Skylar Diggins-Smith had 21 points and Jewell Loyd added 19 as the visiting Seattle Storm won their third in a row, 77-68 over the Chicago Sky on Tuesday night.
Diggins-Smith and Loyd combined for 19 of the 26 points scored in a breakout third quarter by Seattle (4-3), which shot 43.8 percent for the game and took advantage of 21 Chicago turnovers. The Storm, though, saw a 19-point fourth-quarter lead cut to five by a 16-2 Chicago run.
However, Diggins-Smith hit a key 3-pointer from the wing with 2:25 left in regulation for a 76-68 Storm lead.
Star rookie Angel Reese had 11 points and 12 rebounds and Dana Evans scored 13 for the Sky (2-3), who shot 41 percent while falling to 0-2 at home.
The Storm led 38-37 at halftime, but Elizabeth Williams (12 points, eight rebounds) and Evans combined for the first four points of the third to give the Sky a 41-38 lead. That’s when Diggins-Smith and Loyd took over as Seattle scored 16 of the next 18 points.
The stretch was highlighted by an old-fashioned three-point play from Diggins-Smith, who scored 11 in the third. Loyd, who grew up in suburban Chicago, had eight points during that period.
With four points from Nneka Ogwumike (10 points), Seattle used an 11-0 run to conclude the third and open the fourth to push its lead to 71-52 and seemingly take control. Marina Mabrey’s 3-pointer and five points from Reese highlighted a surge that got the Sky within 73-68.
Victoria Vivians had seven first-quarter points for the Storm, who used a 6-0 run to lead by seven. Ogwumike’s bucket put Seattle ahead 24-18.
Chicago scored the next seven, spanning the end of the first quarter and into the second, to lead 25-24.
The game went back and forth, with four straight points from Mabrey giving Chicago a 33-29 lead late in the second quarter. But two free throws from Loyd put the Storm ahead by one at the break.
–Field Level Media
