By Mazvita Maraire Posted on

Another Storm season ends with an 83-76 loss to the Las Vegas Aces.

The Seattle Storm’s 2023 basketball season came to a crushing end in the hands of the two-time defending WNBA Champions Las Vegas Aces. Back-to-back wins by the Aces in the first round of the WNBA playoffs left the Storm with many questions about the game and the team’s future.  As it has been all season, the question regarding the game is how the Storm can start fast.  All season, the Storm has had to overcome slow starts and chase the game with mixed results. In the game one 67-78 loss, the Storm chased the game due to a sluggish first quarter and ran out of gas in the fourth quarter.

ANOTHER SLOW  START

Tuesday night it was the same old story as  Vegas took a  30-20 first quarter.  The Storm made 7 of 18 field while the  Aces were on fire, making 12 of 18 shots from the field. Kelsey Plum and A’ja Wilson each scored  12 to lead the charge for the Aces.Ezi Magbegor led the Storm with 10 points after sitting out the Storm’s three regular season games and Sunday’s game one due to being in concussion protocol.

“Our starts have kind of been our Achilles heel since the break,” head coach Noelle  Quinn said after the game, “as you can see, you can’t spot a team like that 30 points.”

 The Storm found their shooting touch in the second quarter, making   6 of 14 shots from the field and outscoring the Aces 18-15. Seattle got within four at 33-29 near the midpoint of the second quarter, then the Aces stretched it back out to 10 at 39-29. But the Storm answered with 9-0 run on a 10-footer by Jordan Horston, a 20-footer from the right of the lane by Ogwumike, a 3-pointer from the right corner by Jewell Loyd, and a lay-in by Magbegor.

 The  42% field goal percentage from the floor was not enough for the Storm as they went into the halftime break down 38-45.

UNABLE TO  FINISH DOWN THE STRETCH

The Storm was determined and focused to start the second half and, as a result, kept pace with the Aces and outscored the Aces 19-17 in the third quarter. The Storm tied the game twice with   strong efforts from  Skylar Diggins- Smith scored seven points and Gabby Williams chipped in six.  A Mercedes Russell layup with just under eight minutes in the game gave the Storm their first lead of the game at  65-64. A 7-0 run by the Aces gave them the lead for good and ended the Storm’s season. Williams finished the game with  20 points while Diggins-Smith  Nneka Ogwumike finished with double, doubles . Ogwumike had  16 points and ten rebounds, while Diggins-Smith finished with  13 points and 10 assists.  Magbegor had 14 points .

 GAME STATS

STORM HIGHLIGHTS

  • Gabby Williams added a playoff career-high 20 points (8-for-16 shooting) to go along with five rebounds and three assists. She scored 34 points in the two games playoff games.
  • Nneka Ogwumike posted 16 points and ten rebounds, her second-straight double-double and 10th of her career. She also matched a playoff career-high with four steals (most since Oct. 4, 2016)
  • Skylar Diggins-Smith contributed 13 points, 10 assists, and three steals, posting her second career playoff double-double and first since Oct. 13, 2021. She is just the 15th player in WNBA history with 10+ assists and one or fewer turnovers in a playoff game.
  • Ezi Magbegor shot an efficient 6-of-10 (60%) to tally a playoff career-high 14 points and added seven rebounds in her first game back with the Storm since Sept. 13 against Dallas.
  • Jewell Loyd added nine points, four rebounds, and two assists.

ACES HIGHLIGHTS

  • The Aces had three players in double digits led by Kelsey Plum with 29 points (11-of-15 FG) and six rebounds.
  • A’ja Wilson added 24 points and 13 rebounds, her 20th career playoff double-double. Chelsea Gray put in 12 with nine assists.

Discover more from Cascadiasports.net

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Leave a Reply