Williams, Copper rally Sky to 90-85 victory, eliminate Storm from playoff contention

SEATTLE — Elizabeth Williams scored 23 points, Kahleah Copper added a double-double and the Chicago Sky rallied in the second half to beat the Seattle Storm 90-85 on Sunday.

Chicago (14-21) stayed in the hunt for a spot in the playoffs with the victory. The Sky trail the Los Angeles Sparks by 1.5 games for the eighth and final berth. Chicago is two games behind seventh-place Atlanta with five games left to play.

Seattle (10-25) lost its third straight game and was eliminated from the playoffs. The four-time WNBA champion Storm had qualified for the playoffs from 2016 to 2022, according to ESPN. Seattle won the title in 2004, 2010, 2018, and 2020.

Williams buried 10 of 15 shots from the floor for the Sky, adding five rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block. Copper finished with 18 points and 12 boards for her first double-double of the season. She also had five steals and four assists. Marina Mabrey scored 15 on 5-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc. Courtney Williams totaled 10 points, six assists and five rebounds.

Jewell Loyd, who leads the league with a 24.4 scoring average, finished with 19 points on 5-of-18 shooting. Loyd hit all seven of her free throws but sank just 2 of 8 from distance. Sami Whitcomb also scored 19, making five 3-pointers. Ezi Magbegor pitched in with 15 points and 14 rebounds for her 10th double-double of the campaign. Mercedes Russell came off the bench to score 13.

Russell scored nine straight points over a 3-minute span to guide Seattle to a 29-23 lead after one quarter. Loyd scored 17 points and Russell added 13 to help the Storm take a 55-46 lead at halftime.

Seattle took its biggest lead at 64-50 on a 3-pointer by Whitcomb with 7:16 left in the third period. Dana Evans connected from beyond the arc to cap a 10-2 run and the Sky closed to within 66-60 at the 3:28 mark. Copper followed with two free throws and a layup to get Chicago within two before Whitcomb buried a 3-pointer and Loyd sank two free throws to give the Storm a 75-68 lead heading into the final period.

The Sky battled back and took an 86-85 lead on Copper's 3-pointer with 2:14 left to play and stayed in front from there. Chicago hadn't held a lead since it scored the first two baskets of the game.

Chicago has just two victories in its last eight games — both against the Storm.

__ AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball