end, especially in the last two and a half minutes. I
have to do a better job taking care of the ball down the stretch. But you have
to credit them. We were evenly matched tonight with them being without Sue
[Bird] and us without Glory [Johnson].”
HEAD COACH DAN HUGHES
Opening Statement
“I thought they did a great job coming out, we were kind of flat, we weren’t as
active as we normally are. We did a good job from about the middle of the second
quarter on, and kind of put ourselves back in the basketball game. But down the
stretch, I thought we had a hard time dealing with (Liz) Cambage, I thought she
was really good. She made it in face-offs and she made it back to the basket.”
On adjustments to game plan without Sue Bird
“That’s tough, she’s obviously our leader. I think we evolved into kind of
dealing with it, but initially, you know, it’s not really something we would
have practiced to or planned to at that point. But I did think we finally
adjusted, finally understood who we were without Sue and made some headways. But
it’s just the separation, a 26-point lead is a lot to make up…She’ll be back,
obviously. It was my decision, this is our fifth game in ten days, and it’s just
a matter of she’s worked so hard to get herself in good condition and we want to
keep her there.”
Discussing the factor that sparkedsecond halfrally
“I thought defensively, we got way better in the third quarter. I thought Clarke
going onto (Skylar) DigginsSmith, she really played well, but at least I felt
like we were competing with her. But defensively, we played out of our defense
because we got stops, and we really didn’t do that consistently for the first
two quarters. We did a little bit towards the end of the second quarter, but now
all of a sudden it’s a different kind of game because we’re pretty good in
transition.”
FORWARD, BREANNA STEWART
Thoughts on the game
“Obviously, we had a slow start. I think that we fought and got ourselves back
into the game is what we’re going to take back to Seattle. We’ve had a long
stretch with six games played every other day, so it’ll be nice to go home and
have a few days off, regroup and practice and get better at what we need to.”
On personal performance
“Just really trying to be aggressive, trying to make some plays. Dallas doesn’t
have a deep bench right now, because of all their injuries, and we wanted to
really push the pace and try and attack them as much as possible.”
On guarding Liz Cambage
“Well, I’ve played against her internationally, but obviously she’s a force. Her
ability to post up and use her size, but she’s capable of dribbling and making
hoops. You have to guard her, I mean, she hit a three – you have to respect
that.”
GUARD, JEWEL LOYD
Thoughts on the game
“We didn’t start out too well. We kind of dug ourselves into a hole. Then second
quarter, third quarter, fourth quarter, we kind of got into a rhythm. But we
have to do a better job of starting the game.”
On perimeter defense vs dribble drive
“For us defensively, we try to cut the head off, get to Skylar (Diggins-Smith),
be aggressive on her, make her give the ball up. She kind of disrupted us early,
and our start was pretty slow. For them, I mean, we just didn’t make shots. The
shots that we normally make.”
Takeaways to prepare for Los Angeles
“We’re never out of games, clearly. We can be down 20 and come right back like
it’s nothing, and that’s just the fight of our team. We’re never out of games,
we never think the game’s over, we fight to the end.”
