Storm hope to cash in road success at home vs. Sun

The Seattle Storm have played some of their best basketball the past week and a half, but their home fans haven't been able to witness it in person.

All three of the Storm's wins in their last four games have come away from Seattle, where they have lost five straight and are a paltry 2-12 this season.

Seattle looks to turn things around during a four-game homestand starting Tuesday against the Connecticut Sun.

Seattle (7-20) remained cool under pressure in Saturday's 97-91 road win against the Phoenix Mercury.

With the Storm clinging to an 89-87 lead late in the fourth quarter, Jewell Loyd banked in a contested 3-pointer that gave Seattle a five-point cushion with just over a minute to play.

After Phoenix clawed back within three points, Sami Whitcomb swished a fadeaway 3-point fling at the shot clock buzzer that pushed Seattle's lead to 95-89 with 27 seconds left and effectively sealed the win.

"Shooters shoot," Storm coach Noelle Quinn said of Whitcomb's circus shot, per the Seattle Times. "We just needed a little bit of luck to go our way."

Whitcomb finished with 14 points, while Loyd posted 32 to bump up her WNBA-leading scoring average to 24.9 points per game.

Connecticut (20-7) makes its second stop of a four-city road trip that began with an 88-72 win over the Indiana Fever on Friday.

Tiffany Hayes' 18 points led six Sun scorers who posted double figures, and Connecticut bullied Indiana to a 40-20 advantage in points in the paint.

Even with a 5-2 record since the All-Star break and a playoff spot all but secured, the Sun have yet to put it all together, according to coach Stephanie White.

"I don't feel like we're close to peaking yet," White said. "We still have a lot of room to grow, and you certainly want to be trending that way as you head into mid-to-late August and into September ... we want to be peaking at playoff time."

Tuesday's game is the third and final matchup between Connecticut and Seattle this season. The Sun clinched the season series with a 93-73 win in Connecticut on July 6 after beating the Storm 85-79 in Seattle on June 20.