Brutal third quarter dooms Storm in loss to Connecticut Sun

The Storm’s offense, which cranked out a season-high 109 points in its previous outing, hummed to perfection early Tuesday night.

Seattle was nearly halfway to 100 at halftime when everything stopped.

Inexplicably, open three-pointers missed badly, midrange jumpers were off target and layups rattled out of the rim for the Storm.

And this time, Jewell Loyd’s scoring heroics couldn’t save them.

After tallying 22 points before the break, the WNBA scoring leader had 11 in the second half and finished with 33, which is eight more than her scoring average.

However, it wasn’t enough for the Storm, who fell 85-79 against the Connecticut Sun in front of 7,022 at Climate Pledge Arena.

“We just had a lull,” Loyd said when asked about the team being outscored 22-8 in the third quarter. “They elevated and we stayed the same. Then we got going in the fourth, but you can’t do that when you play against really good teams. You can’t do that in this league.”

 Loyd, who scored a career-high 39 points on Saturday, stayed hot and poured in 14 points in the first quarter. She made a pair of contested step-back three-pointers to finish the period and give the Storm a 25-22 lead.

Connecticut began the second quarter with a 12-0 run to go up 34-25 with 7:15 left when Seattle answered with a 23-11 spurt to cap the first half and go into the break ahead 48-45.

At the time, the Storm averaged 26.2 points in the previous six quarters, including last Saturday’s thrilling victory at Dallas.

And yet none of it mattered during a frightful third quarter in which Seattle converted just 3 of 17 shots, including 0 for 4 on three-pointers.

“I felt like a lid was on the basket,” coach Noelle Quinn said. “I thought we got decent shots. We got to the rim and missed some bunnies. We stopped doing some things that got us the lead. It was a difficult third quarter, but the other three quarters I thought we were pretty decent.”

The Storm’s dismal offensive performance in the third quarter allowed Connecticut to take control for good and begin the fourth on top 67-56.

Seattle cut an 18-point deficit midway in the fourth quarter to five in the final minute, but couldn’t get any closer.

“I don’t know why people are surprised that we’re in games,” rookie Jordan Horston said. “We expect that. We go into games thinking we’re about to knock them off. … We want to win. We’re competitors. We’re not happy that we lost because we feel like we can beat that team. We feel like we can beat any team.

“It’s encouraging I guess you can say for y’all to see we can play like that, but we got to learn how to finish and how to capitalize on certain things. It’s all growing pains. It’s a new team. It’s encouraging. We belong in this league. We’re competitors. I don’t know why people are shocked that we’re in games. I know we’re young. I get it. But if you’re a competitor, then you’re a competitor and it’s just basketball at the end of the day.”

Ezi Magbegor finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds while Horston had 11 points and 13 rebounds off the bench for the Storm (3-8). No other Storm player had more than five points.

“We had some sporadic scoring,” Quinn said. “I think we do need some consistency from our group in general. When we see other players contribute on the offensive end it helps tremendously to have multiple scorers but going against a very good defense is tough.”

Connecticut (10-3) shot 46.4% from the field while Seattle made 37.5%.

“They live in the paint,” said Quinn, who bemoaned a 52-30 points in the paint disparity that favored Connecticut. “The majority of their offense is twos and that’s from postups and getting downhill in the paint. They are difficult because of their size and their length. They pose mismatches in every position, honestly. … They’re just very physical and they get to where they want to get to. They’re very efficient as well.”

Connecticut forward Alyssa Thomas tallied her first triple-double of the season and finished with 13 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists. DeWanna Bonner led the Sun with 20 points, Natisha Hiedeman 17 and Tiffany Hayes 12.

With 1:04 remaining, Connecticut center Brionna Jones, who finished with 13 points, appeared to suffer a serious knee injury and was helped off the court.

Seattle plays Indiana (4-7) on Thursday in the second game of a three-game homestand.

“The identity of this team is we play fast and we fight,” Loyd said. “That’s what we’ve been and that’s who we are. We understand our expectations in the locker room and what we want as a whole and where we’re trying to go. To do that, you have to be locked in and you have to compete no matter who is on the floor or who you’re playing against.

“For us, we never feel like we’re out of games. We want to compete. That’s what you want to have on a championship team, on a playoff team or a team that’s rebuilding. Whatever it is, you want to have that fight.”

NOTE:

— Loyd was voted the WNBA Western Conference player of the week after she averaged 24.3 points, 3.7 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game as the Storm went 2-1 in three road games.

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