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Despite a season-high in points from Crystal Langhorne and one of Jewell Loyd's best games as a pro, the Seattle Storm didn't have enough to overcome another large 1st quarter deficit, and ultimately fell 88-81 to the San Antonio Stars. San Antonio led 18-6 after the first five and a half minutes of the game. The Stars were up 27-12 by the end of the first quarter and were led by Kayla McBride's 12 points.
McBride would finish the game with 20 points, but it was Jia Perkins that was the brightest star for the Stars. She came on strong in the 2nd half and finished with a game-high 32 points on 11-18 FG shooting. Perkins was also a perfect 8-8 from the FT line and dished out five assists.
The Storm rallied a few times in this game. After being down fifteen after the first quarter, Seattle cut the lead to seven (34-41) with a minute remaining in the first half. The Storm would actually tie the game up at 48-48 in the 3rd quarter, but every time the Storm cut the lead, the Stars had an answer.
Despite the fact that the Storm have now lost five in a row, there were a lot of bright spots in this game for the team. Crystal Langhorne was absolutely dominant in the paint, scoring a season-high 29 points on 12-13 FG (92% shooting). Jewell Loyd had one of her best games of the season, showing off all of her potential. Loyd had 16 points in a variety of ways. She scored off the drive, she hit the pull-up jump shot, she hit some deep two's, and also scored on the fast break. The only thing missing was the long ball, Loyd went 0-3 from behind the arc. The Gold Mamba also added four rebounds and three assists. Sue Bird did not have a good night scoring, but she did add 13 assists. Jenna O'Hea also had a strong game, starting in place of Alysha Clark (who did not play). O'Hea scored 14 points on 5-6 shooting and also had four assists.
WHAT'S NEXT?:
The Storm play their final road game of this six game road trip in Los Angeles against the Sparks on Tuesday August 11th at 7:30pm PST.