SEATTLE — Katie Smith and Camille Little had 17 points apiece to lead the defending WNBA champion Seattle Storm to an 81-70 win over the Sky on Sunday night.
Swin Cash added 15, and Sue Bird had 10 for Seattle (21-13), which has won eight of nine. The Storm had already secured the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
Sylvia Fowles scored 19 of her 30 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Sky (14-20), who finished fifth in the Eastern Conference and failed to make the playoffs. Fowles made all 12 of her free throw attempts.
Cathrine Kraayeveld added 12 points for the Sky.
“Seattle is getting ready for their postseason play so they went hard and were trying to fine tune some things,” Sky coach Pokey Chatman said. “We battled. We didn’t shoot the ball very well but I thought we stayed aggressive and attacked. The bottom line is it’s a loss. We’re done and we have a lot of work to do in the offseason.”
Seattle’s Lauren Jackson sat out to rest for the playoff opener Thursday at home against Phoenix. Jackson had played in eight straight games, including seven Storm wins, since returning from a hip injury that sidelined her for 20 games.
Kraayeveld hit a 3-pointer to help the Sky cut a 12-point deficit to five before Little, Smith and Le’coe Willingham responded with baskets to put the Storm up 57-47 after three quarters.
Little and Bird scored 10 each, and Cash added nine to help give Seattle a 41-33 halftime lead.
Bird scored seven, and Smith added five to help the Storm to a 26-17 first-quarter lead. Fowles scored eight in the half.
Smith hit a 3-pointer in the first quarter to break 6,000 career points. Smith, in her first year with the Storm, ranks third behind Tina Thompson and Lisa Leslie.
The Storm improved to 15-2 at home and holds home-court advantage in the best-of-three series against Phoenix. Seattle won the season series 3-1.
Seattle has advanced to the playoffs eight straight years, and won the championship in 2004 and 2010. Phoenix won the 2009 title.
Sky rookie Courtney Vandersloot scored five in her hometown return. She received a loud ovation when she entered the game and relished the chance to play against Bird in Seattle.
“You can tell she kind of runs this place and she does it well,” Vandersloot said. “She’s a great player. It’s just fun to be out there with her.”
