FAIRFAX, Va. – It has taken Breanna Stewart three seasons in the WNBA since she graduated from the University of Connecticut – where she won four consecutive titles – to qualify for the WNBA finals.

But once she did, she and the Seattle Storm swept the Washington Mystics in the best-five series, with a 98-82 victory Wednesday at George Mason University's Eagle Bank.

"Seattle deserves to win this trophy," Stewart said.

Stewart, MVP of the league and finals, got 30 points in the win. The storm finished the first half with a 16-point lead and never looked back. Washington rushed for five minutes with just over 6:30 minutes into the game – breathing new life into the country – but Stewart's three-point play and a defensive stop in the next game stopped the pace of the game. Washington. Less than a minute later, Natasha Howard seized the defense for an easy offensive rebound that allowed the team to return to 10.

Sue Bird, wearing a face mask after breaking her nose for the fifth time in a collision with Stewart in the semifinal against Phoenix, got 10 assists. While the mask limited Oiseau's vision, the Mystics had to deal with bigger injury problems with star Elena Delle Donne playing with a painful bone contusion in the semi-final against Atlanta.

The series, like the season, belonged to Stewart, who scored 25 points in a match two win. Seattle, behind Stewart's 21.8 points and 8.4 rebounds this season, finished with a record of 26-8 in the league. After going 2-0 to Phoenix and needing five games to finish in the semifinal, Stewart said she was not in the mood to stay in the suburbs of Virginia for a few days .

"I think this series, coming back to Phoenix, is something we really learned," said Stewart on Tuesday. "Leaving a team back in the game, at the end of the game, how are we managing things." Now, this is just one more step in our growth and maturity is to win on someone's home court. Another one. "

"When I think back to this series, game 3 was a kind of washing, they came out of the guns and we just could not catch them, honestly game 4 was a self-inflicted game." Sue, it made things a little different, the way we fought was better than match 3. We know we do not want to go back to Seattle to play, we want to bring the trophy back to Seattle. "

Despite being swept aside, the future of Washington looks promising. Rookie Ariel Atkins averaged 11.3 points per game this season and had a crucial 20-point game against Atlanta and 23 points in the first game against Seattle. If the Mystics return to the final, it is likely they will face Seattle. The team rebuilt its core with Stewart, Howard and Jewell Loyd. Rookie Jordin Canada should be able to replace Bird, the oldest player in the league.

Seattle also won the WNBA title in 2004 and 2010.

Follow Nina Mandell on Twitter @ninamandell.