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Superior defensive effort by Storm leads to 79-70 win over New York Liberty

BROOKLYN, NY – Gabby Williams, who was named to the WNBA All-Star team an hour before tipoff, scored 16 points and the Seattle Storm put the clamps on New York to beat the Liberty, 79-70. 

All-Star Starter Nneka Ogwumike added 15 points and Ezi Magbegor chipped in a season-high 14. Skylar Diggins, who also earned an All-Star nod today, had 11, and rookie Dominique Malonga tied her career high with 11. 

Following a competitive first half, Seattle used a 13-0 run to outscore New York in the third quarter 27-6 – the Liberty’s lowest scoring quarter this season. 

The Storm had the 63-50 advantage going into the final quarter and led by as many as 19 points. Seattle stayed strong to give New York its second loss at home. 

Seattle wound up with a 38-26 second-half scoring advantage over New York and the Storm’s defense limited the Liberty to just 24.2 percent shooting during the final two quarters (8-of-33, with 1-of-11 beyond the arc). 

UP NEXT: The Storm finishes its four-game road trip with an 11:00 am ET tipoff against the Connecticut Sun. The game will be broadcast locally on CW Seattle and available for Prime Video users in Washington state. 

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TEAM 1 2 3 4 FINAL HIGH PTS HIGH REB HIGH AST 
SEATTLE 22 19 22 16 79 G. Williams (16) D. Malonga (8) S. Diggins (6) 
NEW YORK 18 26 6 20 70 S. Ionescu (22) S. Ionescu (9) S. Ionescu (6) 

HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME ASSETS:  7.6 @ NYL 

STORY OF THE GAME: Seattle started the game on 52.6% shooting, connecting for eight assists on 10 made baskets while going on an 8-0 run. The Storm forced six Liberty turnovers during the second quarter before going into halftime down 41-44. Seattle came out hot in the third quarter and held New York to just six points, while going on a 26-6 scoring run that spanned the end of the third and into the fourth quarter. The Storm led by as many as 19 points and weathered a late Liberty run to close out the win over the defending champions. 

 KEY STATS OF THE GAME  

  • Seattle’s defense held New York to a season-low 70 points on just 35.3% (24-for-68) shooting from the field.  
  • The Storm defense held the Liberty to just six points in the third quarter for New York’s first single-digit scoring quarter of the season, which matches the lowest-scoring quarter by any team so far in 2025.  
  • Seattle accounts for two of the three highest points off turnovers totals against New York this season, as the Storm scored 20 points off turnovers after putting in 22 points off turnovers in the team’s last matchup with the Liberty.  
  • The Storm outscored New York 44-28 in the paint.  

STORM HIGHLIGHTS 

  • Gabby Williams scored a team-high 16 points with seven rebounds and five assists to go with three steals and a block. This marks Williams’ 10th game with at least 10 points, five rebounds, five assists, and multiple steals, which ranks fourth in Storm franchise history. Williams leads the WNBA with 15 multi-steal games in 2025, which ties Nneka Ogwumike (2024) for the most such games in the first half of a season in franchise history. 
  • Nneka Ogwumike posted 15 points and seven rebounds with four assists and a steal as she passed DeWanna Bonner for No. 8 on the all-time rebounds list with her 3,102nd career rebound. Ogwumike recorded her 86th career game with at least 15 points, five rebounds, and three assists, tying Angel McCoughtry and Chamique Holdsclaw for the ninth-most such games in WNBA history. 
  • Ezi Magbegor scored a season-high 14 points while converting on 66.7% (4-for-5) of her shots from the field and made a season-high six free throws on 75% (6-for-8) shooting from the line. Magbegor added six rebounds, three assists, and two blocks.  
  • Dominique Malonga tied her career high with 11 points and grabbed a career-high eight rebounds. Malonga is the second player in WNBA history to record at least 11 points and seven rebounds in under 10 minutes played, and the first to do so as a rookie. Malonga made 71.4% (5-for-7) of her field goal attempts to pass Liz Cambage for the third-most games shooting better than 50% from the field before turning 20 years old, with her 11th such game. Malonga grabbed five boards in just three minutes during the third quarter, setting her new career high for rebounds in a quarter. 
  • Skylar Diggins dropped 13 points with six assists, two steals, and two blocks, including the 200th block of her career. Diggins recorded at least five assists with multiple steals and multiple blocks for the seventh time with Seattle, passing Breanna Stewart for the most such games in franchise history. This marks the 59th consecutive regular-season game with three or more assists for Diggins, which ties Ticha Penicheiro for the seventh-longest streak in WNBA history.  
  • Erica Wheeler scored five points with three rebounds and three assists as she extended her career-long streak to eight consecutive games with at least one made three-pointer. Wheeler has also recorded a steal in 12 consecutive games, which matches the second-longest steals streak by any player this season.  

LIBERTY HIGHLIGHTS 

  • Sabrina Ionescu led New York with 22 points and Natasha Cloud added 12. 

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