Storm see fast start fizzle out, Williams leaves game with injury, in loss to Sun
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – The Seattle Storm continue to struggle against strong front court teams and with finding consistency, as they fell to the Connecticut Sun by a score of 81-69 in an unusual day game at home. The Storm started things off well, only trailing by a point through the first quarter, but it was the second frame that caused trouble as Connecticut outscored Seattle by 15 points. The Storm also lost talented forward Gabby Williams to injury during that quarter, and the Storm struggled to fully climb back into this game once they began the second half.
Sense of urgency to begin
Seattle got off to this game with a sense of urgency, as the Storm front court of Ezi Magbegor and Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu led the way in terms of scoring. With the Seattle back court struggling to make shots, it was the back court and forward Gabby Williams who led the offense against Alyssa Thomas and this talented Connecticut Sun team. With Magbegor, the Storm’s second scoring option cemented this year, feeling herself already and Fankam Mendjiadeu chipping in as well, Seattle looked like they were ready to truly challenge Connecticut and their big lineup. Add in the fact that the versatile and lengthy Gabby Williams was finding her scoring touch early, and the Storm certainly had a fighting chance against the team with the third most wins in the WNBA. That was until the second quarter started.
DiJonai does damage
Sun guard DiJonai Carrington is one of the better reserve players in the league and could start on a few rosters around the WNBA, showing why in today’s game. A participant in this year's three-point contest, Carrington helped lead the burst of Sun energy that saw Connecticut dominate the frame and jump out to a 16-point lead at halftime. A few driving layups and rebounds from the guard saw her team's lead grow and grow, which also appeared to wake up the rest of the Sun layup which got their other weapons like DeWanna Bonner and Alyssa Thomas fully activated. With the versatile Williams out with a foot injury, Seattle lost an incredibly valuable defender and lost major momentum from the beginning of the game.
Some positive in the lost second half?
While the second quarter saw the Sun dig a hole for the Storm that they simply couldn’t find their way out of, Seattle didn’t necessarily perform poorly during this contest as they outscored Connecticut in the fourth quarter. Some other positives to take from the loss are that the Storm outrebounded the Sun and did have more points in the paint, two areas of issue for Seattle throughout the course of this season. An individual nod to make would be that Seattle got some meaningful minutes from rookie point guard Jade Melbourne, making it just her second appearance since July 22nd.
While Melbourne’s numbers weren’t particularly crazy, six points, four rebounds, and one assist through 13 minutes played, it’s a positive to see the rookie that the Storm stashed last season get minutes in a game against a tough team like Connecticut. With veteran point guard Yvonne Turner largely ineffective on the offensive end and Ivana Dojkic heavily getting her minutes cut since the team started Sami Whitcomb over her, Melbourne could be the one getting serious time as a true point guard next season after taking in year one to really hone her skills and really get acclimated to the WNBA.
“Just at halftime, we knew Gabby went down, and she just said on any night in this league, you can get an opportunity and stay ready. That kind of flag, that there’s a potential that I could, and I mean, me being me, I’m always just ready for any opportunity. In that case, and when my name was called, I was just ready to go out there and kind of provide the energy that I bring in. There was no kind of pre warning or anything, but every night, I come into the game ready to play, so that’s what I did tonight.”
Gabby leaves games amidst rough second quarter
Storm forward Gabby Williams had to leave this contest in the second quarter with a left foot injury, never returning to the game for Seattle in what may be a scary situation. Williams is an excellent player, providing lockdown defense, great distribution ability, and can light things up when she starts to score the basketball. While the wins haven’t exactly been coming in bunches for the Storm since they brought back Williams, her talent, ability, and presence is extremely valuable to the team on the court.
While it might be entirely too early to be thinking about the offseason, Williams is a player that the Storm should look into bringing back when that becomes available. Considering her comments this season regarding coming back to Seattle, it’s obvious that Gabby enjoys being a Storm player and she’s familiar with the systems that the team runs. Despite the poor record, Williams was glued to the team’s games and was willing to sign here despite no guarantee or likelihood of making the playoffs this year. Seattle very well can be a competitive roster next season and push for a playoff appearance with the right moves, and Williams should be one of them.
“I mean, a lot, obviously. Defensively she gives us a lot in terms of her versatility, her effort, her energy, she rebounds, she’s long. Then offensively, I think she’s really hit her stride the last however many games now and she’s been scoring. We need that extra, we can’t rely so much on Jewell offensively. She’s been really key in a lot of the improvements we’ve had offensively in terms of sharing the ball. When we play better, she’s a big part of that.”
Quick notes
Today’s attendance was 10,212
Seattle outrebounded Connecticut 40-34
Jewell Loyd logged her 29th consecutive 10+ points game, claiming the second longest active streak in the league. Loyd finished with a team-high 11 points along with three rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block.
Sami Whitcomb tied Jewell Loyd’s 11 points, adding five assists, four rebounds and one steal.
Ezi Magbegor dropped 10 points on 4-of-8 from the field, while contributing six rebounds, four assists and one block.
Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu scored eight points and pulled 12 rebounds, recording her third 10+ rebound game of the season. She also helped with two steals, one assist and one block.
The Storm bench contributed 22 points edging Connecticut’s 17, led by Jordan Horston with nine points, plus two rebounds and one steal.
Jade Melbourne fired up in the second half coming off the bench to drain six points on 3-of-3 from the floor while pulling four rebounds and dishing one assist.
Kia Nurse recorded her 400th career rebound, finishing the game with a pair.
Sami Whitcomb recorded her 400th career assist, dishing out five.
Jewell Loyd surpassed the 4,500-point mark with her 11 points on the afternoon. She now has 4,501.
Kia Nurse recorded her 400th career rebound, finishing the game with a pair.
Sami Whitcomb recorded her 400th career assist, dishing out five.
Jewell Loyd surpassed the 4,500-point mark with her 10th point of the day. She is the 20th player in WNBA history with 4,500+ pts, 950+ reb, 875+ ast, and 325+ steals, and—at 29 years, 307 days old—is the second youngest to reach that milestone behind Maya Moore (29y, 55d).
What’s next?
Following today’s matinee loss to Connecticut, the Storm will continue a four-game homestand when they host the Atlanta Dream on Thursday, August 10th with a tipoff time of 7PM PST. Seattle hosts an Atlanta team that has really turned their fortune around from last season, currently sitting with the fifth most wins in the WNBA and third in the Eastern Conference. It’ll be a tough battle for the Storm as they look to rebound from this loss and play a complete game, but Seattle has shown that they are capable of putting such efforts together.
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Cover photo by Chris Lu