COVID-depleted Storm, missing Breanna Stewart, lose to Mercury once again – The Seattle Times

In search of a silver lining to mitigate the COVID-19-related absences that have pared down the Storm’s roster, Noelle Quinn offered this: “At least it’s happening now and not late in the season.” 

The Storm pushed the Phoenix Mercury to the end in the second of two straight games against the Western Conference rivals. The Storm fell short once again and lost its third straight game, a 69-64 defeat Saturday.  

Jewell Loyd put on a show for the 12,453 at Climate Pledge Arena and finished with 23 points. 

But it wasn’t enough to abate a three-point barrage from Diana Taurasi, who dropped six shots from deep for 24 points.  

The Mercury star received offensive support from Skylar Diggins-Smith (14 points) and Diamond DeShields (11) while Loyd was mostly a one-woman show. 

Storm star Breanna Stewart and backup guard Epiphanny Prince are in health and safety protocols and missed their second straight game while Seattle has been without center Mercedes Russell this season due to an undisclosed non-basketball injury. 

The absences forced Quinn to rely on a small-ball lineup in which Stephanie Talbot, a 6-foot-2 forward, defended 6-4 center Tina Charles, who demolished the Storm on Wednesday while tallying 22 points on 8-for-13 shooting and 11 rebounds to lead Phoenix to a 97-77 win. 

Talbot provided the first line of defense against the eight-time WNBA All-Star while 6-4 center Ezi Magbegor repeatedly rushed in and double teamed the Mercury’s leading scorer. 

The tactic was effective. 

Magbegor racked up a career-high seven blocks, which was one shy of the Storm record while Charles had just four points on 2-for-7 shooting. 

The Storm trailed 34-32 at the break. 

Loyd took over in the third quarter while scoring nine points for Seattle, which outscored Phoenix 17-15 and was tied 49-49 heading to the fourth. 

Taurasi unlocked a 59-59 tie with a three-pointer. She drained another shot from downtown minutes later that put Phoenix up 67-61. 

Loyd answered with three and the Storm had two chances to tie it in the final minute. Bird missed a three with 6.3 seconds left before Taurasi scored the final points with a pair of free throws.