Katie Smith and Camille Little lead Seattle Storm to a 81-70 win over Chicago Sky – WNBA Recap
Playing at the Key Arena, Katie Smith and Camille Little tallied 17 points each as the defending WNBA champion Seattle Storm cruised past Chicago Sky 81-70 on Sunday night and got their fourth consecutive victory.
Storms have already secured the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. On the other hand, it was fifth consecutive loss for Chicago, which finished fifth position in the Eastern Conference and failed to make the playoffs.
Smith, who had a season-high 26 in an 85-70 win over Phoenix Mercury on Friday night, nailed 5 of 7 shots from downtown, including a 3-pointer in the opening period to break 6,000 career points. The 37-year-old guard is third on
the all time list behind Tina Thompson and Lisa Leslie.
"It's just a mindset and going out and playing" Smith said after the game. "I might not hit every shot but I'm going to take shots like I'm going to make them and just have an attack mentality.”
Swin Cash added 15 points, grabbed five rebounds and blocked two shots while Sue Bird contributed 10 points and five assists for Storm, who have won eight of their previous nine games.
Sylvia Fowles led Sky with a game-high 30 points, including 19 in the fourth quarter, and 13 rebounds. Fowles who joined Chamique Holdsclaw as the only players to average 20 points and 10 rebounds per game during a season, went
9 for 17 from the field and a perfect 12 for 12 from free throw line, tying a league record with 11 free throws in the last quarter. Cathrine Kraayeveld came off the bench with 12 points on 4 for 6 shooting from downtown.
"She plays hard consistently," Seattle’s Smith said of Fowles. "She gets you deep and pinned. She is strong and can jump. She is just relentless. She is a handful."
Seattle shot 55.6 percent (30 for 54) from the field and 80 percent (12 for 15) from free throw line while Chicago shot only 40.7 percent (24 for 59) from the floor and 88.9 percent (16 for 18) from the line.
Bird came out strong and scored nine of her points in the opening quarter as Seattle carried a 12-point lead, 24-12, into the second. Sky made a terrific comeback in the second quarter and outscored Seattle 21-17, cutting their
deficit to eight, 41-33, at halftime. Storm limited Chicago to only 14 points in the third quarter and pushed their lead to 57-47.
Leading by 10 points after three, Seattle maintained their lead throughout the fourth quarter and sealed 21st victory of the regular season. With this victory, Storm’s coach Brian Agler moved into a tie with Van Chancellor
for most wins in women's professional basketball with 211 victories, including 139 in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA).
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