EVERETT, Wash. – The hot-shooting Seattle Storm dealt the Lynx their first loss of the season on Tuesday night, winning 84-77 at Angel of the Winds Arena.
The Lynx entered the game allowing a league-low 66.3 points per game, but the Storm shot 32-for-54 from the field and 7-for-13 from three-point range. It outscored the Lynx 21-10 down the stretch to secure the victory.
The Lynx, trying to begin a season 4-0 for the sixth time in team history, dropped to 3-1. They were the last unbeaten team left in the WNBA.
Seattle (3-2) beat the Lynx at home for the third consecutive time.
Seattle's 59.3 shooting percentage was the fourth highest by an opponent in Lynx history. It came on the same night the Lynx shot 50.9%. It's only their fifth loss since 2011 when hitting at least half their shots.
Tuesday's other numerical oddity: The Lynx had only 17 rebounds, a team record for the fewest in a game.
Seattle's shooting numbers were even better in the first half — 18-for-27 from the field, 6-for-8 on threes — when it took a 49-39 lead.
The Lynx outscored the Storm 23-14 in the third quarter to get back in the game, with 10 of those points coming from rookie first-round draft pick Napheesa Collier.
Early in the fourth quarter, Collier converted a three-point play — after a nifty assist by fellow rookie Jessica Shepard —to put the Lynx up 67-63. But Seattle retook control after that.
Four Lynx starters scored in double figures. Collier had 17, Sylvia Fowles 16, Damiris Dantas 14, and Danielle Robinson 11.
Fowles had five rebounds, giving her 3,070 for her career, tying her with Tina Thompson for fourth in WNBA history.
Karima Christmas-Kelly, an offseason free-agent acquisition, saw her first action of the season and scored three points in 12 minutes off the bench.
Seattle, playing without reigning league MVP Breanna Stewart and Sue Bird, was led by Jewell Loyd with 19 points.
