Azura Stevens had 20 points and eight rebounds and Sydney Taylor added 17 points as the short-handed Chicago Sky defeated the visiting Seattle Storm 95-90 on Wednesday.
Chicago stopped a two-game skid while playing without top scorer and rebounder Kamilla Cardoso as well as Skylar Diggins, the team’s second-leading scorer and assists leader. Both were sidelined with knee injuries.
Still, the Sky (8-16) surged to a 14-point advantage in the first half before holding off a late charge from the Storm (6-20).
Seattle’s Flau’jae Johnson led all scorers with 25 points. Teammate Dominique Malonga notched a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds to help the Storm finish plus-16 on the glass.
Seattle used a 9-0 run over 1:36 to draw within 86-84 with 4:28 remaining in the game. The Storm took advantage of three straight missed field goals from the Sky, who shot 31.6% in the fourth quarter.
Then shaky shooting and ball control, which included 16 turnovers for the day, hampered Seattle down the stretch.
Natasha Cloud swished a 3-pointer from the left wing to put the Sky ahead 91-85 with 1:35 to go. A Cloud turnover led to a three-point play for Seattle’s Jade Melbourne to cut the deficit to 91-88 with 47 seconds left.
Stevens followed with a layup and the Sky closed the game with two Cloud free throws after a Malonga putback with 8.4 seconds remaining.
Second-year forward Chloe Bibby scored a career-high 14 points for the Sky in her season debut. Cloud followed with 13 points and Gabriela Jaquez chipped in 10. Courtney Vandersloot and Cloud both dished six assists.
Awa Fam had 14 points for the Storm to go with seven rebounds. Katie Lou Samuelson and Melbourne added 11 apiece.
Chicago began to create distance midway through in the second quarter. After a Samuelson layup brought Seattle within three, the Sky responded by scoring 16 of the next 22 points.
Taylor’s driving finger roll with 4:32 remaining before halftime capped the run and put Chicago ahead 42-29. Taylor contributed 11 points during the surge, including a 3-pointer on the possession following Samuelson’s basket.
Stevens scored 18 first-half points while Taylor added 14 to help Chicago to a 56-44 lead at the break. Johnson (16 points) was the lone Storm player in double figures in the first 20 minutes.
–Field Level Media
