Breanna Stewart scored a team-high 22 points as the New York Liberty rallied from an 18-point deficit, sending the visiting Seattle Storm to their 10th consecutive loss with an 86-82 win on Tuesday night.
Liberty All-Star Sabrina Ionescu was held to 2-for-14 shooting, but she produced a triple-double with 12 points, a game-high 12 assists and 12 rebounds.
Stewart, who helped Seattle win two WNBA titles before leaving for her home state of New York in February, added seven rebounds and three blocks.
Storm guard Jewell Loyd scored a game-high 32 points, but she had just 10 second-half points and couldn’t do enough for Seattle (4-19) to earn what would’ve been its first win since June 24. The skid is the longest in Storm history and the longest active skid in the WNBA.
Ezi Magbegor added 22 points and a team-high 12 rebounds for Seattle.
New York (17-5), which completed a 4-0 sweep of its season series with Seattle, also got 19 points from Betnijah Laney.
New York center Jonquel Jones had a double-double of 13 points and a game-high 17 rebounds.
The Storm led after each of the first three quarters and entered the fourth leading 60-54. But the Liberty finally caught the Storm, 70-70, on Marines Johannes’ bucket with 4:36 left.
The teams traded leads a few times before Jones banked in a 3-pointer with 1:16 left to make it 79-77 New York. The Liberty iced it from the foul line from there, finishing the game 12-of-14 on free throws.
Loyd was on fire early on Tuesday. She scored 15 points in the first quarter as Seattle grabbed a 26-21 lead. She made 6 of 9 shots, including 3 of 5 on 3-pointers.
Seattle stretched its lead to 45-35 at halftime, with Loyd up to 22 points and 5-of-8 3-point shooting.
Stewart led New York with 10 first-half points, but she scored only two in the second quarter. Ionescu went scoreless in the second quarter, missing all five of her shots.
It was a shockingly poor first half for the Liberty, who on Sunday set a league record with a 44-point first quarter.
New York, though, roared back by closing the third quarter on a 13-3 run. Loyd scored just two points in the third.
–Field Level Media
