Storm chills Mercury to stay undefeated at home

They're three little words that, when uttered by the right person, can make a point guard beam.

And once forward Sheryl Swoopes said the phrase to Sue Bird at shoot-around on Wednesday, the Storm guard knew the final piece to the star-studded lineup designed during the offseason was ready to roll.

Swoopes' words? "I feel great!"

The test run for Swoopes to back her words up was in the final seconds of a tight game against the defending champion Phoenix Mercury on Wednesday night.

The Storm was clinging to a three-point lead following a three-pointer by Phoenix's Cappie Pondexter. Bird raced down court and set up the offense, later firing a pass to Swoopes in the corner. With 30.9 seconds left, Swoopes nailed a three-pointer that proved to be enough for Seattle to collect an 83-77 win at KeyArena.

The Storm (7-3) is now 6-0 at home, departing today for back-to-back road games in San Antonio and Houston. Swoopes, who played her previous 10 seasons in Houston, settled into her locker-room seat after the win with a bag of ice strapped to her lower back.

The one bag of ice was a vast change from the beginning of the season when she could personally account for the chill in the region because of all the ice wrapped around her body. But Swoopes finally proclaimed herself healthy after missing 31 games last season due to a back injury that needed surgery in October.

"I'm finally feeling like my body is getting back — not where I want it to be — but where I need it to be, I'm finally getting my timing back," said Swoopes, who scored seven of her 17 points in the fourth quarter. "To be able to come out and play and enjoy and not feel the pains that I felt before is a great feeling."

Swoopes, 37, said if she had taken that critical late shot earlier this season, she would have had doubts about whether it would go in. But on Wednesday?

"Oh, I knew it was going in when I let it go," she said with a smile. "Some of the other games, [Sue] just kept passing and passing and I said, 'Just be patient with me, I'm coming, I'm going to hit those shots for you.' She said, 'I know you will, just keep shooting.'

"I think she passed it to me once and I passed it back and we moved the ball around and she passed it back again. At that point I really had no other choice but to let it go, and there was no doubt in my mind that that shot was going in."

The vintage Swoopes was needed considering the Storm blanketed guard Diana Taurasi like they were trying to put out a fire — only to watch Taurasi score 12 points, including three three-pointers in the fourth quarter, to pull Phoenix out of what was an 11-point deficit and close the gap to three points.

Taurasi finished with 37 points, the most by a WNBA player this season. To counter Taurasi, the Storm dominated on the boards, winning that category, 52-31. Seattle also held league-leading scorer Pondexter to 18 points on 8-of-22 shooting.

"That's fine, [Diana] can go off, but we still won," said Lauren Jackson, who led the Storm with 20 points and 14 rebounds for her first double-double of the season.

The Mercury (2-5) played without Tangela Smith (knee) and Penny Taylor, who opted to train with her Australian national team rather than play in the WNBA.

The Storm took a one-point lead into the locker room at the half, but Storm center Yolanda Griffith sparked the team in the third quarter, scoring nine of her 11 points to help Seattle take a 56-49 lead into the final 10 minutes.

After the game, Taurasi, who was wrapped in ice, criticized the officiating. The Mercury attempted 10 free throws compared with the Storm's 32.

"I mean that's just ridiculous," Taurasi said. "We have some of the best offensive players in the league and we can't get a call? That's ridiculous."

Seattle has emphasized being undefeated at home this season.

"I think it's a very realistic goal," Bird said. "And you want to steal as many games on the road. It's hard to get wins these days, so you've got to do the best you can."

But with Swoopes feeling "great," that task just got easier.

Jayda Evans: 206-464-2067 or jevans@seattletimes.com