She took her dogs on a hike. That’s how Jewell Loyd helped shake free from a shooting funk that’s hounded her the past two weeks.
A few days ago, when temperatures rose into the 80s in Seattle, Loyd and her golden doodles Mikey and Romeo spent an afternoon at Discovery Park for an outing that was relaxing and therapeutic.
“Whenever I can get away and do things outside of (basketball), it gets me centered,” Loyd said last week. “So, yeah took the dogs out and just getting back in a rhythm of things helps.”
Perhaps, Loyd should spend more time walking the pups considering she broke out of her slump with a 34-point performance to lead the Storm to an 89-77 win against the Indiana Fever on Thursday night.
“If you guys come for a show, I’ll give you one,” Loyd told the sellout crowd of 18,343 at Climate Pledge Arena.
It was a season high in points for Loyd, who despite receiving an inadvertent blow to her face late in the first quarter that resulted in a swollen left eye, topped the 32 she tallied versus Indiana in Seattle’s 85-83 victory in their first meeting on May 22.
Since then, Loyd labored through a stretch in which her shooting percentage plummeted to a career-low 33.7% from the field and 22.9% on three-pointers – her lowest since her rookie year in 2015.
In the previous six games, Loyd connected on just 3 of 34 three-pointers, including 0 for 13 in the past three outings.
“I slept in my own bed for more than one day,” said Loyd who also attributed her improved disposition to a well-timed visit from her parents Gwendolyn and Calvin. “Got some treatment. Teammates continued to tell me to keep shooting. I feel good. I felt good before and sometimes they just don’t go in.”
Loyd, who connected on 10 of 15 shots and sank six of nine three-pointers, missed her first 3-pointer, then made the next three – each one landing like a haymaker against a road-weary Fever team that was at the midpoint of a five-game road trip.
“I’ve played with Jewell and now coaching her, I’ve seen it time and time again,” coach Noelle Quinn said. “We talk about the law of averages and we talk about someone who continues to work on her craft at a high level. She stays the course. We knew it was coming and when it comes, it comes in a storm and a barrage. We know she can rattle off a lot of points.
“Today I thought she was reading the game really well and then when she gets in a flow, we talked about how she’s unstoppable. I’ve been a part of some great moments with her. It’s reminiscent of what I’ve seen from her time and time again. It’s about being patient. It’s about putting the work in and the game rewards you when you do that.”
Loyd drained a pull-up three that gave the Storm a 16-8 lead midway in the first quarter. Then, she sank another shot from long range before canning a step-back three to go up 22-11 with 2:19 remaining.
Late in the second quarter, Loyd thrilled the crowd when she tracked down a long pass from Jordan Horston in the corner and before Kelsey Mitchell had time to react, the Storm guard launched a three-pointer that splashed through the net for a 50-36 lead.
Seattle was up 53-39 at halftime and stretched its advantage to 67-48 with 4:09 left in the third quarter.
However, the Fever didn’t go away quietly and trimmed their deficit to 70-61 at the end of the third.
Then the Storm put the game away with a 9-0 run to start the fourth quarter, in which all five starters scored. After the flurry, Seattle led 79-61.
“This team isn’t the same team that we saw in the beginning of the season,” forward Nneka Ogwumike said. “We had to make sure we were always setting if not exceeding the tone of the game. They had moments when they capitalized. They had some really good input from their bench play and we just needed to make sure that we stopped who we planned to stop and also that others weren’t factors.
“They were able to capitalize on some people coming in and making plays, but we did a really good job of continuing to make every possession a defensive possession. … We just really locked in on making it difficult for them to get into their actions on their end ultimately.”
Indiana pulled to within 80-67 with 4:01 minutes remaining when Ezi Magbegor found a cutting Loyd for a reverse.
Soon after, Skylar Diggins-Smith, who had nine assists, dropped a dagger 3-pointer before Loyd stole a pass en route to a fast break layup and an 89-71 lead with 53.3 seconds left that sealed the Storm’s sixth straight home win.
Magbegor scored 18 points and Ogwumike added 15 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks and three steals for the Storm (11-6), which has matched last year’s win total.
Diggins-Smith and Horston took turns defending Caitlin Clark and held the Fever rookie to 15 points, six rebounds and seven assists. She also had six turnovers.
Seattle, which committed eight turnovers, forced 22 that led to 27 points.
“Skylar will hawk you full court and Jordan uses her length and her athleticism,” Quinn said. “Skylar plays tendencies and scout coverages and Jordan uses her instincts. Different type of defenders, but nonetheless dog defenders. Staying in her space and not afraid to get up and pressure the ball. We wanted to keep one of those two matched up on Caitlin.”
Indiana (7-12) also received 15 points from Erica Wheeler and 14 from Mitchell. NaLyssa Smith had 14 points and nine rebounds and Aliyah Boston chipped in 11 points and 14 rebounds.
The Storm’s nine-game home stand continues with a pair of games against the Dallas Wings (4-13) on Saturday and Monday.
“We love these moments of being able to be home,” Loyd said. “We’re so excited to sleep in our beds. We had a lot of energy. … We talked about it all week of just playing with joy.
“I feel like with this team, we have the same joy in practice, pickup (games) or whatever it is. We want people to see the game for what it is. … And that’s what the show is, the purity of basketball.”
NOTE:
— Jordan Horston left the game late in the fourth quarter due to a leg spasm and did not return.
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