By Mazvita Maraire Posted on

Skylar Diggins game high 24 points leads Storm in bounce back win over Connecticut Sun

Skylar  Diggins scored a game-high 24 points and every Storm player scored in the team’s 97-81 win over the Connecticut Sun.

After a listless loss to the Indiana Fever, Storm head coach  Noelle Quinn was looking for a rebound effort from her team. In her pregame press conference, she was clear about what her expectations were for her team.

“ We want to command the game from the beginning, win the rebound battle, and stop Tina Charles, said  Quinn. It took some time for the Storm to check all the boxes, but when it was all said and done, the Storm.

 A slow and sluggish start to the game saw the Storm make 9 of 22 shots from the field and take a slim 24-19 lead after the first quarter.  A  determined defensive effort held the Sun to just  6 of 17 shots from the field for a 35 %  percentage.

EXPLOSIVE SECOND QUARTER

After a back-and-forth second quarter and clinging to a six-point lead with 3:39  in the quarter, the Storm exploded for a 13-2 run to take a commanding 52-38 lead at the halftime break. Superior rebounding allowed the Storm to get the ball out in transition and play downhill on offense.

PLAYING WITH INTENTIONALITY

The Storm came out of the halftime break with the intent to continue to play dominating basketball on both ends of the court. An 18-5 run to start the third quarter saw the Storm balloon the lead to 27 points.   Nneka Ogwumike’s three-point basket with 5:04 left in the quarter gave the Storm a commanding 70-43 lead.

  Back-to-back three-pointers by the Suns’ Olivia  Nelson-Ododa and Jacy Sheldon and a fade away by Nelson-Ododa cut the Storm’s lead  to 19 points with 3:10 left in the quarter. The run by the visitors was short-lived as the Storm reeled off a 12-4 run to end the quarter and extend the lead back to 27 points with an 82-55 lead.

PLAYING WITH INTENT

 A Dominque Malonga bankshot with 6:08 left in the game saw the Storm increase its biggest lead of the game to 31 points. The game ended with a 21-6 run by the Sun. The fight back was too little, too late as the Storm recorded one of their most complete team victories of the year. Every player on the game day roster entered the game and scored a point. As for the defense, the team held Tina Charles to just seven points.

“The whole theme of the game was to set a standard, not match an energy, but set standard, and I think the second quarter date, you know, we dictated that at halftime, it was just a reminder of, you know, coming in and making sure we started the third quarter appropriately,” said  Quinn in her post game interview

“ The biggest thing was, you know, the playing out of our defense and being more efficient in our offense, rebounding,”.

POST GAME NOTES

KEY STATS OF THE GAME  

·       The Storm matched the team’s season high for free throws made with 20.  

·       Six different players recorded at least four rebounds for the Storm, marking Seattle’s most players with four or more rebounds in a single game this season.  

·       Each of the nine Storm players to enter the game scored at least one point and recorded at least one assist.  

·       This marked Seattle’s fifth game with at least 25 assists this season, the second-most in the league. 

STORM HIGHLIGHTS 

·       Skylar Diggins led the Storm with 24 points on 57.1% (8-for-14) shooting from the field and 50% (2-for-4) shooting from deep as she moved into 24th on the WNBA’s all-time scoring list. She dished out five assists, including her 353rd with the Storm to pass Sami Whitcomb for eighth on the franchise’s all-time assists list. Diggins has scored at least 20 points with five assists and a steal in four consecutive games, matching the longest such streak in WNBA history. Diggins is the first player in league history to have four-game streak multiple times, as she previously did so in 2021 with Phoenix. Diggins accounted for the Storm’s first 16 points in the opening quarter as she dropped 10 points with three assists. 

·       Gabby Williams finished with 16 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and four steals, becoming the first player in franchise history to record such a stat line in a single game. This marks Williams’s fifth game with at least four steals this season, tying the Storm franchise record for games with four steals in a single season. Williams leads the WNBA with 12 multi-steal games in 2025 and paces the league in steals average.  

·       Reigning Western Conference Player of the Week Nneka Ogwumike recorded 16 points on 50% (5-for-10) shooting from the field and 50% (2-for-4) from deep. Ogwumike knocked down all four of her free-throw attempts and grabbed four rebounds with a block.  

·       Ezi Magbegor posted 12 points on 83.3% (5-for-6) shooting from the field, including 100% (5-for-5) from inside the arc. This marked Magbegor’s 92nd career double-digit scoring game, passing Betty Lennox for the ninth-most such games in franchise history. Magbegor added five rebounds, three assists, and a steal to go with a pair of blocks in just 20 minutes of action. 

·       Dominique Malonga scored a career-high 11 points for the first double-digit scoring game of her career, becoming the second-youngest player in WNBA history, and youngest since 1998, to score at least 10 points in a game. She also matched her career high with five rebounds and knocked down a career-high three free throws while adding an assist and a blocked shot.  

·       Zia Cooke added nine points for her highest-scoring game in a Storm uniform. Cooke knocked down a season-high four field goals and dished out a pair of assists in a season-high 24 minutes. 

·       Erica Wheeler scored six points and knocked down two three-pointers for her fifth consecutive game with at least one made three. Wheeler added six assists and five rebounds in addition to two steals, including the 300th of her career.  

·       Mackenzie Holmes made her regular season debut at Climate Pledge Arena and recorded the first points of her career as she shot 100% (1-for-1) from the field and added one rebound to go along with an assist and a block, both the first of her WNBA career.  

SUN HIGHLIGHTS 

·       Aneesah Morrow led the Sun with a double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds off the bench. Bria Hartley added 19 points and six assists for Connecticut. 

Discover more from Cascadiasports.net

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Leave a Reply