A gallant early effort by the Seattle Storm saw them go toe-toe with the defending WNBA Champions Las Vegas Aces Thursday night. Ivana Dojkić pumped in 16 points for her third consecutive career high, and Ezi Magbegor delivered her fourth double-double of the season but it was not enough. Once the reigning Champions found their shooting touch late in the second quarter they never looked back as they beat the Storm 96-93 inside Michelob Ultra Arena.
GOOD START
The first quarter ended in a 17-17 tie and had multiple lead changes. A poor field goal shooting performance ( 35%) by the Storm was offset by a good three-point (40%) effort. Vega’s first-quarter performance was the opposite. Stellar field goal shooting ( 50%) and poor three-point execution ( 25%). Halfway through the quarter, the Aces found their rhythm reeled off a 14-2 run, outscored the Storm 30-20, and went into the halftime break with a ten-point advantage at 37-27
HOT STREAK CONTINUES
The hot streak continued for the defending champions in the third quarter outscoring the Storm 20-15 to widen the lead to 67 to 53. Aces guard Jackie Young was the ring leader. The Storm had no answer for Young’s outside game. Young finished with a game-high 28 points, twelve of which were from beyond the Arc. Despite Young’s prolific shooting the Storm got as close as eight on a 3-pointer by Loyd to make it 57-49 at the 5:03 mark of the third quarter. Las Vegas finished the period on a 10-3 run to make it 67-52 and never looked back.
TURNOVERS CATASTROPHIC
The Storm’s inability to protect the ball did not help the cause. . After having just three turnovers in the first quarter, the Storm finished the game with 16. As a result, the Storm scored just 11 fourth-quarter points to the Ace’s 29.
GAME STATS
KEY STATS OF THE GAME
- Las Vegas outshot the Storm 55.6% to 33.3% in the pivotal second half with 25 of Seattle’s 26 points coming from Ezi Magbegor, Jewell Loyd, and Ivana Dojkić. That trio accounted for 56 of the Storm’s 63 points overall.
- Despite a solid defensive start by the Storm in the first quarter, forcing the Aces to seven turnovers and scoring seven points of those miscues, Las Vegas improved their offensive efforts by protecting the ball through the rest of the game with only five miscues.
STORM HIGHLIGHTS
- Magbegor scored 23 points falling one shy of her career-high set earlier this season. She added 11 rebounds to claim her fourth double-double of the season and seventh of her career.
- Loyd had 17 points including hitting three from beyond the arc to go along with two assists, one rebound and steal. Her third three-pointer moved her into 23rd on the WNBA’s all-time list.
- Dojkić scored a career-high 16 points, adding a pair of rebounds, three assists and a steal. She has now scored in double-figures in three straight games.
ACES HIGHLIGHTS
- Jackie Young scored a game-high 28 points on 12-of-18 shooting to pace Las Vegas while Kelsey Plum added 19 on 7-of-12 shooting.
- A’ja Wilson tallied her 60th career double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
NEXT GAME
The Storm closes its three-game road trip with a matchup against the Dallas Wings at College Park Center on Saturday, June 17, at 11 am PT. The game will be broadcast nationally on CBS.
