Lynx scramble past Storm for another 3-0 start

SEATTLE – Breanna Stewart is one of the most heralded rookies to come to the WNBA in recent memory, but Sunday, she couldn't keep up with another all-time great from the University of Connecticut.

Maya Moore had 17 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots, doing a little bit of everything down the stretch to send the Lynx to a 78-71 victory over the Seattle Storm before an announced 9,686 at KeyArena.

"Today wasn't a perfect game for us and we know that's going to happen when you're on the road, but we fought through it, we stayed together," Moore said. "That's the main thing with us — making sure we're communicating and staying together. We can get over a lot of humps that way."

The defending champion Lynx are 3-0 for the third year in a row and the sixth time ever, all since 2008. The Lynx and Los Angeles are the WNBA's only remaining unbeaten teams.

The 6-4 Stewart, the No. 1 pick in the draft after winning three Player of the Year awards and four national titles at UConn, had 14 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and two blocks in her Seattle home debut, but she was held scoreless on 0-for-10 shooting in the second half and shot 5-for-19 overall.

"We actually played the same way in the second half as we did in the first half," Lynx forward Rebekkah Brunson said. "[Stewart] is a good offensive player, so we wanted to make everything difficult for her. We did a great job of doing that."

Meanwhile, Moore — the No. 1 overall pick in 2011, after being a two-time Player of the Year and three-time national champion in college — helped push the Lynx to victory after Seattle pulled within 58-57 on Alysha Clark's three-point play with 7 minutes, 40 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. At that point, Moore came back in the game, and she promptly made a jump shot, then had a three-point play of her own for a 63-59 Lynx lead.

After a steal by Lynx center Sylvia Fowles, Moore then fed Brunson for a layup that put the Lynx up 65-59.

Seattle got back within two on Sue Bird's jumper with 4:11 left, but the Lynx responded with a 7-0 run over the next two minutes to pull away. Fowles made a layup off a Moore assist, Brunson knocked down a baseline jumper and Lindsay Whalen hit a three-pointer from the top of the key to put the Lynx up 74-65.

"We made some big plays, made some big stops and ultimately, winning here is really hard, so we're pleased," Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said.

Fowles finished with 15 points on 7-for-8 shooting, and she also had eight rebounds. Whalen added 14 points and Brunson 12. Whalen also moved past Sheryl Swoopes into 14th on the WNBA career scoring list with 4,882 points.

Clark led the Storm (1-2) with a career-high 20 points. Jewell Loyd scored 14 points, 11 short of her league-high average coming into the game. Bird added 12 points with nine assists.

"They're the best team in the world, so for us to be able to go toe-to-toe with them, it says a lot," Seattle coach Jenny Boucek said.