GAME HIGHLIGHTS

• Seattle continued its dominance at home against Washington, improving to 13-1 against the Mystics since the 2006 season at KeyArena.
• For the third-straight game, Jewell Loyd and Breanna Stewart eclipsed the 20-point mark, finishing with 27 and 25, respectively.
• The Storm opened the game 7-for-8 from the floor, including 3-for-3 from deep, to take a 17-8 lead at the first media timeout of the first quarter. Jewell Loydstarted 3-for-4, hitting two three’s to kick-start the run.

KEY STATS OF THE GAME

• Seattle outscored Washington in the paint, 42-30.
• Of Washington’s 14 turnovers, Seattle forced five of them in the fourth quarter, including a game-sealing steal byNatasha Howard with 1.7 seconds left to play.
• The Storm ended the first quarter with a 24-12 run in the final 7:37 and kept in front for the remainder of the first half, entering the locker room with a slight 41-39 edge.

STORM HIGHLIGHTS

• Four the first time in her career, Jewell Loyd scored 20 or more points in four straight games, finishing with a game-high 27 on 10-for-18 shooting. She also pulled down a team-best eight rebounds.
• Breanna Stewart nailed a season-high 11 field goals en route to scoring 25 points to go along with five rebounds and three assists.
• With the win, Dan Hughes improved to 4-1 overall and notched the best start for a first-year head coach in franchise history. In 2008, Brian Agler went 3-2 in his first five games, while Anne Donovan (2003) and Jenny Boucek (2015) issued 2-3 records in their first five contests. Lin Dunn, Seattle’s first-ever head coach, started 1-4 during the 2000 campaign. Gary Kloppenburg, one of the Storm’s current assistant coaches, started 4-1 as an interim head coach when he took over in Aug. 2017.
• Seattle’s 29 first-quarter points tied a season high, which the Storm set on 5/27/18 at Las Vegas. Seattle shot 12-for-18 in the first quarter, including 4-for-8 from deep. Once again, Breanna Stewart and Jewell Loydshouldered the load offensively early on, tallying 14 and 10 points, respectively, in the quarter.
• Jewell Loyd has now connected on 28 straight free throws after going 4-for-4 tonight (28-for-29 on the season).
• Sue Bird nabbed two steals tonight to move to 623 for her career, tying Katie Douglas for sixth all-time in the WNBA.
• Seattle won despite shooting a season-low 10 free throws, connecting on eight of them.
• Natasha Howard scored in double figures for the fourth time this season, registering 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting.
• Sue Bird registered five or more assists for the third time this season, logging a game-high seven in 24 minutes of play.
• Seattle is starting 4-1 or better for the fifth time in franchise history. The Storm also went 4-1 in its first five games in 2017, 2010, 2008 and 2005.

MYSTICS HIGHLIGHTS

• Kristi Toliver netted a team- and season-high 20 points on 7-for-16 shooting.
• Myisha Hines-Allen recorded 10 points and 11 rebounds for her second double-double of the season.
• Tierra Ruffin-Pratt dished out a season-high five assists.
• Tianna Hawkins tied a career-high 17 points on 7-for-14 shooting. She also matched that high of 17 this season against Las Vegas on 5/22.
• Rookie Ariel Atkins scored a career high with 18 points on 6-for-14 shooting.
• The Mystics, which were off to their first 4-0 start in franchise history, dropped their first game of the season.
• Washington played without Elena Delle Donne due to illness.

NEXT GAME: Seattle returns to the hardwood on Thursday against Las Vegas. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m./PT at KeyArena

MYSTICS HEAD COACH MIKE THIBAULT 

(On the game)

“I just told them that I was proud of how we played. We’re about as shorthanded as you can get right now. We’re missing a lot of really good players and we battled all night and had a chance. The flagrant (foul) call was a huge turning point in the game. It was a three-point game at the time and that’s a big possession. I can’t understand it, I don’t know it and I’ll have to go back and look at it. I thought we tried to do some of the things that we needed to get better at, but they just made a couple more shots than us. They shoot 46 percent and we shoot 43 percent and that’s the difference in the game. We made more threes, but they got a few more up than us.”

(On what happened in the last minute)

“We have some young players on the floor, made a couple mistakes. I gambled on their last play when we were down one and how we were going to play it and Jewell Loyd made me pay for it. That’s on me. We changed one thing defensively and we ended up letting her have a free shot – that’s on me.”
(On their quick turnaround playing at Phoenix tomorrow night)
“Yeah, the whole week is a quick turnaround. I haven’t even started looking at Phoenix film. I told our players that we get the opportunity to go play basketball instead of doing something else tomorrow. We could be working somewhere else so get some sleep, get some rest tomorrow and go see what happens.”
(On if he expects any players back against Phoenix)
“We’ll get LaToya Sanders maybe, but she’s going to be on limited minutes tomorrow. I don’t think we’re going to have anybody else back.”

MYSTICS GUARD KRISTI TOLIVER

(On the game)

“We played hard. Obviously we were shorthanded, but we didn’t want to use that as an excuse. We believe in everybody’s abilities and everybody makes contributions on this team. We fought until the end and certain plays didn’t go our way, but Seattle played hard, too, and obviously wanted to protect their home court. Overall, it was a good game, but I just wish we were on the other end of it.”

(On what the difference was at the end of the game)

“They were able to make more plays than we did down the stretch. They were able to execute. They got Jewell (Loyd) and (Breanna Stewart) going and we missed some defensive assignments. Our communication wasn’t so great, but we also just put in new schemes today so I think we did a very good job of learning on the fly. That shows the growth of this team compared to last year with us adapting to new things as they come.”

STORM HEAD COACH DAN HUGHES

(On the game overall)

“It was a good basketball game. We knew Washington had a second half against Minnesota without [Elena] Delle Donne and had been able to pull that game out, so we were aware Delle Donne didn’t play; they were a successful team you got to tip your hat they are good team. They are good with her and they are good without here. I was really pleased down stretch, I thought Alysha Clark came in; Toliver had been really carrying them, we switched it up and put Alysha on her. Her work on Toliver was really exceptional. That’s her role, to help us in those situations. There were periods of really good play for us and periods where it was tough, that is a tribute to Washington. I think that they make it tough on everybody, but I was really glad to see us have the lead and play with the lead against a good basketball team and find a way to finish.”

(On keeping the team fresh during this stretch of games)

“You do as much as you can without putting them back on the court. We do things by film by maximizing the time that we are exerting energy. I think that that the players do a good job of realizing that rest, nutrition, hydration and all of those things; when you are in a schedule like this you have to be smart. You have to mentally prepare them. We thought it through we came into the season, knowing that. Our key is going to be in this stretch early, others are going to have it some other time. We are just doing as much mental work as we can.”

(On what you’ve seen from Jewell Loyd over the last four games)

“What I have seen is maturity. This is a talented player but where she is seeking to make plays I have really seen her mature in that stretch. Obviously, she is getting attention, but she has had the patience to allow opportunities to come and what she makes of those opportunities, she had 9 assists in the last game against Las Vegas, she just played to spots on the floor that are advantageous for basketball plays. She is making a lot of them, but she is also creating for her teammates. That’s what I have really seen maturity of her realizing where to take her game and where to place herself to be most successful. I think that we’ve got several players doing that and she is one of them. I sure extremely glad that she is on our team.”

(On the play of the bench)

Well I think that is the other thing you have to look at in this stretch it is going to be important to use them and Jordan is a prize to watch. She has learned something every day with that. Just the little things like them hitting a timely shot and all that. That is something that we have to continue to develop I don’t think that it is something we have arrived at yet, because this schedule not only this stretch we are in but this schedule in general we are going to need some timely plays to accomplish what we want to do.

STORM GUARD JEWELL LOYD

(On her four game scoring stretch)

“I just think in general my mindset is different. I think it definitely helped being here early in the season and working out with Breanna [Stewart] and Sue [Bird] and Ryan [Webb] and getting a rhythm of what is to come. I think our team does a really good job of putting me in great spots and then trusting that I can make the shot. I’m just really relaxed and not thinking and just want to not let my teammates down for the most part.”

(On the schedule and having games every other night)

“We don’t want to lose. Our mindset is just that we’re going to go in here and battle. We may not be able to shoot 100% all of the time or get beat a couple times on defense, but we’re going to stay in games. We’re going to compete and have that mindset of just to go out there and get it done as much as we can. It’s tough but it’s what we do and it’s our job to be prepared every game and go out there and compete.”

(On how to prepare for Las Vegas)

“We have film. We’re going to watch our game and watch their tendencies. Really just approach this game how we approach every game, to go to our game plan, execute, worry about us. We can’t always be concerned about other teams. If we’re doing what we need to do on the offensive end and the defensive end, we’ll be alright. Obviously they’re a really good team, they came back and stuff but if we do what we do things will come in our favor.”

STORM FORWARD BREANNA STEWART

(On the differences she sees in Jewell Loyd’s game)

“I just think the way she goes into the game and plays the game. There may be quarters that aren’t so amazing, that we don’t shoot the ball well or she doesn’t shoot the ball well but she lets the game continue to come to her and makes big plays down the stretch when we need her most.”

(On playing a Mystics team without Elena Delle Donne)

“I think that every game is a grind and to Sue’s point at halftime, they only had 11 active players. Usually when you have a team like that and you know you’re missing your best player and other players, you just go out and you have nothing to lose and play with that mindset. Obviously they have a west coast swing right now so they want to get these wins while they can and hopefully get their players back as soon as possible.”

(On what kept the Mystics a few points behind down the stretch)

“I think it was the play where Sue got hit, honestly. When you have someone who is our leader and obviously really important to this team go down like that, especially at home, we have to step up for her. We didn’t know what was going to happen. Thankfully she came back into the game but we knew we needed to close out the game and that’s what we did.”