Perfect Storm: Clark’s unbelievable shooting chills Fever

Seattle, WA -- Seattle concocted the perfect storm.

Sunday night’s 24-point win over Indiana was the result of not one — but all of the Storm’s player’s efforts — right down to their draft picks, who haven’t seen much playing time so far this season.

From sniper-accurate shooting to aggressive defense, Seattle never gave Indiana a chance.

From the eye test, Seattle has a well-balanced offense. The Storm had four players in double digits and every player that played recorded at least one field goal.

“We have a lot of weapons and a lot of people who are willing to play as a team,” Boucek said on her team’s versatility. “Different nights are going to be different people depending on what the defense is doing and that’s where your humble superstars come into place.”

Earlier this season a lot of spectators questioned the Storms’ three-point accuracy. But Sami Whitcomb silently answered the critics with back-to-back big performances from downtown. Whitcomb sank six threes in the matter of 12 minutes in Friday’s game against the New York Liberty, and recorded three more today.

Overall, the Storm went 44.4 percent from behind the arc, compared to the Fever, who only made two of its 10 attempts from beyond.

The game’s momentum was kickstarted by veteran forward Alysha Clark as she led Seattle’s front court.

Clark went 9-10 from the field, sinking 1-out-of-2 three-point attempts. Her performance was one for the books. Clark’s nine consecutive baskets was the best start by any Seattle player in franchise history.

Clark said she felt relieved to finally find her shooting groove again this season.

“I take pride in being an efficient player. In the first few games, I wasn’t being very efficient. I was frustrated with myself in that. To be able to go out, finish and get my feel back was good.”

Clark wasn’t the only one in the zone offensively, though. Forward Breanna Stewart appears to be a relatively quiet player, but on the court she’s lethal and gets the job done. But don’t be fooled by her calm demeanor. Stewart, who is the reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year for good reasons, paints a picture across the stat sheet. She went 3-3 from the field in the first half, and ended the game with 12 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals.

Again, the scoring didn’t stop there as Seattle showed how well-balanced its roster is. Storm head coach Boucek gave every player, except Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis who was out with an injury, playing time against the Fever.

Even rookies Alexis Peterson and Lanay Montgomery had time to shine. Montgomery scored her first WNBA basket on a jumper, while Peterson didn’t miss a single shot on the night.

“The fact that we are able to have our full team during this home stretch and build off what we do is a lot of fun,” Stewart said. “We were really aggressive from the start defensively. We were ready to execute and we knew what they were going to do and were ready to stop that. We have people knocking down shots and contributions from everybody.”

Although the Seattle was the shining star in the Sunday night contest, Indiana did have a chance to weather the Storm and battle back.

After the Storm jumped out to a nine-point lead, the Fever was able to chisel their way back into the competition. At the end of the first quarter, Seattle led 26-22.

But Indiana’s poor second quarter performance dug the Fever into a hole they couldn’t find their way out of. In the second period, Indiana shot 25 percent, only making four field goals.

Indiana relied heavily on its bench throughout the entire game — in the first quarter alone, 16 of the team’s 22 points came off the bench. Two of the Fever’s three players that scored in double figures didn’t start the game.

Fever guard Tiffany Mitchell had a team-high 13 points and 4 rebounds while Jazmon Gwathmey also helped from the bench, contributing 10 points.

With a 4-1 start, Seattle has sparked its best start since 2010, and if you remember back to the outcome of that season, the Storm won their second championship title.

Seattle will look to remain unbeaten at home when it hosts the Minnesota Lynx June 3 at 9 p.m. ET.

Indiana (2-3) will try to get back to .500 when the Fever travel to Dallas to take on the Wings May 30, 8 p.m. ET.