Loyd spearheads Seattle's charge as Storm darkens Sun

Seattle, WA - The Seattle Storm earned their first home victory of the season on Saturday, defeating the Connecticut Sun, 93-81.

Coming off of a tough two-point loss to Washington on Thursday, Seattle regrouped to protect their home floor at Key Arena.

The game started off as an evenly fought battle in the first two quarters. The Storm capitalized on defense early by minimizing Connecticut's scoring opportunities and used pressure to force the Sun into early turnovers.

Breanna Stewart of the Storm, racked up three monster blocks in the game, keeping the defensive pressure consistent around the rim.

Although Seattle held the lead, they began to let up in the second quarter. The Storm's offense became rushed and they committed crucial turnovers. The Sun came within two points heading to the locker room at the half, 39-37.

Connecticut gave all they had, but allowed the Storm enough time to fully click in all facets of their game. As the game progressed, Seattle became more and more dominant.

Leading the pack with 26 points was Jewell Loyd.

The real game changer for the Storm was Crystal Langhorne, who finished with 18 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Her resilience and obvious mission to score at any cost was exactly the fight Seattle needed to power through the persistent Sun team.

"It's awesome. When she plays like that at high level, it motivates us as a team. She comes out with so much energy and puts a lot of pressure on the defense because they have to respect her," said Lloyd on Crystal post-game. On the night, she was perfect from the floor going eight-for-eight.

The Sun had 10 steals, while forcing Seattle to commit 18 turnovers. Jasmine Thomas of the Sun had three steals and also finished with a team-high of 17 points.

Seattle heads to Indiana on Wednesday to face the Fever for the first time this season. If Seattle seeks to have continued success, it will need to find a consistent rhythm on offense without rushing and carelessly losing the ball.

"It's always fun to win but we will always focus on playing to our potential," said Storm coach Jenny Boucek.

As far as Connecticut goes, they will get a shot at redemption against the Storm on June 10 at the Mohegan Sun Arena.