Storm thunder back against Wings, but fail to complete comeback
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – In their second game of the 2023 season and their new era in franchise history, the Seattle Storm dropped a tight contest against the Dallas Wings at Climate Pledge Arena in front of 8,277 fans. Much different than their 41-point historically poor loss to the Las Vegas Aces, Seattle was able to Storm back against the Wings after Dallas controlled most of the game. There was an opportunity in the dying seconds of the contest, when Seattle had a potential rebound to regain the ball down one possession slip through their fingers. Wings forward Satou Sabally grabbed the loose ball that could've tied things up for the Storm on the other end and put it up for a quick-two to double their lead and essentially end the game with 4.8 ticks left. It’s a frustrating result for Seattle, after battling back hard to get into this game, but nice to see that push at all.
“There was more fight, I think we were a little bit more comfortable. We had a really great week of practice. People were committed to just getting better. And, you know, that’s what you want to see. It’s obvious you want to get a win. But at the same time, you need to see the growth and improvement and I think that we could practice, watching film breaking it down, and I’m gonna get action shots, and extra conditioning.”
Another hot start not sustained
Like their season opening loss to the Las Vegas Aces, the Storm were able to find some energy going into the beginning of the game to get them started on an eight-point run. Veteran point guard Yvonne Turner again led the Seattle attack, as the Storm were able to spread the offense around this time. Couple that with Seattle stymying the Wings attack out of the gate and contesting multiple Dallas shots, and the Storm were able to start things off well. It was eerily like the team's opening quarter against the Aces, and this first quarter ended just like that one against Las Vegas. Seattle started to fade, as Dallas got in the paint and started to dictate the pace of the game while having guard Arike Ogunbowale on the perimeter to knock down shots when the opportunity presented itself. If these first two games are any indication of things being a trend, Seattle will need to sustain these hot starts going forward if they want to get any success this season.
“I just think people are just getting comfortable. And every day I see their faces, you know, how they walk in the locker room, how they come to practice, like they’re getting more confident, but it takes some time. We have to be patient. We were better today than we were last game, right? You see little bits and pieces coming together. We’re gonna build off this and, you know, we’ll get there for sure.”
Paint pain
Another issue that remains present for this Storm team is their failure to control the paint on either side of the ball, as Dallas was able to outscore Seattle by 14 points in that section of the court. While the Storm was able to win the rebound battle in this contest, something that they’ve struggled with over the course of the past two years now, Seattle just hasn’t been able to find success inside this year. Despite a strong performance from Ezi Magbegor and a decent night from Mercedes Russell, the Storm continue to struggle to generate inside while also failing to protect the paint on the defensive end. It’s an issue that needs to be addressed, as it’s an obvious area of weakness for the team, and Seattle should at least give draft pick Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu some minutes considering the struggles inside, as she hasn’t seen the court in meaningful minutes through these first two games.
“Mean defense is going to be our bread and butter. I think at first, we were a little timid, or a little slow, and then we locked in. We always talked about getting three stops in a row and finding momentum. Honestly, Ezi got a block, they didn’t call a foul but that block sent a message. Like we’re locked in. I think after that we got a couple of stops in a row. Defense is what we were, I mean, we’re not satisfied with our defense tonight, obviously. But that’s something that we want to really lock in on and be something we always fall back on regardless of what goes on the opposite side.”
Dancing with Dallas, but tripping
After an eleven-point differential at the halfway mark, the Storm battled back and brought the fight to the Wings throughout the second half and even outscored Dallas in the fourth quarter. Jewell Loyd, the best player on this Storm team, hit hard shot after hard shot while veteran guard Sami Whitcomb found her spark to help. Kia Nurse, who had only played three minutes in the second half of game one, found her game as well as she exploded for 20 points to put three of the Seattle starters in double digits. Getting that sort of support for Loyd, who will undoubtedly be the leader of this team, will be huge if the Storm want to win any games this year.
Even with that support, Seattle was down by eleven points with three and a half minutes to play. Things seemed to be heading towards another double-digit loss for the Storm in their very young season, but Sami Whitcomb, Arella Guirantes, and Jewell Loyd were determined to not let that be the case. It was a battle of the guards down the stretch for Seattle, as the Storm did their best to mitigate the shooting and playmaking of Arike Ogunbowale, while Loyd and Nurse poured in shots to claw back into the game. Seattle seemed destined to tie things up, but the game took a turn with 29 seconds left. The Storm had the ball with a chance to tie things up, but couldn’t find the look that they wanted as the Wings forced Ezi Magbegor into a toug spot. All hope wasn’t initially lost for Seattle, who seemingly had an open rebound off a missed shot from Crystal Dangerfield, but couldn’t secure it and Satou Sabally was on the spot to get an easy putback, icing the game.
“I think like Jewell said, the week of practice for me, it was pretty good just because I was able to have extra time to kind of like we’re new, right? There’s a lot of new faces here. The moment you get into a game and preseason games are one thing, but the moment you get into a game, and you come into the first game, it’s on ABC, you’re playing the defending champs, it comes at you fast. We’ve got a lot of players who haven’t really been in that position before. We didn’t play the way that we wanted to do. Now that you have one under your belt, there’s a different level of comfort. I think that was something we worked on our practices this week, was executing on the offensive end, these are really great places to get your shot, these are really great place to get myself a shot. This is where we want to get our bigs posted up on the inside. We executed those against ourselves, and against the practice guys, and it translated really well today. I think the biggest thing was the resiliency, and the fight that we had, scoring 91 points to give yourself a chance to win any game.”
“There’s some good things from this group. A lot of fight, especially in the second half of that. A lot of big plays by Ezi, specifically just our activity. Obviously, Jewell keeping us in a game with some tough shots and Sami coming in down the stretch and managing the team. A lot of good things to build on. Dallas is a very strong team and I thought our effort was there. I’m proud of our group for the fight that they displayed tonight.”
Quick notes
Seattle rallied late, using an 11-2 run over the final three minutes of the game to cut an 11-point deficit to two at 93-91 with a minute to go. But after a Storm miss and shot clock violation on the team’s final possession, Dallas was able to secure an offensive rebound and putback with 4.8 seconds left to seal the win.
The Storm improved its shooting percentage in each quarter, going from 31.6% in the first quarter to 52.6% in the fourth.
Dallas used a 17-0 run over a four-minute stretch in the first quarter, turning an 18-13 deficit into a 30-18 lead and would not relinquish the lead again in the contest.
Kia Nurse drained six three-pointers, marking the third time in her career with 6+ three-pointers in a game. She also becomes the sixth player in Storm history to hit six or more three-pointers in a game.
Nurse erupted for 20 points, 18 of those from beyond the arc on 6-of-11, while adding three rebounds, one assist and one steal. It was Nurse’s
Jewell Loyd finished the game with 30 points, marking the 10th time in her career she has scored 30+ and the second time in her last three regular-season games dating back to last year.
Loyd added a career-high three blocks along with three assists, two rebounds and three three-pointers.
Ezi Magbegor tallied 15 points and 12 rebounds, logging the Storm’s first double-double of the season and the fourth of her career. She connected on 6-of-9 from the field and had a pair of blocks in the contest.
Sami Whitcomb came off the bench to add key minutes at the point, scoring eight points and adding four rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals.
Whitcomb collected her 150th career steal in the game.
What’s next?
The Storm continue their three-game homestand to begin the 2023 season, hosting former franchise legend Breanna Stewart and the New York Liberty. That game will take place on Tuesday, May 30th with a 6PM PST Tipoff being broadcast on ESPN2. Seattle has another tough test on their hands within their first three contests, as they’ll host the two mega-super teams in the WNBA in the Aces and Liberty. It’s a rude awakening for the Storm, who are trying to get some younger players integrated into their system and establish a new identity, and it’ll be an immediate trial by fire. Taking into consideration the fight and energy that Seattle showed in this loss, there’s reason to believe their season won’t be full of blowouts, but it’s going to be very tough to beat New York.