SEATTLE — Jewell Loyd scored 20 points, Jordan Horston added 16 on 7-of-8 shooting and Skylar Diggins-Smith had a double-double to help the Seattle Storm beat the Phoenix Mercury 90-66 on Saturday night.
Diggins-Smith finished with 12 points and 11 assists and Nneka Ogwumike scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds for Seattle (21-14). The Storm is 1 1/2 games behind Las Vegas for fourth place. Phoenix is 1 1/2 games behind Indiana for sixth.
Horston hit a hook shot that gave the Storm the lead for good with nearly 8 minutes left in the second quarter and sparked a 17-4 run. Horston scored seven more points, while Diggins-Smith and Sami Whitcomb each hit a 3-pointer in the run that extended Seattle’s lead to 36-23 with 3:17 left in the first half.
Horston, who scored in double figures for the first time since before the month-long break for the Paris Olympics, scored 11 points as Seattle outscored the Mercury 28-13 in the second quarter to take a 15-point lead into halftime.
Diana Taurasi led Phoenix (17-19) with 18 points. Kahleah Copper added 11 points on 4-of-16 shooting.
Seattle hit 12 3-pointers, including three each from Whitcomb, Diggins-Smith and Loyd, and committed just six turnovers.
