Stewart leads Seattle to 2nd WNBA title in 3 years

Breanna Stewart scored 26 points, and Seattle Storm won ir second WNBA championship in three season, sweeping Las Vegas Aces with a 92-59 rout Tuesday night.

It’s fourth title in franchise history for Storm, who also won in 2004, 2010 and 2018. Seattle h pretty much same core group that won 2018 championship back for this year, led by Stewart, Sue Bird and Jewell Loyd. Storm joined Minnesota and Houston as only franchises to win four championships.

Seattle has w won a record 11 games in a row in WNBA Finals, dating to team's first championship in 2004. Bird has been a part of all of m. veteran guard, who turns 40 next week, was once again a catalyst for Storm. She finished with five points and seven assists. She finished finals averaging 11 assists in three games.

26-year-old Stewart set a WNBA record by scoring more than 20 points for sixth straight finals game. She earned WNBA Finals MVP hors for second time in her young career, becoming fifth player to win multiple finals MVPs.

Her play all season showed she h fully recovered from a torn Achilles' tendon that sidelined her for entire 2019 season.

Stewart and Bird were both on bench for most of fourth quarter with game well in hand. team hugged at center court after final buzzer.

A’ja Wilson, league’s regular-season MVP, tried to keep Aces alive. She h 14 of her 18 points in first quarter, hitting five of her nine shots. She also took four of team’s six free throws in period. Aces, who led league by averaging more than 23 attempts in regular season, only h five total in Game 2. Coach Bill Laimbeer voiced his displeasure that team couldn’t get to foul line on Sunday.

Despite scoring first seven points of game, Las Vegas trailed 23-21 after one quarter after Storm closed period on an 11-2 run. Seattle n scored first six points of second. Stewart picked up her third foul early in quarter and h to sit for final 7-plus minutes.

It didn’t matter as Seattle extended its two-point vant to 43-34 at half.

Seattle put game away in third quarter, scoring 12 of first 14 points in period.

Aces' future is bright. team was missing Liz Camb and Kelsey Plum — starters from last year. Camb was granted a medical exemption to skip playing this season in bubble in Brenton, Florida. Plum tore her Achilles' tendon

MISSING HAMBY: Aces clearly could have used Sixth Woman of Year Dearica Hamby in series. She said Monday she h been dealing with a qu injury for past two months and felt her right knee get injured in Game 3 of semifinals against Connecticut. Hamby played through injury to finish that game but didn't return. She said she most likely wouldn't need surgery. She averd 13.0 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.7 steals during regular season.

WINLESS ANGEL: Angel McCoughtry came to Las Vegas this season after spending her entire career in Atlanta since getting drafted . 1 in 2009. She led Dream to three WNBA Finals appearances but team was swept in each one. She's w 0-12 in championship round.

Im credits: AP

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