Ogwumike Leads Storm over Los Angeles, 98-67
June 18, 2025 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Seattle Storm News Release
LOS ANGELES - Nneka Ogwumike scored a season-high 26 points, and Gabby Williams set a single-game team record with eight steals on Tuesday night as the Seattle Storm beat the Los Angeles Sparks, 98-67.
Ogwumike, who hit 12 of 16 from the floor, topped her previous season-high of 24 points.
Williams had 11 points, seven assists, and four rebounds to go along with her eight takeaways. She beat the old team record of seven, which was shared by Sue Bird and Jordin Canada. Her eighth came with 6:13 left in the third quarter, and she then found Erica Wheeler for a wide-open 3-pointer from the left of the lane, boosting the Storm's lead to 59-42.
"It feels just great to be this active on the defensive end," said Williams, who tied for the third-highest single-game steals total in league history and now has 16 in her last three games. "I think I'm able to get these steals because I know I have help behind me. Right now, we're just so connected in our communications, especially among the guards, that it's becoming very easy. The game slows down and I'm able to get these deflections and steals."
Skylar Diggins added 15 points and seven assists for Seattle. Wheeler also scored 15, and Alysha Clark pumped in a season-high 14, hitting 4 of 5 from behind the arc. Ezi Magbegor blocked six shots and dished five assists.
The 98 points was the second-highest output of the season for the Storm, exceeded only by the 102 they scored against Las Vegas on May 25. The 31-point winning margin was the largest of the season.
It was the final Commissioner's Cup qualifying game. The Storm finished 4-2 in the Western Conference standings, tied for second place with Phoenix.
Seattle ran off 11 straight points late in the first quarter, turning a 17-15 deficit into a 26-17 lead and stayed in front the rest of the night.
The Sparks got as close as two early in the second quarter, the last time at 31-29. The Storm then went on a 9-2 run to make it 40-31, and later tallied the last five points of the half to take a 47-37 lead.
Seattle outscored Los Angeles during the third quarter, 28-14, to take a commanding 75-51 advantage going into the last 10 minutes.
"We were adamant about being very disciplined on both ends of the court," Ogwumike said. "I think I saw that over the course of four quarters. We had a couple of lulls, and obviously, we're seeing a lot of zone. We need to be able to handle the zone and understand what it means to attack and still remain aggressive. We had a lot of great deflections - Gabby having most of them - and that led to us being able to play in transition."
The Storm topped 50 percent shooting for the second time in the last three games and the fourth time this season. Seattle hit 52 percent (39 of 75), including 43.3 percent (13 of 30) from downtown. They also forced L.A. into 31 turnovers (most by an opponent this season), converting those into 31 points.
"It started with Nneka's aggressiveness - her aggressive level from the beginning was great," Head Coach Noelle Quinn said. "Defensively, she was locked in, and that really contributed to what we were able to do as a team: force a lot of turnovers, capitalize off those turnovers, and shoot it at a high clip. When we're playing in transition and have easier looks, that really impacts the balance of our game."
Rickea Jackson had 17 points for the Sparks, who had several players sidelined, including leading scorer and playmaker Kelsey Plum.
UP NEXT
The Storm concludes its three-game road trip on Friday, June 20 at Las Vegas, tipping off at 7:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast nationally on ION.
Women's National Basketball Association Stories from June 18, 2025
- Ogwumike Leads Storm over Los Angeles, 98-67 - Seattle Storm
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