Breanna Stewart scored 25 points and the Seattle Storm tied a franchise record for points and set a WNBA record for assists in a 111-100 victory over the host Chicago Sky on Tuesday night.
The victory for the Storm (21-13) could be key for playoff positioning as the regular season winds down. With just two games to go, the Sky (25-9) still have a narrow advantage over the Las Vegas Aces for the top seed.
Stewart was one of six Seattle players to score in double digits in Chicago, and she also tallied nine rebounds, five assists and a steal. Gabby Williams added 21 points, Jewell Loyd had 18, Tina Charles scored 14, Ezi Magbegor chipped in 13 and Sue Bird tallied 10.
Bird recorded eight assists and Williams had seven as Seattle set a WNBA record with 37 assists.
Courtney Vandersloot led the Sky with 28 points and seven assists, while Candace Parker added 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Kahleah Copper had 17 points.
Vandersloot tied the game at 12-12 on a layup in the first quarter, but then Seattle broke off an 18-7 run to take a double-digit lead. Williams had six points and a rebound in that stretch.
Magbegor scored six of the Storm’s first nine points in the second quarter to give Seattle an 18-point lead. The Storm scored a franchise-record 66 points in the first half.
A pair of free throws by Williams late in the third quarter gave the Storm a 22-point lead, its largest of the night.
The Sky trimmed the deficit to nine points in the fourth quarter on a short shot from Allie Quigley, but they never caught up with the Storm.
Chicago missed six free throws, shot 7 of 23 (30.4 percent) from 3-point land and had 13 turnovers. Meanwhile, Seattle shot 11 of 24 from deep, a 45.8 percent clip. Five Storm players made multiple 3-pointers.
–Field Level Media