Storm heads into Olympic break by turning down the Mercury

EVERETT – Missing two of its key members, it would have made sense for the Seattle Storm’s bench to look out of sorts.

Instead, the Storm’s second unit, led by sharpshooter Epiphanny Prince, set the pace Sunday night, allowing the starters to find their rhythm and enter the WNBA Olympic break on a high note as the team beat the Phoenix Mercury 82-75.

Looking to rebound from its 85-77 loss in Phoenix, the Storm needed a bright start. However, it was the Mercury who brought the energy from the tipoff. Jewell Loyd and Breanna Stewart were held scoreless in the first quarter, but unlike Friday night, it wasn’t the Mercury’s dynamic duo of Skyler Diggins-Smith and Brittney Griner who punished them.

Phoenix found success running its offense through small forward Kia Nurse, who hit two 3-pointers on her way to an eight-point first quarter to give the Mercury to an early lead. Seattle was able to stay in the game due to the play of Katie Lou Samuelson. The forward put up eight points on 4-of-5 shooting in the first quarter, outscoring her points per game season average in just 10 minutes of play.

Led by Prince and Kennedy Burke, Seattle took the lead shortly after the end of the first quarter. The former poured in nine points, while the latter added four points on 66% shooting from the floor.

Seattle’s bench built a platform for the starters to find their stroke. Stewart finally scored her first basket with 7 minutes left in the second quarter and finished with six points in the half. But Griner and Diggins-Smith also began to heat up with the duo combining for 19 points in the first half and cutting Seattle’s lead to 44-39 at halftime.

Out of halftime, the game was all Storm. Loyd hit her first three-pointer just one minute into the third quarter, and Bird added two more from deep. A Stewart three confirmed the return of the Storm’s offense, pushing the lead to 18 points.

Besides the bench play and the offense of Samuelson, the Storm also did a better job on defense Sunday. The team held Griner and Diggins-Smith, who combined for 55 points in Friday night’s loss, to just 33. The Phoenix center ended the game with 16 points on 8 of 18 shooting, while the guard added 17 points while shooting 33% from the field.

Without WNBA legend Diana Taurasi, who sat for a third straight game with a thigh injury, the Storm forced the Mercury to look for other options. Phoenix tried to answer with Nurse, who finished the game with a season-high 28 points on 9 of 19 shooting, including a 7 of 14 performance from three-point range. However, it wasn’t enough to offset the well balanced offense of the Storm.

Stewart, Samuelson, and Bird all finished the night in double digits, and Prince led Seattle’s scorers with 15. As a team, the Storm shot 48.4% from the field and 37% from beyond the arc. Bird and Prince both hit from deep three times.

Seattle will return from the Olympic break Aug. 12 when they take on the Connecticut Sun for the first Commissioners Cup finale.