GAME HIGHLIGHTS

• Jewell Loyd tied a franchise record for the most points scored in a quarter with 17 (Betty Lennox, 17 vs. Washington on 8/11/07), shooting 6-for-7 from the field, including 5-for-6 from deep in the opening 10 minutes. The Storm shot 14-for-21 from field in the first quarter en route to outscoring Las Vegas, 38-14. Seattle’s 38 points also ranks second all-time in franchise history in single-quarter scoring. Seattle scored 40 on 8/4/2007 in the first quarter vs. Phoenix.
• The Storm set both a franchise and WNBA record for three-pointers in a game with 17 triples tonight on 26 attempts. The previous Storm record was 14, which the team notched four times, including last season on 5/26/17 vs. New York. The previous WNBA record was 16 three-pointers in a game, achieved multiple times. Seattle broke the franchise record at the 12.1 mark of the third quarter following a three-pointer by Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and then the WNBA record with 9:32 left to play in the fourth frame after a triple by Sami Whitcomb.
• Seattle hit triple digits for the 11th time in franchise history and second time in 2018. The all-time record is 111, set three times in the team’s 18-year history (most recently on 8/7/10 vs. Tulsa).
• Breanna Stewart and Jewell Loyd both scored 20 points in the same game for the fourth-straight contest.
• Sue Bird moved to No. 3 all-time in total games played in the WNBA with her 483rd appearance. She passed former Storm teammate and current New York Liberty head coach, Katie Smith, who played in 482 games.

KEY STATS OF THE GAME

• Seattle outscored Las Vegas from three-point range, 51-3.
• The Storm led wire-to-wire, and outscored the Aces in the first quarter, 38-14, and never looked back, eclipsing the 30-point mark in two of the four quarters tonight.

STORM HIGHLIGHTS

• Jewell Loyd increased her 20-point streak to five straight games, recording 20 points on 6-for-10 shooting. All 20 came in the first half, and she also connected on a season- and career-best five three’s on six attempts.
• Breanna Stewart recorded a team-high 21 points on 9-for-12 shooting to go along with seven rebounds. She’s hit the 20-point mark five out of the six games this season.
• Jewell Loyd has now connected on 31 straight free throws after going 3-for-3 tonight (31-for-32 on the season).
• Sue Bird tied a season high with nine assists to go along with 11 points.
• Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis tied a season-high with 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting.
• Jordin Canada dished out a season-high seven assists. She also had nine points and two steals.
• The Storm scored 60 or more in the first half for just the fourth time in franchise history. Seattle went 20-for-35 from the floor and 10-for-16 from deep on the way to a 60-32 halftime lead.
• Seven different Storm players hit a three-pointer tonight.
• Just over half of Seattle’s points (101) came from three-pointers (51).
• Seattle become the first team to score 38 or more in a quarter since Los Angeles did it in a 90-59 win over Phoenix on 6/18/17.
• The Storm set a season-high for the largest lead at any point in the game at 43 (101-58) after a bucket by rookie Mercedes Russell with 6:32 left to play.
• In her Storm debut, Mercedes Russell logged 17 minutes and grabbed eight rebounds. She also had two blocks and two points.
• Courtney Paris scored a season-high eight points.
• With the win, Seattle improved to 2-0 all-time against Las Vegas. The Storm defeated the Aces on Sunday, May 27 by a 105-98 margin. Including the Aces’ stays in Utah and San Antonio, the Storm improved to 26-10 at home against the franchise.
• The Storm held Las Vegas to 32 first-half points, the lowest for any opponent this season.
• Seattle is starting 5-1 or better for just the third time in franchise history. The Storm also went 5-1 in its first six games in 2010 and 2008.

ACES HIGHLIGHTS

• A’ja Wilson scored a team-high 21 points on 8-for-12 shooting, her second game this season with 20 or more points.
• The Aces closed the game with a 16-0 run, holding the Storm without a point in the final 6:32.
• Tamera Young was the only other Las Vegas player in double figures. She had 11 points to go along with six rebounds.
• Former University of Washington standout Kelsey Plum made her return to Seattle, scoring three points and dishing out a season-high six assists.
• All four Aces losses have come to the best teams (by record) in the WNBA – Seattle twice, Washington, and Connecticut.

ACES HEAD COACH BILL LAIMBEER

(On the game)

“I thought our youth and inexperience really showed tonight. We weren’t ready to play the game and Seattle was. Seattle came out and jumped us with the three balls, got us to put our heads down and the same thing happened in the first game against Connecticut when we were down 30 points. We’re going to have to learn as quickly as we can. This is professional basketball and we have to play hard every minute.”

(On if it’s beneficial to play again tomorrow night to help forget this game)

“No, I’d rather take another week off and get some more practice time. This game doesn’t stop. There’s always another game, whether it’s tomorrow or the next day. We have to regroup and find our way. We’re still very young and it’s going to take a while.”

ACES FORWARD A’JA WILSON 

(On the game)

“This is something we can learn and grow from. I see spurts of energy that we have, but I think we need that energy starting off in the first (quarter). A lot of that comes from me. I think I don’t understand the feeling of how much I need to contribute for this team and it’s tough. This is my first year, I’m a rookie and I don’t know what I’m doing, but I trust my coach and I trust our coaching staff and my teammates and we just have to go with it. Honestly, I think it starts with the first (10) minutes, having energy and in this league, you need that constantly and starting from the jump. That’s something we definitely have to work on.”

(On if she feels any added pressure)

“No, not really. I don’t feel a lot of pressure at all. I think it’s just a mentality with me and Coach Bill really talks to me a lot and I really appreciate that. He guides me. I have such a great coach and coaching staff that really help me and great teammates as well.”

(On if it’s helpful that the team is young)

“Yes, I think so. We’re all new at this right now. This is a new franchise, a new coach, new everything. I think it’s good for us to all be learning together, some more than others. I know, for me, this is a huge part that I need to start learning as quickly as possible. It’s good that we’re all in this together.”

STORM HEAD COACH DAN HUGHES 

(On the game overall)

“Obviously it was a game where we did a lot of things well. The one that jumped out to me was just the assists. Yeah we shot the ball well, it was one of those nights, and you love it when you have that. The reality of it was the ball movement was fantastic, and that number of assists, when you look at 26 (assists) on 37 goals, the ball really moved well. And we were able to play our entire lineup, which is really positive for the amount of games we’ve had to play.”

(On how he preps for the next game)

“Just do what we’ve been doing this whole stretch. We come in, and they are a cerebral group, we watch film, we go over what were about to face, we get to where we’re going, we get up, we have a shootaround where physically we talk through a lot of things, and we have tried to maximize rest in this stretch.”

(On if he thought shooting was an outlier)

“I think we are good at it, I think today was exceptional, I don’t know if I would want to bank that this was a normal game for us, but we have that capability, to be effective there. As effective as we were tonight, no, that’s a special night were we kind of get everything [going] in the same direction. But I think that’s a strength of ours, and that’s what I’m learning with this team.”

STORM GUARD SUE BIRD 

(On the game overall)

“In this league every now and then you get to play a game like that, and every now and then you are on the other side as well, but for us today it is a culmination of how well we have been playing. We are at home, we are comfortable, Jewell (Jewell Loyd) got us going in that first quarter, we set a tone and maintained it. It was nice to see because there can be some let ups in games like this.”

(On watching the bench play)

“It means a lot, I think that in a game like this we get to sit there and watch more than usual but if you look back at the games that are successful, yes, they have a great starting five, but it is usually the bench that makes a difference. When they come in, if they can either hold down the fort or even advance the lead, that’s when you see the Minnesota’s, the LA’s. I can speak from our Seattle 2010 team, it was our bench that was our huge lift, so to get them going in a game like this where they can play extended minuets is what we need. Yes, Jewell and Stewie are going to take a lot of the weight as well but our bench is an important part.”

(On Mercedes Russell)

“I was really impressed for somebody who just got here, who hasn’t had any practice, she picked things up really fast. We tried to keep it as simple as possible just calling plays that we know she knows, the easy ones. She has size and as they say you can’t teach that. She showed a lot.”

(On setting the three-point record)

“I think that it shows that we are a team that we are capable of that. We have a lot of great shooters on this team and when we get it going we get it going. I didn’t even know that the previous one was only set last year. It is almost the same group when you think about it. We have a really contagious energy, and tonight we got it on.”

STORM GUARD JEWELL LOYD

(On the game overall)

“Everyone was really focused, we moved the ball really well, everyone got to their spots. Everyone was building off of each others momentum and it was really cool to see that.”

(On the first quarter)

“I don’t remember. I blacked out or something. I was just really in a rhythm, my teammates found me, and I created some shots for myself. It was really motivating once we get to a good start because we are ready to come out of the team huddle and really focus.”

(On keeping moment after first quarter)

“I have Sue on my team. I have my teammates, so I don’t need to really force anything. We do that really well, I know I can get shorts just from running offence and even off of our defense. I know that I can always get something.”