Sue Bird puts up an all round performance as Seattle Storm close regular season with three consecutive wins
Sue Bird racked up 13 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists to help Seattle Storm cruise past the Phoenix Mercury 71-57 at the US Airways Center on Sunday night. Camille Little also had an effective night with 14 points and 8 rebounds
while Shekinna Stricklen and Katie Smith contributed 10 points each.
It was the regular season finale for both teams. Seattle qualified fourth in the Western Conference with their third consecutive win, and will have momentum on their side when they face Minnesota Lynx in the first round of the
playoffs. They also set an WNBA record of making it into the post season a ninth consecutive time.
On the other hand, Phoenix finished the regular season at the last place with a dismal record of 7-27. They failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2008.
Their poor performances throughout the season can be credited to the absence of Diana Taurasi, who was out injured on the night as well. In her absence, DeWanna Bonner tried her best to lead the Phoenix charge with 13 points while
Candice Dupree added 10. Nakia Sanford came off the bench to chip in with 10 points as well while Krystal Thomas grabbed 18 rebounds.
Phoenix struggled to find their rhythm throughout the night as they shot the ball only 28.6% from the field. However that wasn’t exactly the way they started the game. Mercury took a 6-0 lead early but quickly found themselves
chasing as Seattle responded with a 7-0 run to snatch the lead.
Phoenix did not let their good start go to waste and put together a 10-0 run to take 16-11 lead by the end of the first quarter.
It only took about 4 and a half minutes of the second quarter for Seattle to tie the game up at 22 and a following 10-0 run allowed them to take a double figure lead. Phoenix did try to make their way back with a 6-0 run to close
out the first half, but still trailed by 4 at interval.
Seattle opened the second half with an 11-4 run and by the end of the third; they had managed to garner a 53-44 lead. The continued to dominate and 6-2 to start the final quarter further prolonged their advantage. From there on
it was cruise control for Storm, while Mercury closed the season on a disappointing note.
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