A third-quarter rally saw Seattle wipe away an eight-point halftime deficit before holding off a late Chicago surge as the Storm beat the visiting Sky 84-71 on Sunday.
Nneka Ogwumike led Seattle (14-7) with 24 points and 13 rebounds and had nine points in the third-quarter rally. Jewell Loyd scored a dozen points in the third and finished with 20. Skylar Diggins-Smith chipped in 15 points and eight assists. Ezi Magbegor added a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Sky rookie Angel Reese bundled 17 points with 14 rebounds to set a WNBA record with her 13th straight double-double. Reese had tied Candace Parker for the mark in Friday’s 88-84 win over the Storm.
Chennedy Carter paced Chicago (8-12) with 21 points, albeit on 7-for-22 shooting. Marina Mabrey chipped in 14 points and six assists, while reserve Isabelle Harrison tallied 11 points.
The Sky held a 39-31 halftime lead after holding Seattle to just 29.4 percent shooting. But while Chicago used a 30-point third quarter to sink the Storm on Friday, this time Seattle turned the tables with a 29-14 edge in the third to take control.
The Storm’s 24-5 run over the first 7 1/2 minutes of the second half proved decisive. Loyd and Ogwumike accounted for 18 of those points as Seattle shot 11-for-17 (64.7 percent) for the quarter.
The hosts stretched the lead to 14 points on a Diggins-Smith jumper with 7:13 to play before the Sky crept back. Chicago pulled within 72-69 on a pair of Carter free throws with 2:49 left before the Storm scored the next 12 points to seal the win.
The Storm made 19 of 35 shots (54.3 percent) in the second half en route to outshooting Chicago 42 percent to 37.2 percent overall.
Seattle won the teams’ season series 2-1.
–Field Level Media
