Williams Flashes All-Star Credentials in Win over New York
July 6, 2025 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Seattle Storm News Release
BROOKLYN, NY - Gabby Williams, who was named to the WNBA All-Star team an hour before tipoff, scored 16 points and the Seattle Storm put the clamps on New York to beat the Liberty, 79-70.
All-Star Starter Nneka Ogwumike added 15 points and seven rebounds, passing DeWanna Bonner for No. 8 on the WNBA all-time rebounds list. Ezi Magbegor chipped in a season-high 14 and Skylar Diggins, who also earned an All-Star nod today, had 11. Rookie Dominique Malonga tied her career high with 11, getting six of those during the fourth quarter. She also grabbed a career-high eight boards.
"I feel like there's just so many threats on this (New York) team that being out of position is something you can't afford," Ogwumike said. "We wanted to make sure that their open looks weren't so clear and relying on one-on-one when we did switch. We wanted to make sure our switching kept the lanes closed and we sealed it with a rebound."
Following a competitive first half, Seattle used a 13-0 run to outscore New York in the third quarter 27-6 - the Liberty's lowest scoring quarter this season.
The Storm had a 63-50 advantage going into the final quarter and led by as many as 19 points. Seattle stayed strong to give New York its second loss at home.
Seattle wound up with a 38-26 second-half scoring advantage over New York and the Storm's defense limited the Liberty to just 24.2 percent shooting during the final two quarters (8-of-33, with 1-of-11 beyond the arc).
"One of the keys for us was defensive foul discipline, but also defensive disruption and physicality," Head Coach Noelle Quinn said of the second-half performance. "I thought Ezi did a great job setting the tone there. The whole team was attentive to guarding the 3-point line."
Seattle almost completely shut down Sabrina Ionescu through the final 20 minutes when she had just two points on 1-of-10 shooting after scoring 20 points 6-of-9 shooting (5-of-6 from beyond the arc) during the first half. Breanna Stewart, who came in averaging 20.5 points, was limited to just eight on 4-of-17 shooting.
In both matchups so far this season, Seattle's offense has banked 20+ points off New York's turnovers.
The Storm have now beaten the Liberty twice this season, having scored an 89-79 win on June 22. Seattle has won nine of its last 12 games. For the season, the Storm has one win against league-leading Minnesota, two against second-place Phoenix and now two against third-place New York. Sunday's victory lifted Seattle to No. 4 in the overall standings.
"We see the standings and say, 'It would be nice to be here; it would be nice to get this series.' But what does it take to get there?" Williams said. "We just focused on that tonight. It's getting points in the paint; it's shutting down one of the best players in the world in Breanna Stewart. It's Dom coming in and having great minutes, it's getting those rebounds after playing hard defense. It's those things that have gotten us here."
UP NEXT: The Storm finishes its four-game road trip with an 11:00 am ET tipoff against the Connecticut Sun. The game will be broadcast locally on CW Seattle and available for Prime Video users in Washington state.
Women's National Basketball Association Stories from July 6, 2025
- Sky Fall 75-80 to Lynx in Close Matchup, Rachel Banham Scores Season-High 20 - Chicago Sky
- Williams Flashes All-Star Credentials in Win over New York - Seattle Storm
- Game Preview: Dallas Wings at Phoenix Mercury - July 7 - Dallas Wings
- Las Vegas Aces Claim 86-68 Victory on the Road against the Connecticut Sun - Las Vegas Aces
- Connecticut Drops Home Contest to Las Vegas, 86-68 - Connecticut Sun
- Postgame Notes: New York 70, Seattle 79 - New York Liberty
- Sky Face Lynx for First of Four Matchups in July - Chicago Sky
- Mitchell Completes Trio of Fever All-Stars - Indiana Fever
- Sky Forward Angel Reese Named 2025 WNBA All-Star - Chicago Sky
- Indiana Fever's Kelsey Mitchell Selected to 2025 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game - Indiana Fever
- Seattle Storm's Skylar Diggins and Phoenix Mercury's Alyssa Thomas Highlight Reserves for 2025 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game - WNBA
- Kelsey Plum Selected 2025 All-Star by WNBA Coaches - Los Angeles Sparks
- Kayla Thornton Named to the 2025 WNBA All-Star Roster - Golden State Valkyries
- Sonia Citron & Kiki Iriafen Named to 2025 WNBA All-Star Game - Washington Mystics
- Alyssa Thomas Selected as 2025 WNBA All-Star - Phoenix Mercury
- Rhyne Howard Named 2025 AT&T WNBA All-Star - Atlanta Dream
- Las Vegas Aces Guard Jackie Young Named to Fourth Consecutive WNBA All-Star Team - Las Vegas Aces
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