WNBA scoring leader Jewell Loyd scored 17 of her 32 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Seattle Storm to a 97-91 victory over the host Phoenix Mercury on Saturday night.
Ezi Magbegor had 19 points and seven rebounds as the Storm (7-20) improved to 3-0 against the Mercury this season. Gabby Williams added 14 points, six assists, five rebounds and four steals and Sami Whitcomb made four 3-pointers while also scoring 14 points.
Diana Taurasi scored 28 points and Brittney Griner added 22 for Phoenix (7-20), which has dropped five of its last six games. Griner returned from a three-game absence tied to her mental health.
Sophie Cunningham and Megan Gustafson added 13 points apiece for the Mercury, who shot 50.7 percent from the field, including 6 of 23 from 3-point range. Phoenix reserve Shey Peddy sustained a head injury in the second quarter and was taken off the court via stretcher and transported to a hospital.
Seattle made 47.2 percent of its attempts and was 8 of 22 from behind the arc.
Loyd scored four points during a 7-0 push that gave the Storm an 85-79 lead with four minutes remaining.
Phoenix moved within 89-87 on Griner's three-point play with 2:31 left. Neither team scored again until Loyd banked in a trey to make it a five-point margin with 1:03 remaining.
Taurasi's basket with 51.1 seconds left moved the Mercury within three. But Whitcomb had the ball with the shot clock running down and rapidly tossed a shot up that swished through the hoop to make it 95-89 with 27 seconds left as Seattle closed it out.
Peddy was hurt with 1:34 left in the first half. Phoenix said at halftime that Peddy had movement in her limbs.
Peddy was hit in the right side of her head by an elbow from Seattle rookie Jordan Horston. The initial foul call was upgraded to a flagrant foul.
After Peddy was hurt, Phoenix scored the final seven points of the first half to hold a 50-41 lead at the break.
The Storm trailed by eight early in the third quarter before scoring 22 of the next 29 points to take a 68-61 lead. The Mercury scored the final four to trail by three entering the final stanza.
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