Jewell Loyd scored 23 of her season-high 34 points in the first half, despite playing most of the game with a swollen left eye, leading the Seattle Storm to an 89-77 victory over the Indiana Fever on Thursday night.
Seattle (11-6) began their WNBA-record nine-game homestand with a perfect 2-0 record, not scheduled to play away until mid-July.
Caitlin Clark, the Fever’s standout, was held to just three points in the second half, finishing with 15 points and seven assists. The game was played before a sold-out crowd, with many fans donning No. 22 jerseys bearing Clark’s name.
Seattle coach Noelle Quinn praised Loyd’s performance, saying, “We knew it was coming and when it comes, it comes in a storm. In a barrage. We know she can rattle off points.”
Loyd made five 3-pointers in the first half, amassing 23 points—the second-highest first-half point total by any player in the WNBA this season. Despite being inadvertently hit around the left eye late in the first quarter and missing nearly five minutes of play, she finished with six 3-pointers and made 10 of 15 shots overall. This was her second game this season with at least 30 points, both against Indiana. Loyd now has 23 career games of 30 or more points, tying her with Tina Charles for the sixth-most in league history.
Loyd had been in a scoring slump, not reaching the 20-point mark in four straight games, including a loss to Las Vegas where she missed all nine shots and scored just one point. She reflected, “I feel good. I felt good before. Sometimes they just don’t go in.”
The sold-out crowd of more than 18,000 at Climate Pledge Arena included notable figures such as Sue Bird, Megan Rapinoe, Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Walter Jones, J.P Crawford from the Seattle Mariners, and Damian Lillard of the Milwaukee Bucks.
Seattle’s defense made it tough for Clark, particularly in the second half, where she was frequently forced to give up the ball due to the Storm’s pick-and-roll defense. Clark attempted only two shots after halftime, ending the game shooting 4 for 9. Additionally, there were moments when Clark was open but her teammates couldn’t find her. Commenting on the situation, Clark said, “When you’re playing off a ball screen a lot and you get blitzed you’re just going to have to give the ball up. That’s just kind of how it rolls.”
Clark also appeared to tweak her left leg early in the first quarter but continued to play, scoring her first points on a deep 3-pointer more than eight minutes into the game. She scored 12 points in the first half but couldn’t keep up with Loyd’s scoring onslaught.
“We’re competitors. We want to win. It didn’t ever really feel great out there tonight even when we cut it to nine. It just didn’t feel like it was flowing too well,” Clark said.
Ezi Magbegor contributed 18 points and Nneka Ogwumike added 15 points and 11 rebounds for Seattle.
Erica Wheeler scored 15 points for Indiana, and Kelsey Mitchell finished with 14.
