A lot of the things made the highlight for last night’s Chicago Sky vs Seattle Storm game. While the hit taken by Jewell Loyd from Chennedy Carter’s flagrant-1 foul was certainly not the best, the win and the team’s collective mindfulness were. The veteran team now has a record of 2-1 over the Sky as their regular season series has ended. Although they did get the W, it was certainly challenging to keep the relentless hoopers of Chicago at bay. Especially, Chennedy Carter.

After the game, Jewell Loyd opened up on how the team was able to keep one of the leading scorers of Chicago in check. She said in the postgame press conference, “I think we just like crowding the space. I think we’re just a little bit more aware. We understand how versatile of a scorer she is, and I think we were just a little bit more aggressive from the start. Not necessarily aggressive pressure-wise but aggressive spacing. Closing the gaps a little bit, being a little more handsy, just making ourselves look big.”

Pushing the fact that it was a team effort and not something that a single player did, she added, “Jordan does a great job and starts that off. It’s just a group effort with anyone you’re not. It’s hard to stop a lot of good scorers in this league by yourself and we know that. So, it’s a team effort. I think as a team, we were very aware of all of them and all the shooters in the schemes.”

Seemingly, the Storm kept Carter at just 21 points last night in the 84-71 loss. Previously, she topped the team’s scoring with 33 points in the 88-84 win. Moreover, she had the worst efficiency in this game vs Seattle. She was just 7 of 22 for the clip, putting up just 31.81% shots from the field. Now that the Storm was successful in containing Carter, let’s look at how they performed on the hardwood.

Jewell Loyd and Seattle Storm’s big win

Noelle Quinn may have won the game. However, the team did not have a smooth start. In fact, through Kamilla Cardoso’s brilliant performance, Chicago thrashed 20-12 Seattle in the first quarter. However, as soon as Teresa Weatherspoon removed the towering former Gamecock from the floor, the hosts found their feet in the paint again. Still, Chennedy Carter and Co. challenged them to the T. After tying in the second quarter, Seattle did not look back. They outlasted the Sky in every quarter and eventually won the game.

Nneka Ogwumike led the team in scoring for the night. She grabbed a double-double with 24 points and 13 rebounds. Ezi Magbegor also had a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds. She also had 4 blocks for the game. Skylar Diggins-Smith and Jewell Loyd combined for 35 points for the team as well with Diggins-Smith dishing out 8 assists.

While the Sky had better numbers for most of the aspects of the game, Seattle’s shooting efficiency from the field (42%) and deep (31.6%) helped them secure a win. Next, the Seattle Storm will host the Las Vegas Aces and hope to avenge their last defeat.

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