Bird, Smith lead Storm in 86-73 win over Shock

TULSA, Okla. – Sue Bird scored 21 points and Katie Smith added 17 as the Seattle Storm beat the winless Tulsa Shock 86-73 Friday night to snap a four-game WNBA losing streak.

Tina Thompson had 16 points on 5-for-6 shooting for Seattle (2-7), which has beaten Tulsa for both its wins this season. It also marked the Storm’s eighth consecutive victory against the Shock dating back to the 2010 season.

Bird connected on her first nine shots from the field before missing for the first time with 52.2 seconds left in the third quarter. The Storm shot 55 percent from the field.

“Tulsa is an aggressive team and you have to counter that by spacing the floor and we did that tonight,” said Seattle head coach Brian Agler. “Sue took it upon herself to get us going on offense and we had a good balance of scoring.”

Bird also became the first player to hit her first nine shots since San Antonio’s Danielle Robinson against the Shock last Sept. 11.

“Sue Bird showed tonight why she’s the best point guard in the world,” said Tulsa (0-9) head coach Gary Kloppenburg.