Jewell Loyd, Natasha Howard lift Storm over Fever
Needing a basket to unlock a tie with Indiana in the final seconds, the Storm turned to Jewell Loyd and Natasha Howard to make a play.
“We were all really relaxed,” Loyd said. “We were kind of joking and smiling going out there. We had confidence that we would get a good shot attempt.”
Howard got the ball on the wing and handed off to Loyd who curled around her screen and dribbled into the paint for a soft layup over two Indiana defenders with 24.6 seconds left.
At the other end, 6-foot-6 center Mercedes Russell forced 5-7 guard Erica Wheeler into an awkward mid-range jumper that rolled off the rim to Howard who canned a pair of free throws to seal a 65-61 victory Sunday afternoon.
The Storm’s first game at Alaska Airlines Arena on the University of Washington campus will not be remembered as an artistic masterpiece by the 7,211 in attendance because both teams combined to miss 80 shots and were held to season-low scoring performances.
Seattle converted 38.7% of its field goals and hit just 5 of 23 3-pointers while Indiana shot 34.4% from the floor and made 4 of 15 behind the arc.
And yet, Seattle coach Dan Hughes savored this victory more than the blowout 84-62 win Friday over Los Angeles because Seattle made game-winning plays on both ends of the court at the end.
“You see your team grind a win and those almost taste a little better,” Hughes said. “You got to win your share of these if you’re going to be the type of team you want to be.
“When the ball goes in the basket and there’s a lot of momentum there, I love those days. But we also want to win games where it’s a grind. We talk about embracing the grind because it’s inevitable with the amount of games we play.”
Seattle squandered a 60-54 lead with 2:47 remaining when Indiana went on a 7-1 run. Wheeler hit two free throws to tie the game at 61-61 with 35.1 seconds left.
Hughes called a timeout and drew up a play for Howard and Loyd in the huddle.
“It’s a nice two-man game with me and Tosh,” said Loyd, who finished with a game-high 21 points, five rebounds and four steals to offset five turnovers. “Sometimes she’ll take it and fake it off.
“I was able get open when she set a nice little brush screen for me to get downhill. I saw the opening and all I was trying to do to make sure I get it high on the backboard.”
Still, the Fever had one last chance to answer.
“We knew Wheeler was going to take the last shot,” Howard said about the Indiana guard who scored eight of her team-high 18 points in the fourth quarter. “We put her in tough situations. We made sure we didn’t foul when she was going up for her shot.
“(Russell) took that challenge with Wheeler and she used her length on Wheeler to not (let) her penetrate to the paint or kick it out to somebody for a wide-open shot. She used her length and got in a defensive stance.”
Midway in the fourth, Howard set the tone defensively when she chased down Kelsey Mitchell and swatted her fast-break layup attempt into the crowd.
“I didn’t want Indiana to feel comfortable,” said Howard, who tallied 17 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals. “When I did that the crowd went crazy and that’s when we were like, ‘We got this.’ ”
On a day when its bench scored just three points, the Storm received significant contributions from Alysha Clark and Shavonte Zellous, who both scored 11 points and hit timely baskets in the fourth.
Seattle (7-4) forced 19 turnovers that led to 21 points and aside from Wheeler and Mitchell (13 points), the Storm held every Indiana player to less than eight points.
The Fever was limited to 14 points or fewer in every quarter except the second when Indiana (5-6) scored 23.
“That’s about the only time … we weren’t ready to guard their action,” Hughes said. “They made us pay.”