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WNBA Seattle Storm

Seattle Pulls Away Late to Beat Atlanta, 81-70

July 15, 2024 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Seattle Storm News Release


SEATTLE - All afternoon, the Seattle Storm kept trying to put together a game-breaking run.

When they finally did, they made sure the Atlanta Dream had no time to respond.

Ezi Magbegor scored 18 points, including back-to-back baskets during a 13-2 fourth-quarter surge, and the Storm pulled away for an 81-70 victory to cap their WNBA-record nine-game homestand in Climate Pledge Arena.

Nneka Ogwumike delivered a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds, Jordan Horston added 16 points, and Jewell Loyd chipped in 14 plus a team-high seven assists, and Sami Whitcomb went for 13. Horston and Magbegor both hit 8 of 11 from the field.

Seattle (16-8) went 7-2 for the most wins on a homestand in WNBA history. The previous record was six, achieved five times by the Los Angeles Sparks. The Storm is now tied with Minnesota for second in the Western Conference, half a game behind Las Vegas (16-7).

"I think we did a great job - 7-2 is a great record," Magbegor said. "It sets us up well going into the break. We still have to go to L.A., but I'm really proud of how we played."

Atlanta (7-16) lost its seventh in a row, but hung around through the first three quarters and the first 4½ minutes of the fourth. The Dream twice had gotten as close as one early in that final period before the Storm gradually took command.

Up just 68-65 coming out of a media time out with 5:33 remaining, Loyd hit a pair of free throws. She was fouled again the next time downcourt and hit one of her two from the line to make it 71-65.

Horston then drained one from the left of the lane off an assist from Ogwumike after Ogwumike had come up with a steal for 73-65. Atlanta got two free throws from Allisha Gray, but the next eight points went on the Storm's side: a lay-in from Magbegor off an assist from Horston, a Magbegor jumper from the left of the lane with Horston assisting, a driving lay-in by Loyd, and finally a driving lay-in by Horston.

That left the Storm up 81-67 with just 1:42 left.

"It was just like, 'OK, it's time to turn it up,'" Horston said of coming out of the timeout just prior to the decisive run. "They make their runs, but we have to contain them. It was nothing special. It was just time to turn it up."

The Storm strung together 12 straight points in just 1 minutes, 21 seconds early in the second quarter, turning a 30-28 deficit into a 40-30 lead with 6:11 left before halftime. They got nine of those on back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers: the first one from Victoria Vivians, the last two by Whitcomb.

But Seattle went cold, missing its last nine shots of the quarter, and the Dream climbed within 40-34 by halftime.

The Storm stretched it back out to 10 early in the third at 52-42. Again Atlanta rallied, and by the end of that period, it was back to a one-possession game at 60-57.

Seattle played the second half without starting guard Skylar Diggins-Smith. She went down with an injury midway through the second quarter, left the game with 3:31 left before halftime, and did not return during the second half.

"Obviously, Sky is a key player, but I think it was next-woman-up, and that was Sami coming in in the second half," Magbegor said. "It was a lot of us kind of taking on Sky's roles. Nneka did a great job, and Jewell contributed a lot of those passes and was getting those assists that Skylar would have done."

BY THE NUMBERS

- For the second straight game and the third time in the last four, the Storm kept a team below 40 percent shooting from the field. Atlanta finished at 38.4 percent (28 of 73), and just 17.8 percent (3 of 17) from long range.

- The Storm racked up 27 assists on 30 baskets (a season-best 90 percent). That makes 20-plus assists in nine of the last 10 games, and 15 games overall, with a 13-2 record in those contests.

- Loyd's seven assists moved her past Tanisha Wright, now the Dream's head coach, into No. 2 on the Storm's all-time list with 1,012. Wright had 1,008. Way out in front, of course, is Sue Bird with a WNBA-record 3,234.

- Ogwumike's double-double was her on the homestand and sixth of the season.

- The Storm continued to take care of the basketball with just 11 turnovers. That extended the team record to 17 straight games with 15 or fewer.

- Once again, the Storm were solid at the free throw line, hitting 16 of 18. On the homestand, they were 167 of 191 (87.4 percent).

- On the homestand, Seattle kept seven of its nine opponents below 80 points.

- Tina Charles, who played the second half of the 2022 season with the Storm and now is a regular starter with Atlanta, had 12 points. She also had one blocked shot, giving her 400 for her career.

- Maya Caldwell led Atlanta with 19 points.

UP NEXT

The Storm plays their final game prior to the break on Tuesday at Los Angeles, tipping off at 7:00 p.m. (Fox 13 / Prime Video Washington).

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