Storm's seven-game winning streak ends in Washington

WASHINGTON — One game after rallying from 17 points down to keep its winning streak alive, the Storm again faced a road deficit.

This time there would be no comeback, and the Storm suffered its most lopsided loss of the season. The Washington Mystics ended Seattle's franchise-record seven-game winning streak in stunning fashion with a 89-57 victory Sunday.

The Storm had rallied from 17 down to beat Indiana on Friday night in its first game without reigning MVP Lauren Jackson, who is training with the Australian Olympic team. Sunday it might not have mattered if Jackson was in Washington.

The Storm fizzled as the Mystics came out fired up under interim coach Jessie Kenlaw, a former Storm assistant, who took over Saturday when Tree Rollins was fired.

The Storm said Jackson's absence wasn't a factor and chalked it up to a lack of intensity and a bad day.

"I think that every game you can look at it whether you win by 30 or lose by 30," said Storm coach Brian Agler, whose team fell to 3-7 on the road. "In this league you can't dwell on the last one too long."

But for the Mystics, who made their coaching change after two embarrassing losses to New York and Detroit by a combined 58 points, there was extra motivation and intensity.

"It feels awesome," said Kenlaw, who was a Storm assistant the past four seasons. "I didn't know what to expect. I feel like doing flips it feels so good."

The Mystics made 10 of 17 three-pointers and set a franchise record with a 23-point halftime lead (48-25). The 48 first-half points were a season high for the league's lowest scoring team.

Washington forced Seattle into 23 turnovers and 38.2 percent shooting from the field. Seattle had its lowest scoring output of the season. The Mystics shot 54.8 percent overall.

The Mystics were led by forward Taj McWilliams-Franklin, who scored 18 of her 22 points in the first half. After taking a 23-17 lead after the first quarter, the Mystics went on a 25-8 second-quarter run to pull away from the Storm.

"We can't start like we started," center Yolanda Griffith said. "We have to do the little things. They were more aggressive. They went after the loose balls. They ran their offense and we didn't take them out of anything. It was just so easy for them."

Despite the early struggles, the Storm came out motivated in the second half to recapture the magic that brought it back from a 17-point deficit against Indiana, but could not string together a run and played mostly bench players in the fourth quarter.

"We came out in the second half wanting to cut the lead," Agler said. "I give them credit. They have played really well and we just didn't play our best."

Katie Gearlds scored 13 points, Sue Bird had 11 and Camille Little had her first double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

"We were on a great winning streak and now it's over, we have to come out and bounce back," Bird said. "Our defense is what sparks us and leads to our offense. That's what sparked us all season.

"Tonight our struggles on offense stemmed from our defense. Every time we let them score we let them set their defense up and couldn't get any transition points. Overall they were more aggressive. Offensively and defensively, they took it to us."

"Teams are comfortable at home," Griffith said. "When you play someone on their home court, they are going to come out and be confident that they can beat us. We have to come out and match that intensity."

With two games to go on their four-game road swing and a home game before the Olympics break, the Storm will have to right the ship to keep pace with San Antonio in the Western Conference race.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.