Storm lose to Sky as they are eliminated from WNBA playoff race

SEATTLE – The Storm are heading to the WNBA lottery for the first time since 2016.

Sunday’s 90-85 defeat against the Chicago Sky at Climate Pledge Arena eliminated the Storm from playoff race.

Jewell Loyd and Sami Whitcomb each tallied 19 points and Ezi Magbegor had 15 for the Storm (10-25), which has lost four of its past five games.

Mercedes Russell came off the bench and poured in 11 of her season-high 13 points to stake the Storm to a 29-23 lead at the end of the first quarter. It was her first time in double-digit scoring tallying in 25 games.

Marina Mabrey scored nine of her 16 points in the second quarter for the Sky, which seized control and went up 44-40 after her three-pointer with 3:59 left.

However, the Storm finished the first half on a 15-2 run, including nine straight points.

Loyd capped the spurt with a step-back three-pointer over Courtney Williams with 2.5 seconds left for a 55-46 lead at the break.

Whitcomb dropped on of her four 3-pointers that gave Seattle its biggest lead at 64-50 when the Sky regained momentum and cut its deficit to 66-64 with 2:26 left.

Once again, the Storm finished a quarter on a spurt. This time they went on an 11-2 run to take a 75-68 lead at the end of the third.

The Storm led 85-81 with 3:37 left and went scoreless the rest of the way.

After Courtney Williams drained a long jumper over Russell to pull within 85-83, Kahleah Copper poked the ball away from Loyd to prevent a fast break then raced to the corner in front of the Storm bench and knocked down three-pointer that put Chicago up 86-85 with 2:15 left.

It was the Sky’s first lead since late in the second quarter.

The Storm came up empty on the next four offensive possessions, including three long three-pointers from Loyd.

The Storm have five games remaining, including a four-game road trip that starts Thursday against the Los Angeles Sparks (15-19).