Seattle Storm ride balanced attack to 82-74 win over Minnesota Lynx

The Storm weathered a blistering offensive assault from Minnesota guard Odyssey Sims and relied on a balanced scoring attack to capture an 82-74 victory Sunday at Alaska Airlines Arena.

Jordin Canada, who missed the previous game on Friday due to a shoulder injury, returned to the lineup and finished with 14 points and six assists for Seattle, which snapped a two-game skid and improved to 15-13.

Jewell Loyd also returned to the starting lineup for the first time in nearly month since a nagging ankle injury forced her into a reserve role.

Before logging 15 points off the bench on Friday, the two-time All-Star guard had been mired in a five-game scoring slump – the longest in her career – while averaging 6.0 points during the stretch.

On Sunday, Loyd poured in 13 points, five rebounds and three assists.

All-Star forward Natasha Howard added 13 points and six rebounds while center Mercedes Russell chipped in 10 points and six rebounds.

Sharpshooter Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis added 11 points, including three three-pointers off the bench and Alysha Clark had 10 points.

The Storm had all five starters score in double figures, which was more than enough to counter a 30-point performance from Sims.

Minnesota (13-14) also received 16 points from Napheesa Collier and Sylvia Fowles had 11.

The Storm kept the Lynx scoreless for the first five minutes and bolted to an 11-0 midway in the first quarter.

However, Seattle led 21-14 after the opening frame before taking a 48-39 lead into halftime.

The Storm led 67-63 at the start of the fourth before pushing its lead to 80-68 after a pair of Howard free throws.