Breanna Stewart scored 17 of her 25 points in the first half and the Seattle Storm withstood a second-half surge from the visiting Indiana Fever in an 81-65 victory Sunday.
Jewell Loyd and Tina Charles each added 15 points and Ezi Magbegor tacked on 10 for the Storm (17-8), who are in the midst of a four-game winning streak. Seattle is 6-1 since Charles joined the team.
Indiana (5-22), which lost its ninth game in a row, had balanced scoring with NaLyssa Smith notching 15 points, Emma Cannon tallying 14 and Queen Egbo chipping in 13.
Storm guard Sue Bird, in her fourth-to-last home game in the regular season, was scoreless in 24 minutes. She missed all three of her shots from the field, though she delivered a team-high six assists. She’s retiring at season’s end.
Stewart shot 9-for-21 from the field, including a 4-for-9 mark from beyond the 3-point arc. The rest of the Storm was a combined 2-for-16 on 3s. It was Stewart’s highest point total in the last seven games.
Stewart shared team-high rebounding honors with Gabby Williams with eight boards apiece.
The Storm were up 42-31 at halftime despite the Fever scoring the last five points before the break.
Indiana then pulled within 44-41 in the third quarter. Shortly after, Tina Charles hit a trio of shots for six straight points to help the Storm get back on track.
Seattle scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter for a 62-48 edge. The Fever managed just one basket in the first 2 1/2 minutes of the final frame. After trailing by 18 points, Indiana produced six points in the last two minutes.
The Fever ended up with 19 turnovers and shot 4-for-24 (16.7 percent) from 3-point range. Indiana also was 13-for-20 on free throws in losing for the third time in three meetings this season with the Storm.
–Field Level Media