Jewell Loyd scored 26th including the 4,000th of her career and rookie Jordan Horston chipped in a career-high 14 points to lead the Storm to their first regular season win. To earn the historic 66-63 win the Storm overcame a 21-point, first-quarter deficit and used some timely defense to close out the game.
After scoring a season-low six points in the first quarter the Seattle Storm dug themselves into a 24- 6 deficit. Poor shooting, poor shot selection, and lack of movement led to a lack of execution. The Storm were 3 of 16 from the field. Credit the Storm for turning their fortunes around in the second quarter. Swift ball movement and hardnosed defense saw the Storm narrow the deficit to just three points at the halftime break.
A defensive halftime adjustment of picking up the Sparks players before they settled into their offensive set disrupted the visitors’ offensive flaw. The Sparks scored just ten third-quarter points to the Storms’s 17 points. As a result of the third-quarter defensive adjustment and better execution in transition, the Storm ended the quarter with a 52-48 lead.
DEFENSE WINS THE GAME
The fourth quarter was a back-and-forth affair with neither team able to pull away from the other. A lay-up by Nneka Ogwumike with 1:28 to go brought Los Angeles within 66-63. From there, the Storm saw three shots fall snort, and the Sparks missed two. The last of those was an attempted reverse lay-in by Ogwumike with six seconds left. Magbegor grabbed the rebound, and the final second ticked off the clock.
POST GAME NOTES
The Storm tightened things up considerably on the defensive end. The 63 points was the fewest they’ve allowed this season by a long way. Their previous low was 86 last Tuesday against the New York Liberty.
Factoring into that was forcing 10 turnovers in the second quarter and 23 for the game. Also factoring in was forcing the Sparks into missing their first 10 field goal attempts in the third quarter. L.A.’s first – and only – field goal of that period was a turnaround five-footer by Nneka Ogwumike with 1:10 remaining.
BY THE NUMBERS
–Nneks Ogwumike had another double-double for Los Angeles, with 22 points and 11 rebounds. She also double-doubled last Saturday against the Storm with 27 points and 14 boards.
— The Storm streak of making at least five 3-pointers in a game ended at 43-straight after they hit 4-of-20 on Tuesday, snapping what had been the second-longest streak in WNBA history. The last time they had fewer than five was Sept. 2, 2021, making just two against New York.
KEY STATS OF THE GAME
- Loydscored her 4,000th career point with a pair of free throws at 4:18 mark in the third quarter, becoming the third Storm player to reach the milestone (Lauren Jackson, Sue Bird). Loyd reached the mark in the fewest games of the trio and was the second-youngest Storm player to hit 4k. In addition, she became the 42nd player in WNBA history with at least 4,000 points and the ninth youngest to reach the mark.
- Seattle forced 23 turnovers in the game as L.A.—which entered the game averaging a league-low 12 per game. Eleven of those came in the pivotal second quarter with Seattle tallying 11 points off those Spark miscues.
- While Los Angeles started the game hot, hitting 10-of-19 from the field in the first quarter, Seattle’s defense held the visitors to just seven field goals through the entire second half.
STORM HIGHLIGHTS
- Jordan Horston scored in double figures for the first time in her professional career with 14 points on 7-of-15 shooting, also contributing seven rebounds, four steals, one assist, and one block.
- Magbegorlogged her third double-double of the season with 13 points and hitting her season average with 10 rebounds, scoring seven of the team’s 14 fourth-quarter points.
- Loyd had her fifth consecutive 20+ point game to open the 2023 season. Only six other WNBA players have started with more, including Storm great Lauren Jackson (eight games).
- The Seattle Storm outscored the Sparks in the paint, 34-32, and held an 11-0 edge in second chance points and 15-2 advantage in fast-break points.
SPARKS HIGHLIGHTS
- Nneka Ogwumike claimed her third double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Sparks.
UP NEXT
Seattle plays the first game of a back-to-back set against the Washington Mystics on Friday at 7:00 p.m. The second of those games will be Sunday at noon, the day that Sue Bird’s No. 10 jersey is raised to the rafters.
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