Breanna Stewart stuffed the stat sheet in scoring a team-high 20 points Sunday as the New York Liberty never trailed in an 81-66 win over the host Seattle Storm.
Stewart, who left the Storm in the offseason to sign with New York, added eight rebounds, six assists and five steals. Courtney Vandersloot added 18 points and 13 assists, while Sabrina Ionescu chipped in 13 points and Betnijah Laney hit for 10.
The Liberty (11-4) led by as many as 22 points and hurt Seattle in the transition game with 19 fast-break points. New York connected on 46.5 percent of its field-goal attempts and came up with 16 steals, helping them score 19 points off turnovers.
WNBA scoring leader Jewell Loyd surpassed her 25.7 scoring average with a game-high 27 points for Seattle, sinking 6 of 10 tries from 3-point range. But she didn’t get enough help from her teammates. Ezi Magbegor added 12 points and nine rebounds, while Kia Nurse and reserve Sami Whitcomb each added 10 points. Just two other teammates scored.
The Storm (4-12) made just 35.4 percent of their tries from the field and were outrebounded 37-33. They trailed by double figures for most of the last 2 1/2 quarters and dropped their third consecutive game and fifth in their last six.
Both teams entered focused on making defensive improvements after nearly allowing 100 points in their previous games, but only New York was able to put it into action. The Liberty owned a 13-3 lead less than five minutes in after a Vandersloot layup and took a 26-14 advantage to the second period.
An 11-2 New York run late in the second quarter, capped by five points in a two-second span that featured a technical foul on Seattle, allowed it to expand its margin to 44-27 at halftime.
The cushion reached 51-29 at the 6:33 mark of the third quarter when Vandersloot sank a pair of free throws. Loyd tried to rally the Storm with a rare 4-point play and then a 3-pointer later in the quarter but they still trailed 64-48 going to the fourth period.
–Field Level Media
