As she races toward the WNBA’s single-season scoring mark — one of the league’s most hallowed records — Jewell Loyd is speeding past the all-time greats like mileposts on the highway.
On Sunday, the 29-year-old Storm star moved ahead of Brittney Griner, A’ja Wilson and Angel McCoughtry into 15th place with 722 points.
If Loyd hits her league-leading 24.1 scoring average 5 p.m. PT Tuesday when Seattle (10-22) plays the Chicago Sky (12-20) at Wintrust Arena, she’ll surpass Elena Delle Donne (725), Kelsey Plum (726), Cappie Pondexter (729), Liz Cambage (737), Katie Smith (739) and Seimone Augustus (744) to climb into fifth place.
In doing so, Loyd would also overtake Lauren Jackson (739 points in 2007) and Breanna Stewart, who tallied 742 points and 741 in 2019 and 2022 respectively, and become the Storm’s all-time single-season scoring leader.
“It’s part of a legacy,” coach Noelle Quinn said. “We talk about it with Jewell, at this point in your career, it’s about what is your legacy going to be? Those records that she’s chasing — not chasing — but literally creeping up on those leaderboards is just a testament to her and how hard she works and how good she is.
“I think we need to recognize that. She’s a prolific scorer in this league. She can shoot at multiple levels. She’s an amazing teammate. She is an excellent player not only for us, but for this league. We’re going to continue to work hard and put her in position to be her best self.”
In her ninth year, Loyd is having a season for the ages.
The 5-foot-11 guard became the fifth player to reach 700 points in 30 games or fewer and the first since Minnesota Lynx great Maya Moore did it in 2014.
Loyd’s 10 30-point games is tied with Diana Taurasi (2008) and Tina Charles (2021) for the second most in WNBA history behind Moore who had 12 in 2014.
With eight games remaining, Loyd trails former teammate and New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart (723) for the most points in the league.
However, Stewart is averaging 22.6 points per game and on pace to finish with 903 points while Loyd is projected to tally 914 and shatter Taurasi’s WNBA record of 860 set in 2006. (Of course, the league expanded to 40 regular-season games this season — six more than the 34-game season Taurasi’s record was set in.)
“Honestly, I don’t try to think about it,” Loyd said. “I just go out there and play. This season has been one that I haven’t really had a chance to understand yet. Maybe after the season I’ll think about what happened this season who we became as players, but I’m just trying to compete.”
That’s been the seasonlong mantra for a young Storm team that measures success in the daily progress they’ve made since a 105-64 defeat against the Las Vegas Aces in the season opener and a 10-game losing streak in July rather than their wins/loss record.
Still, Seattle is 6-3 over their past nine games, which is tied for the third-best record in the league during that span.
Surprisingly, the late-season surge has kept the Storm in postseason contention. They trail the Los Angeles Sparks (13-18) by 3½ games for the final playoff spot.
Meanwhile, Chicago has fallen to ninth in the standings while dropping 11 of its past 15 games since an 8-9 start on July 2.
The Storm split a pair of games against the Sky, including a 90-75 home loss on July 22 and an 83-74 road win on July 28.
“They’re fierce, they’re tough and they play hard,” Quinn said. “They rebound the ball really well. We saw that at home as far as going for the offensive board. (Kahleah) Copper plays at high level. Any night she can give you 25-30 points same as (Marina) Mabrey. They have a ton of experience and at the end of the day they play hard no matter what’s going with their season. This is a difficult matchup for us.”
NOTE:
— Rookie forward Jordan Horston left Sunday’s 88-74 win over the Minnesota Lynx late in the fourth quarter with an apparent right shoulder injury. She missed three games in June with a right shoulder injury. Immediately after the game, coach Noelle Quinn was optimistic Horston would be available Tuesday.
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