One of the best players in the WNBA will be a spectator when the Seattle Storm visit the Washington Mystics on Tuesday night, while another star player has been upgraded.
Jewell Loyd of the Storm is probable while fellow All-Star Elena Delle Donne of the Mystics has been ruled out when Seattle (4-14) and Washington (10-8) tip off. Delle Donne is also expected to miss Saturday’s WNBA All-Star Game.
Loyd sprained her left ankle during the Storm’s 80-76 road loss to the New York Liberty. Loyd, the WNBA’s leading scorer at 24.9 points per game, was injured in the fourth quarter of the Saturday contest.
Delle Donne returned from a two-game absence due to a left ankle injury to play in Sunday’s 92-84 road loss to the Connecticut Sun. However, the two-time WNBA MVP aggravated the ankle injury late in the first half and exited. She had been chosen for her seventh All-Star Game.
Tuesday marks Washington’s final game before the All-Star break, while the Storm will visit the Atlanta Dream on Wednesday night.
Seattle has lost five straight games and seven of eight, even with Loyd enjoying the top season of her career.
Picked for her fifth All-Star Game, Loyd has been a one-woman show with five games of 30 or more points, including a career-best 41 against the Minnesota Lynx on June 29.
Storm guard Sami Whitcomb said it was a rough moment to see Loyd exiting with the injury.
“A lot of times it’s tough to snap back into it just because you’re feeling for your teammate,” Whitcomb said. “And when it’s someone like Jewell who carries a big load for us, it was a big blow.”
The Mystics have lost four of their past six games and will be without center Shakira Austin (hip) and guard Kristi Toliver (foot). Point guard Natasha Cloud (ankle) has missed two straight games but was upgraded to probable.
Not having Delle Donne further depletes the roster, but it won’t diminish the players’ resolve in the eyes of forward Myisha Hines-Allen.
“It doesn’t matter who’s playing. We’re always going to step up, we’re never going to give up, we’re going to fight to the end,” Hines-Allen told reporters. “Of course we do not want to see Elena go down. We need her on the court with us.”
The Mystics are 2-0 against the Storm this season. Both wins came in Seattle.
–Field Level Media
