Dream Snap Skid Against Storm 89-78

Seattle had too many costly turnovers in the losing effort.

(Atlanta, Georgia) - After the two teams played evenly through the first five minutes of the game, the Atlanta Dream (13-9) finished the first quarter on a 14-4 run to push their lead to double-digits. They would never look back as they held the lead for the remainder of the game. The Dream forced the Storm into a season-high 23 turnovers that allowed them to take control of the game. Atlanta snapped their 5-game losing streak with an 89-78 victory over Seattle.

Natisha Hiedeman was asked about the excessive turnovers and what Atlanta’s defense was doing to cause them.

Hiedeman responded, “I would just say their pressure. They had good pressure, but I feel like a lot of the turnovers could have been eliminated. Again, we talked about it at halftime and kind of cleaned it up a little bit in the 2nd half, but just the basics, you know, throwing good passes, meeting the pass. Doing things like that.”

Coach Raman also spoke on the issue, “They were just up and pressuring. It’s what they do. They’re really good at it. They’re very good at applying ball pressure, really trying to blow up actions as you’re coming out of DHOs, pick and rolls. They navigate really well, and I think they present a lot of physicality that presents a challenge every single time down the floor.”

Only three Storm players reached double figures in scoring. Natisha Hiedeman led the way with 20 points on 7-17 FG. Hiedeman was the only Seattle player to make a three-point shot in the game. The rest of the game went 0-11 FG from beyond the arc.

Dominique Malonga added 15 points on 50% shooting and nine rebounds. Flau’jae Johnson added 14 points and a team-high five assists in her return to her home state of Georgia.

Ezi Magbegor played just eight minutes in the game and didn’t play in the 2nd half. She took an elbow to the nose/face area in the second quarter. I asked Coach Raman after the game, and she mentioned she took the hit to her face, but they didn’t have an update beyond that at this time.

Seattle outshot Atlanta 46% (30-66 FG) to 42% (30-72 FG), but they made just 15% (3-20 FG) from the 3-PT line. They outscored the Dream 54-46 inside the paint. They also had a slight advantage in assists at 21-18.

Atlanta Dream

Four players scored in double figures for Atlanta. Allisha Gray led the team in points with 22 points on 7-13 FG, including 7-7 from the FT line. Angel Reese added the game’s only double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Rhyne Howard contributed 19 points, and Jordin Canada had a near triple-double with 14 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists.

The Dream out-rebounded the Storm 37-35. They had a 10-6 advantage in offensive rebounds and a 13-8 edge in second-chance points. They forced the Storm into 23 turnovers and outscored Seattle 28-19 in points off turnovers. Atlanta was a +8 from the free throw line (23-15). Due to several open-court steals, the Dream had a sizeable 18-5 edge in fast break points.

Game Breakdown

Natisha Hiedeman knocked down a wing three-pointer to score the game’s first basket. Dominique Malonga was fouled and made both free throws to put the Storm ahead 5-0. Seattle got another stop, but Angel Reese stole the ball away from Jade Melbourne and raced down the court for the Dream’s first basket. Melbourne found Malonga cutting to the rim for two. Rhyne Howard buried the corner triple. Allisha Gray put the Dream ahead with a transition And-1 score. Awa Fam scored from a dump-off pass from Flau’jae Johnson. After a Reese layup, Fam scored again on a midrange jumper.

Atlanta extended their lead with free throws by Reese and Howard. The action was fast and furious. Jordan Horston found Malonga at the rim for another layup. Gray and Horston exchanged baskets on each end. Gray scored again to put the Dream ahead 17-15.

Madina Okot was fouled by Magbegor and split the two shots from the line. Hiedeman scored on a floater bank shot in the lane. Naz Hillmon added two more points after being fouled. Atlanta continued to take advantage of the whistle, as Gray extended the Dream’s lead. Jordin Canada added an And-1 to give Atlanta an eight-point lead at 25-17. Fam found Dolson cutting to the rim for a layup. Reese scored again with a eurostep. Isobel Borlase scored on a short-corner jumper. The Dream led 29-19 over the Storm at the end of the first period.

Rhyne Howard knocked down a three-pointer to open up the second quarter. Zia Cooke scored on a pull-up in the lane. Canada connected on a lob at the rim. Cooke scored on an open layup with a beautiful leading pass from Fam. Gray knocked down a three-pointer. Katie Lou Samuelson answered with an And-1. The Dream’s hot outside shooting continued as Naz Hillmon added another from beyond the arc. That pushed Atlanta’s lead to 14 at 42-28, forcing Coach Raman to call a timeout.

Malonga added a pair of baskets at the rim. And Hiedeman added a Technical free throw. Okot snagged an offensive rebound and scored with the putback layup. Johnson scored her first basket on a nifty reverse layup. The Dream went on a 7-0 run with another three-ball for Howard, an open-court steal and score by Howard, and a layup by Okot. Hiedeman added two from the foul line to stop the bleeding. Reese added another layup at the end of the first half.

Atlanta ended the second period on a 9-3 run. The Dream led 55-38 at the end of the first half. Three of their players scored in double figures, with Allisha Gray leading the way with 14 points. Dominique Malonga led the Storm with 10 points and five rebounds through the first 20 minutes. The road team was hitting their shots at 47% (15-32 FG), but committed 15 first-half turnovers. The Dream had a 19-5 advantage in points off turnovers, which made the difference.

The Storm got off to a stronger start to open up the third quarter. They cut the 17-point deficit down to 11 after three points from both Malonga and Johnson. Atlanta responded with multiple trips to the foul line. Howard drilled a three-pointer. They pushed their lead to 20 points as Gray found Reese on the cut to the rim.

Seattle was unable to make much more of a dent into Atlanta’s lead. Hiedeman hit a three, and Flau’jae had a nice pull-up jumper. Hillmon and Canada countered with baskets of their own. Dolson added two free throws. At the conclusion of the third period, the Dream led 74-59.

Isobel Borlase got to the rim to extend Atlanta’s lead. Jade countered with a score inside. The two teams went back and forth with baskets from Horston, Reese, Gray, and Melbourne. Seattle was unable to string enough scores and stops together to truly threaten the Dream.

They were finally able to cut the deficit to 10 points after Hiedeman connected on a three-pointer to make it 84-74, and forced Atlanta Coach Karl Smesko into a timeout. Out of the break, Gray turned the ball over to Flau’jae, and Johnson was able to draw a foul. After sinking both, she made it an eight-point game. The road team had a chance to cut it to five as Hiedeman had a look at a corner three, but was unable to convert. The Storm never got any closer. Atlanta snapped their 5-game losing streak with an 89-78 victory over Seattle.

Final Box Score

Player Interviews

Dominique Malonga and Natisha Hiedeman:

Coach’s Quotes

Coach Ramam post-game:

Part 2

Instead of doing a traditional Part 2, I’m going to spend that time answering more of your questions as part of the Q&A Mailbag for paid subscribers. If you have a question and haven’t asked it yet, make sure to submit it to this article below. I’ll be answering more questions throughout the night and potentially into tomorrow.

Up Next

The Seattle Storm (6-18) will continue their road trip as they head to the Nation’s Capital, Washington, D.C. They play the Mystics (10-10) on Sunday, 7/12 at 12:00 PM. Seattle won the first matchup 97-85, but lost the the 2nd game 78-64. Both of those games took place in Seattle. This will be the final matchup between the two teams this season.

Notes:
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