Photo by Chris O’Meara AP
As time wound down to 4.2 seconds, Storm players hugged and high five each other to celebrate its accomplishments. Though the game had not finalized, Seattle knew, heading to the WNBA Finals with a 92-71 victory over the Lynx would present an opportunity to compete for a fourth title.
Breanna Stewart led the Storm with a career-high 31 points, six rebounds, seven assists, three steals, and Sue Bird chipped in 16 points and nine assists.
The win puts top-seeded Storm in position to tie Houston and Minnesota for the most championships (4). It will play the winner of the Connecticut Sun/Las Vegas Aces on Friday.
Napheesa Collier led Minnesota with 22 points, 15 rebounds, and three blocks. Damiris Dantas and Dangerfield added 16 points apiece, and Sims added 10 points.
With adrenaline pumping and fighting to stay alive, the Lynx went on a 10-2 run, trimming the deficit, 48-41, with 6:41 left in the third quarter.
Yet, 2018 MVP Stewart, with point guard Bird’s help, responded by sparking a 12-0 run, giving the Storm full command of the game while its score inflated, 60-41.
Minnesota, a four seed, had no intentions of going quietly as it drew within 13 points after guard Odyssey Sims penetrated to the basket, scoring and executing the bonus shot, making the score 64-54 at the end of three quarters.
Seattle’s defense pressured the Lynx, but other moments, Minnesota shot poorly from the field, making 7-of-22 from the beyond the arch.
Then Minnesota dug a hole for itself, struggling to find the basket. That allowed Bird and company to run off 17 unanswered points while building a 24-12 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
Still, Damiris Dantas knocked down back-to-back three-pointers to give the Lynx a quick 6-0 lead. Seattle responded with a 7-0 run sparked by a pair of jump shots from Stewart, sandwiched by Birds open three-pointer. The Storm led 7-6.
Within the first few minutes of the second quarter, guard Crystal Dangerfield drained a deep trey to pull the Lynx with nine, 26-17. Once again, teammate Mikiah Herbert Harrigan scored a layup to trim the lead to nine, 28-19 before the duo of Bird and Stewart aided Storm on an 8-0 run, prompting Minnesota’s coach Cheryl Reeve to call a timeout with 5:37 left in the quarter.
Soon after, Reeve, not pleased with the officiating, absorbed a technical foul. Seattle’s Jewell Loyd converted the one-shot tech to give it an 18-point lead, its largest of the game, 37-19.
Dantas battled back with consecutive baskets in efforts to gain control of the tempo. Instead, it ignited the Storm, who concluded the half, up 46-31.
In the first half, Stewart led Seattle, with 16-points on 8/13 field goals, six rebounds, and five assists.
Dantas tossed in 12 points, two rebounds, and two assists for the Lynx.
In the fourth quarter, Minnesota battled for every basket it scored, yet the Storm countered with a defensive stop or multiple baskets to maintain a sizable cushion.
Still, with Minnesota on life support, Dantas swished in a pair of free throws, followed by Collier’s three-pointer to cut into the lead, 75-63 with 5:38 left.
But without two full minutes passing, Bird sliced through the lane, scoring a finger roll and converting the and one.
Later, Forward Natasha Howard and Stewart put the game out of range with five successive points and led by as many as 22 points, 89-67, with under three minutes to play.
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