Loyd scores 20, Horston 16 as Storm beat Mercury

SEATTLE — Jewell Loyd scored 20 points, Jordan Horston added 16 on 7-of-8 shooting and Skylar Diggins-Smith had a double-double to help the Seattle Storm beat the Phoenix Mercury 90-66 Saturday night.

Diggins-Smith finished with 12 points and 11 assists and Nneka Ogwumike scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds for Seattle (21-14). The Storm are 1 1/2 games behind Las Vegas for the No. 4 seed. Phoenix is 1 1/2 games behind Indiana for the sixth seed.

Horston made a hook shot that gave the Storm the lead for good with almost 8 minutes left in the second quarter and sparked a 17-4 run. Horston scored seven more points while Diggins-Smith and Sami Whitcomb each hit a 3-pointer in the spurt that pushed Seattle’s lead to 36-23 with 3:17 left in the first half.

Horston, who scored in double figures for the first time since prior to the monthlong break for the Paris Olympics, poured in 11 points as Seattle outscored the Mercury 28-13 in the second quarter to take a 15-point lead into halftime.

Diana Taurasi led Phoenix (17-19) with 18 points. Kahleah Copper added 11 points on 4-of-16 shooting.

Seattle hit 12 3-pointers — including three apiece by Whitcomb, Diggins-Smith and Loyd — and committed just six turnovers.