Storm face Fever hoping to build on rare victory

Jewell Loyd is leading the WNBA in scoring but the Seattle Storm star has not received enough help this year.

On Friday night she did, and Seattle snapped a 10-game losing streak with an 83-74 road win over the Chicago Sky.

The Storm aim to make it consecutive victories on Sunday at Indianapolis against the Indiana Fever in a matchup of the league's worst teams.

Seattle (5-19) looked like a squad capable of achieving a little more in its slump-busting win over the Sky. Ezi Magbegor compiled 17 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Gabby Williams added 17 points, while Sami Whitcomb chipped in 12 points and 10 rebounds.

It was enough to make up for a rare off-game by Loyd, who managed just 15 points, nine under her per-game average, on 5-of-14 shooting.

"I think if we can help Jewell out and get points elsewhere, I think that's just going to help us offensively," Magbegor said. "I'm just proud of this team for obviously contributing, just kind of sticking to it and getting the win."

Meanwhile, Indiana (6-18) lost for the 11th time in 12 games Thursday as the Los Angeles Sparks completed a two-game sweep of the Fever with an 81-68 home victory. Indiana outscored Los Angeles from the field but was just 2 of 3 at the foul line, while the Sparks made 20 of 23.

Erica Wheeler scored 17 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out seven assists for the Fever but it wasn't enough to get them out of their slide.

"It's not our youth, because we have over half of the season now," forward Victoria Vivians said. "We've been going hard ever since the beginning with training camp. We don't have an excuse for youth anymore. We just have to buy into what the coaches are saying and execute."

Indiana won the teams' only matchup this year, getting seven 3-pointers and 25 points from Kelsey Mitchell on June 22 in an 80-68 decision at Seattle.