Breanna Stewart shines, calls Seattle return ’emotional roller coaster’

SEATTLE — A halftime self-pep talk helped Breanna Stewart put up a historic stat line of 25 points and 11 rebounds in an 86-78 victory during her first game back at Climate Pledge Arena since leaving the Seattle Storm for the New York Liberty in free agency in February.

“I was like, ‘Come on, let’s get my s— together a little bit,'” Stewart said after the game. “Just continuing to have that mentality of ‘next play, next thing.’ Whether it was scoring or rebounding and things like that, sometimes the little things help lead to a little bit bigger things.

“I just really appreciate this staff and everybody for not making it a bigger thing than it was, even though it was a really big thing.”

Through the first half of her anticipated return to Seattle, Stewart said she felt the “emotional roller coaster of a day” was affecting her performance on the court. With eight points on 2-of-4 shooting, Stewart was hardly terrible. However, for a player who tied the WNBA playoff record with 42 points in her last game in Seattle — a semifinals loss to the Las Vegas Aces last September — that wasn’t…