Jewell Loyd scored 28 points to help the host Seattle Storm overcome Tina Charles’ triple-double and beat the Atlanta Dream 85-81 on Wednesday.
Nneka Ogwumike added 18 points and Skylar Diggins-Smith had 16 points and nine assists to lead the Storm (19-11), who are 2-3 since returning from the Olympic break.
Loyd scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter for Seattle. She also hit a go-ahead three-pointer with 23.3 seconds remaining as the Storm outscored the Dream 26-19 in the final quarter. Loyd scored 12 points in the quarter and nearly outscored Atlanta (10-20) by herself.
Charles finished with 19 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists to record the first triple-double in franchise history. Allisha Gray led Atlanta with 22 points while Rhyne Howard was held to 12 points on 4-for-15 shooting from the floor.
Atlanta entered the fourth quarter with a 62-59 lead but committed six turnovers in the frame that led to 10 points for Seattle. The Dream shot 50 percent from the floor in the final quarter but missed all four of their shots from beyond the arc. Atlanta shot 6-of-21 from deep in the loss.
The Storm got off to an early lead thanks in part to their long-range shooting. Seattle hit 4 of 7 shots from beyond the arc in the first quarter with Loyd hitting 3 of 4 to help the Storm take a 23-16 lead after one quarter. The Dream were also hot from deep in the first quarter, knocking down 4 of 6 shots from beyond the arc but they would hit only two more 3-pointers the rest of the game.
Gray scored 10 of her 22 points in the second quarter to help Atlanta cut into its deficit, heading into the half down 43-40. Gray and Ogwumike led all scorers with 13 points each in the half.
In the third quarter, Charles scored eight points and had eight rebounds to give the Dream, who have lost three in a row after winning their first three games following the Olympic break, a three-point advantage entering the fourth quarter.
–Field Level Media
