Storm harness Wings for a second straight win, 94-82
Seattle Storm point guard Skylar Diggins-Smith shoots a free throw during the teams Tuesday, June 11th win over the Los Angeles Sparks at Climate Pledge Arena. (Photo by Rio Giancarlo)
By: Christan Braswell
Dallas, TX - In a Texas-sized showdown with the Dallas Wings, Seattle Storm guard Skylar Diggins-Smith led the team in scoring with 21 points and six assists on a 60 percent EFG clip in the 92-84 win. Seattle has now won two straight games and eight of their last nine since going 1-3 to start the season.
“Let me tell you right now, I could not do her job,” joked Storm forward Nneka Ogwumike on Diggins-Smith. “She is really brilliant in how she approaches the game and still maintaining that killer mentality. There’s so much going on in her head because she’s trying to be aggressive, get us in our spots, and think about how the game is flowing. To play with someone who is so cerebral in that way is very rare.”
Seattle (9-4) had five players finish in double figures, scoring wise. Diggins-Smith has four games with 20+ points this season, dishing five or more assists in three of the four contests. Ogwumike had 17 points on an efficient 53.8 shooting mark. All-Star forward Ezi Magbegor collected her fourth double-double of the season and the 17th of her career, finishing with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Second-year wing Jordan Horston added 10 points on 80% shooting off the bench.
Dallas’ frontcourt dominated the first quarter with Teaira McCowan and forwards Maddy Siegrist and Monique Billings combining for 12 of the team’s 19 points. The Storm initially struggled with Wings’ level of physicality until they made it work in their favor by turning Dallas over seven times for eight points, giving way to a 10-4 run to end the opening frame.
The Wings are one of the longest teams in the post, boasting several players over 6-foot-5, including Teaira McCowan and Kalani Brown at 6-foo-7. They proved to be a force that limited Seattle’s effectiveness in the paint, forcing the Storm to flip the script. Blitzing the Wings with a bevy of DHOs, guard Jewell Loyd and Diggins-Smith combined for 17 of the team’s 27 second-quarter points. Loyd finished with 19 points on 50 percent shooting from the field.
Seattle’s defensive intensity generated six additional points off four turnovers in the last four minutes. The Wings shaved their deficit to as few as three points on four separate occasions before Seattle finished the half with a 7-2 run that gave them a 48-40 edge at halftime.
Coming out of the locker room, Seattle mounted an 11-2 run in the third quarter which set them up for smooth waters heading into the fourth. The growing connectivity that Ogwumike and Diggins-Smith share shined bright as they combined for 14 of the team’s 23 points in the period. After the game, they spoke glowingly about their efforts and attributed the success to game planning and learning from each other inside and out on the court.
The team had 26 assists, seven of which came in the fourth quarter. An 11-2 Seattle run in the clutch sealed the win with the help of 16 points off 19 total Dallas turnovers. Horston was a huge lift off the bench as she led the team with 6 points in the final frame.
The Storm continue their road trip in Phoenix against the Mercury on Sunday, June 19th at 1PM PST on ABC. Seattle battles Phoenix for the second time this season, after the Storm took the first meeting in Seattle by a score of 80-62 back on June 4th as the Mercury were without Brittney Griner and Rebecca Allen. With the Storm done with Commissioners Cup play, Seattle focuses on continuing their season and keeping positive momentum rolling forward against a Phoenix team that has won three of it’s last four contests, with that one loss coming against this Storm team.
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Cover photo by Rio Giancarlo. Check out our previous articles with photos by Rio Giancarlo here, and his portfolio here.
Check out our previous articles written by Christan Braswell here, and follow Christan on Twitter.
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