Storm hand Shock their 12th loss in a row

TULSA, Okla. — Sue Bird rebounded from a miserable night with her best one of the season.

Bird scored a season-high 29 points and the Seattle Storm handed the Tulsa Shock their 12th straight loss with an 89-72 victory Saturday night.

One night after being held to four points on 1-for-6 shooting in a loss at Minnesota, Bird was 8-for-14 from the field and 10-for-10 at the free throw line.

“For me to be able to help my team I have to be aggressive, and if that means when I’m open to take the shots, that’s what I have to do,” Bird said. “By being aggressive, getting some shots to fall in the first half, I was able to be aggressive and find my teammates. They did an awesome job of knocking down shots.”

Bird jokingly referred to herself as the quarterback with her teammates serving as her offensive line in setting screens.

“We did a good job of screening for her and she did a good job of using screens,” Seattle coach Brian Agler said. “People think of Sue as a quarterback point guard where she distributes the ball to everyone else. She is that, but she’s also more and you saw the more today. She’s the best in the world. The people in Tulsa had a chance to see that firsthand. She was not going to let us lose tonight.”

Swin Cash chipped in 23 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

“We’re really glad to get the win. Any road win, especially against a Western Conference team is big, but coming off the loss (Friday) was important for us to go 2-1 on this road trip,” Bird said. “(Friday) was one of those games, and I don’t want to take anything away from Minnesota, but it was one of those games that we were a little out of sorts.”

Not so Saturday night.

The Storm shot 50 percent from the field and enjoyed a 34-30 rebounding edge in the game. The Storm were 20 of 24 at the free throw line, led by Bird’s 10-for-10 night.

“I’m not one to get to the free throw line, so you just want to knock them down,” Bird said.

Tiffany Jackson scored 16 points for Tulsa (1-17). Ivory Latta finished with 13 and Liz Cambage 11.

Down 48-35 at halftime after Andrea Riley’s half-court shot, the Shock pulled within 60-55 in the third quarter. The defending WNBA champions answered with a 13-2 spurt to regain control and cruise to the victory.