By Mazvita Maraire Posted on

Stature of aggression leads Storm to a 83-77 win over Wings

On the back end of a three-game losing streak, the Storm hosted the Dallas Wings for the second time this season. The  Storm won the first meeting in Dallas 79-71. Nneka Ogwumike pulled down 18 rebounds in that game. In the Storm’s gutsy 83-77 win over the Wings, Ogwumike pulled down half that number and chipped in 14 points. The Storm, as a whole, was outrebounded 48-31.

LETHARGIC FIRST HALF

The Storm lacked energy, determination, and the bite needed to push back against a Wings team that was looking to snap a losing streak of its own. The  Wings entered Climate Pledge Arena on a two-game losing streak. The Storm struggled from the field and made just 12 of  33 shots from the floor. Compounding matters for the Storm was a lack of offensive rebounding.

INEFFECTIVE REBOUNDING

The Storm had one offensive rebound in the first half.   Credit Dallas for keeping the Storm on the perimeter and blame the Storm for a lack aggression . While they made 14 of 46 shots from the floor, the Wings made four of 13 three-point shots, and more importantly, the team had 11 offensive rebounds and scored nine second-chance points. The Wings’ stifling defense and the Storm’s lackluster shooting resulted in the Storm scoring just 11 second-quarter points.  Despite the shooting and rebounding woes, the Storm went into the halftime break down just eight points, with the Wings holding a 38-30 advantage.

FOCUSED AND DETERMINED

A strong-worded halftime message from head coach Noelle Quinn saw the Storm come to life in the third quarter on both ends of the court.  The Storm made nine of fifteen shots from the field, out-rebounded, and outscored the Wings 24-17. Ogwumike scored seven points and pulled down three rebounds in the quarter to lead players from both teams.  Despite the heroic play by Ogwumike, the Storm trailed the Wings 55-54 to start the fourth quarter.

STRONG FINISH

 Both teams sensed an opportunity for a win, which led them to play downhill.  The Wings struck the first blow with a 6-0 run to start the quarter and take a 61-56 lead with  8:03 left in the game. The Storm counter-punched with a 10-0 run to take a 66-61 lead with 5:30 left in the game.  The Storm pulled away from the Wings after a rare six-point play.  Ogwumike tussled for a loose ball with the Wings ‘ Myisha Hines-Allen. A jump ball was called, which Ogwumike won and tipped the ball to Williams, who then passed it to a streaking Diggins, who layed the ball in and was fouled by the Wings’ Dajonai  Carrington.  After a review, the foul was upgraded to a flagrant one foul. Diggins made both free throws for the four-point play.  A driving layup by Ezi Magbegor after the inbounds pass completed the six-point play by the Storm, who extended their lead to 74-63 with 3:32 left in the game. During her in game television interview , Ogwumike said the Storm lacked and needed to have a stature o aggression .

“You know, it’s always about winning the game within the game. And I think that, you know, in Nowe’s ( Noelle Quinn) spirited halftime speech, she talked to us about just getting out of our heads, you know? Said Ogwumike during her postgame interview.

“
I think we suffer a lot from paralysis by analysis, and we just need to play basketball. And in those types of moments, I just want to be able to win that possession, you know, win that exact moment in the game. And it’s all about stacking up those wins by the quarter, by the half, and then ultimately putting four quarters together. 
So being able to turn that around in that moment was huge  you know? And I think that we can learn a lot from ourselves by taking those moments seriously.”

The Storm were steadfast for the remaining three and a half minutes and snapped the three-game losing streak and evened their Commissioner’s Cup Record to 1-1.

KEY STATS OF THE GAME  

·       Seattle’s 10 blocks matched the most by any team in a single game so far this season, and the Storm tied a franchise record with eight blocks in the first half.  

·       The Storm defense held Dallas to 34.9% shooting from the field, the lowest field goal percentage by a Storm opponent this season, and the Wings converted just 38.6% of their attempts in the paint. 

·       Seattle’s reserves outscored Dallas’ bench 30-14 in the win. 

·       Three Storm players (Nneka Ogwumike, Zia Cooke and Li Yueru) each shot 100% from beyond the arc, which ties the WNBA record for the most teammates shooting 100% on multiple three-point attempts in a single game.  

STORM HIGHLIGHTS 

·       Gabby Williams paced the Storm with 18 points, including nine in the fourth quarter to lead all scorers. Williams added four assists, three rebounds and three steals while extending her career-best streak of games scoring in double figures to seven.  

·       Ezi Magbegor swatted five shots within 1:50 of game time, setting a WNBA record for the shortest amount of game time elapsed between a player’s first and fifth blocks. Magbegor tied her career high for blocks in a half and finished with nine points, seven rebounds and three assists. This marked Magbegor’s sixth career game with at least five points, five rebounds and five blocks, passing Natasha Howard for the third-most such games in franchise history. 

·       Erica Wheeler dropped 11 points on 50% (4-for-8) shooting from the field with five rebounds and a game-high seven assists. Wheeler became the first Storm reserve in franchise history to record at least 10 points, seven assists and five rebounds off the bench, and the first player in WNBA history to have multiple such games as a reserve.  

·       Nneka Ogwumike played her 400th career game and finished with 14 points and nine rebounds on 100% (2-2) shooting from beyond the arc. Ogwumike added a season-high two blocks and became the all-time leading scorer against the Wings franchise with 830 total points, passing Diana Taurasi.  

·       In her 300th career game, Skylar Diggins scored nine points, all in the second half, to go along with five assists. Diggins added a steal and a block and shot 75% (3-for-4) from the line. 

WINGS HIGHLIGHTS 

·       DiJonai Carrington led Dallas with 22 points, eight assists and four rebounds. 

·       Myisha Hines-Allen added a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Wings. 

UP NEXT: The Storm head to Phoenix for their third matchup of the 2025 season against the Mercury on Saturday, June 7 at 7:00 pm PT. The game will be broadcast on CW Seattle, and it will be streamed to Prime Video customers throughout Washington state.  

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