EVERETT (Wash.) -- Jewell Loyd set a WNBA record of 22 points in the opening quarter and finished with a career high 37. This helped the Seattle Storm win a bye in the WNBA playoffs. They defeated the Phoenix Mercury 94-85 on Friday night.
Loyd tied the record of points in a quarter, which was set in 2006 by Diana Taurasi and then tied in 2019 by Brittney Sykes. This is the highest number of points scored by a WNBA member in the first quarter.
Loyd scored 22 points on 8-of-9 shooting. She also made all four of her 3-pointers. Loyd also had three assists, which helped the Storm take a 28-20 lead. Loyd scored 22 points for Seattle, but she didn't score in the fourth quarter.
Brittney Griner's 17th career Mercury dunk was the highlight of the second quarter. Loyd was fouled on a desperate heave just as the clock ran out. She made three free throws to give Seattle 28 points.
Jewell Loyd scored 22 Storm's first 24-point goals, and then was scoreless for the last 4:21 of the quarter. Photo by Joshua Huston/NBAE via Getty Images
28 points in a quarter are the most scored by a WNBA team this season. The 61 points tied a Seattle record.
The Storm managed to extend the lead to 22 points but couldn't stop the Mercury. Shey Peddy's steal and breakaway layup was the final of a 20-4 run, which saw the Mercury cut to 89-83 with just 1:25 remaining. After a Seattle shot clock violation, the Mercury scored again before Loyd's 3-point play with 47.2 seconds remaining decided the issue.
Depending on how the Minnesota Lynx perform on Sunday, the final day of the regular season, Seattle (21-11), will be either the third or fourth seed. The Mercury (19-12) will be the fifth-seed and host the still-to-be-determined No. 8 in a first round game on Thursday.
This report was contributed by The Associated Press.
