The Seattle Storm came back from a 14-point deficit to beat the Washington D.C. Mystics 69-59 in front of 5,000+ fans on August 30th.

The game didn’t start out very promising, as the Mystics took an early 22-13 lead going into the second quarter.  This was partially because they were beating the Storm at rebounding 13-6, many of those rebounds coming at the offensive end and earning the Mystics 4 second chance points.  Throughout the first half, all the foul calls seemed to be going against the Storm (11-3 against the Storm in fouls called at 6:32 in the second quarter).  Seattle looked slow and out-of-rhythm on both offense and defense, and even when they had good shot attempts the ball just wasn’t going down.  At halftime, they trailed 30-39.

The second half saw the Storm play much better basketball.  The offense really shaped up behind Crystal Langhorne’s 8 points in the third quarter, made both on points in the paint and a couple of jumpers.  The Storm finished the quarter on a 12-0 run and led 50-48 going into the fourth.  Their much-improved team offense continued into the final period as they opened with a 7-0 run.  Jewel Loyd continued to attack the basket during that time, earning herself trip after trip to the free throw line.  A few defensive breakdowns allowed the Mystics to go on a 7-0 run of their own midway through the fourth quarter as they pulled to within 2 of the Storm.  Jenna O’Hea hit a big-time 3 and Jewel’s persistent attacks in the paint led the Storm to finally beat the Mystics 69-59.

Ramu Tokashiki and Abby Bishop were once again absent, Tokashiki helping the Japanese National Team qualify for the Olympics, Bishop out with a hamstring injury.

Just like in the last game, an excessive number of fouls were called on little to no contact, forcing Alysha Clark onto the bench with 1:55 left in the first quarter and 3 early fouls.  Fouls continued to cripple Seattle’s already beleaguered front court as Markeisha Gatling and Quanitra Hollingsworth had 3 and 2 respectively by 6:37 in the second quarter.  A total of 2 technical fouls (not counting defensive three-second violations) were called on the Mystics, one on Mike Thibault and one on Ivory Latta.  Unfortunately Jenna O’Hea, who shot the free throws for each technical (and a defensive 3-second violation), missed 2 of the total 3, although she was 4/4 on her other free throw attempts.  Maybe being alone at the foul line freaked her out?  

Jewel Loyd, despite shooting only 2 of 6 from the floor, made all 14 of her free throws for totals of 18 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and only 1 turnover.  Another nice stat line for the almost certainly rookie of the month of August.

Crystal Langhorne had another great game.  She shot 0/2 from the floor and committed 2 turnovers in the first few minutes of the game, but after that got 15 points, 4 rebounds, 2 ferocious blocks, and some really nice passes from the high post that I never even knew she was capable of.  If she keeps passing like that and gains some more confidence in her outside shots, she’d go from dangerous to unstoppable, so hopefully this is a sign of new moves yet to come from the All-Star.

Jenna O’Hea also showed great effort, getting 8 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals, and rightfully joined Jewel Loyd as co players of the game for Seattle in the post-game interview.

Washington had even production from several different players, including 12 points from Ivory Latta, 10 points and 6 rebounds from Emma Meeseman, and 10 points and 4 rebounds from Kia Vaughn.  Bria Hartley also had 3 assists and 3 steals to go along with her 8 points, and Natasha Cloud came back from getting (accidentally) whacked a GOOD one in the nose by Jewel Loyd in the first quarter to score 8 points with her 4 rebounds and assists apiece.

With this win, the Storm are now 9-9 at home this year, something of a relief to us fans.  We’re still only 2 games up on San Antonio, so no need to worry about them edging us out for the biggest odds on the number 1 pick in next year’s draft.  Yet.