Katie Smith leads as Seattle Storm dispatch Phoenix Mercury 83-64 – WNBA Update

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Katie Smith leads as Seattle Storm dispatch Phoenix Mercury 83-64 – WNBA Update
On Friday night at the US Airways Center, Seattle Storm ran riot over the Phoenix Mercury for an 83-64 victory. This was Mercury’s sixth consecutive loss before heading into the Olympic break.
Katie Smith scored 19 points on the night with 14 of them coming in the first quarter. Camille Little chipped in 15 and Shekinna Stricklen recorded a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds.
On the other hand, DeWanna Bonner led the way for Phoenix with 18 points. Lynetta Kizer managed to contribute 14 and Alexis Hornbuckle chipped in with 13 points on the night.
Seattle came out storming in the first quarter with Smith leading the way. She made all five of her field goal attempts in the period; including three triples which allowed Seattle to take a 27-20 lead.
Back to back three pointers by Seattle set the tone in the second as well, however Phoenix made a late charge. Facing a 10 point deficit with just a tad above three minutes left in the first half, Mercury put together an 8-0 run to cut the lead down to only 2 points. However Little made a layup with 11.7 seconds, making the score 41-37 before heading into the interval.
Smith continued her top form as she opened up the proceedings of the second half by making a three pointer. Seattle went on to dominate the remaining part of third quarter and outscored Phoenix 18-1 in the last five and half minutes to virtually seal the game.
The impressive showing in the first three periods saw Seattle take a 67-43 lead into the fourth quarter. Phoenix managed only six points in the frame.
After playing most of the first three quarter in a very aggressive manner, Seattle decided to take their foot off the pedal in the final period. Phoenix tried to make the most of this opportunity as they outscored Storm 11-4 in the first five minutes of the frame.
However the lead still remained in double figures and caused no serious trouble for the visiting Seattle team who eventually managed their way to a 19 point victory.