After 10 seasons with the Seattle Storm, Jewell Loyd will return to the Pacific Northwest on Sunday when the Las Vegas Aces pay what is expected to be an emotional visit to the Storm.
Lloyd was traded to the Aces in February in a three-team deal that also involved the Los Angeles Sparks.
Loyd prepared for the visit by making a 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds remaining as the Aces (2-1) earned a 75-72 comeback victory over the Washington Mystics on Friday in their home opener.
The game-winner helped Loyd overcome a 2-of-9 shooting night as Jackie Young scored 25 points, Chelsea Gray had 17 and A’ja Wilson added 15 points with 12 rebounds. Wilson also dished out five helpers to cross 500 assists for her career.
Now, Loyd returns to where she was a two-time WNBA champion, 2015 Rookie of the Year, six-time All-Star and an All-Star Game MVP. She led the WNBA in scoring in 2023 with 24.7 points per game. But Aces’ goals will be on her mind now.
“We want to win; this team is just built that way,” Loyd said of her new team on the “Bird’s Eye View” podcast. “The standard is excellence and that is what you see every time you walk into the practice facility. We want to stay healthy and get back to what Vegas wants to do.”
The Storm (2-1) held off the Phoenix Mercury 77-70 in their home opener Friday as Skylar Diggins scored 24 points and tied Sue Bird’s franchise record with 14 assists.
“It means a lot, especially with a decorated franchise,” Diggins said of setting the team assist record against her former team. “It’s why I came here. Just looking up to people like Sue Bird and trying to continue that legacy.
“But it shows the special group that we have. When you play with great players, you have a lot of options to pass it to.”
Nneka Ogwumike also scored 24 points with eight rebounds, while Gabby Williams scored 11 points for the Storm.
Seattle trailed 61-54 with 3:37 remaining in the third quarter before going on a 12-0 run to lead 66-61 with 8:50 left in regulation.
The game was tied at 70 with 4:48 remaining and Seattle never gave up a point the rest of the way. The Mercury were 0-of-5 from the floor in the final 3:07 and 3-of-18 (16.7 percent) in the fourth quarter, during which the Storm held a 15-9 scoring advantage.
–Field Level Media
