Mystics Rally to Beat Storm 84-79
Seattle loses another clutch game down the stretch.
(Washington, D.C.) - The Seattle Storm (6-19) controlled most of the game on Sunday afternoon until the moments that mattered the most. They led by six points at the end of the first quarter, by five at halftime, and by four at the end of the third period. The Washington Mystics (11-10) held the Storm to just 11 points in the fourth quarter and outscored them by nine as they rallied for the 84-79 victory.
Despite a career-high 31 points by Natisha Hiedeman, the Storm didn’t get enough from the rest of the team. Dominique Malonga was the only other player to score in double figures, and she finished with just 10 points on 4-10 FG. Malonga did set a new career-high with 15 rebounds.
Rookies Flau’jae Johnson and Awa Fam struggled with their shots. They combined for 4-18 FG from the floor. Together they totaled 16 rebounds, five assists, four steals, and two blocks.
Seattle had more points in the paint (48-38), rebounds (43-32), and fast break points (15-2), but they were unable to overcome their turnovers.
Washington Mystics
Shakira Austin led the way with 27 points on 10-18 FG. Sonia Citron added 19 points on 7-13 FG with four rebounds and three steals. Kiki Iriafen added a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Rookie Lauren Betts had one of her better games of the season, scoring 11 points on 4-8 FG off the bench. She was also a +9 in plus/minus. Betts helped the Mystics bench outscore Seattle’s reserves 22-15.
Both teams shot nearly identical with the Mystics shooting 43.1% (31-72 FG) compared to the Storm’s 42.9% (30-70 FG). Both of them shot exactly 5-19 FG (26%) from beyond the arc.
Washington forced the Storm into 20 turnovers and outscored Seattle 24-18 in points off turnovers. They also had an 18-12 edge in second-chance points despite being out-rebounded by the Storm. D.C. nearly doubled the road team in assists, 23-12.
Game Breakdown
The Storm opened the game up on a 10-4 run, which included a Natisha Hiedeman three-pointer and an open-court steal and score. Washington’s Sonia Citron scored on back-to-back possessions to cut Seattle’s lead to two. A quick 6-0 run by the Storm doubled their lead at 16-8.
Lauren Betts came in and gave D.C. some good minutes. She scored four points and forced Awa Fam into a couple of fouls. Hiedeman continued to be active on both ends, picking up a couple of steals and getting to the rim. Natisha finished the first period with 11 points. Katie Lou Samuelson added a corner three-pointer. Cotie McMahon had a physical drive to the hoop through contact. She had an And-1 opportunity, but missed the extra free throw. Shakira Austin added a couple of free throws to end the opening period. Seattle led 24-18 through the first 10 minutes.
The second quarter opened the same way the first ended, with two free throws for Shakira Austin. Stefanie Dolson had a deflection that forced a steal and then knocked down a triple on the other end. Washington used a 6-0 run in under 30 seconds to cut the Storm’s lead to just one. Alicia Florez added some free throws, Shakira Austin scored and was fouled, missed the free throw, but then Kiki Iriafen stole the rebound away, and immediately scored again to make it 29-28 Seattle.
Hiedeman added an And-1 on a pull-up jumper to push Seattle’s lead back to four. D.C. used an 8-1 run to take a three-point lead. They collected multiple offensive rebounds that led to points. The run was capped off by a Cassandre Prosper three-pointer. Flau’jae Johnson knocked down a dribble pull-up. Sonia Citron snuck past the defense for the layup. Hiedeman made a nice pass to a cutting Jade Melbourne for the layup.
Mackenzie Holmes came in and gave the Storm some nice minutes with many of her teammates in early foul trouble. She collected a few rebounds and scored with her left hand off the glass. Fam found Flau’jae for a score driving baseline. Seattle finished on a 12-4 run to end the half and carried a five-point lead into the locker rooms. Natisha Hiedeman led the Storm with 18 points in the first half.
Washington exploded out of the gate with a 7-0 run to begin the second half to take a two-point lead at 47-45, and forced Coach Sonia Raman into a timeout. Out of the break, Seattle responded with a 6-0 run with baskets from Hiedeman and Malonga. Dom found Melbourne on the give-and-go. Austin countered with a three-pointer at the top of the arc.
Seattle knocked down back-to-back triples from Fam and Hiedeman to push its lead back to seven at 59-52. Kiki Iriafen had a quick 5-0 run of her own. After another Hiedeman score, a midrange jumper by Lauren Betts cut Seattle’s lead to two. An And-1 drive by Zia Cooke and two free throws extended the Storm’s lead to seven. Betts matched the And-1 on the other end right before the third quarter buzzer expired. The road team led D.C. 68-64 as the two teams prepared for the final 10 minutes of action.
Jordan Horston knocked down a dribble pull-up jumper. Shakira Austin converted the And-1 to cut Seattle’s lead to three. Baskets by Bettts, Citron, and Georgia Amoore gave Washington a one-point lead. After Hiedeman scored her career-high 31st point, Austin knocked down a triple.
Washington used a 16-4 run from the end of the third to the middle of the fourth to take a six-point lead at 80-74. Seattle committed multiple turnovers down the stretch. Fam, Johnson, and Malonga scored five points over the final two minutes to cut the deficit to three, but the Mystics made enough plays to close the game out. An ill-advised pass by Melbourne was picked off by Citron sealed the victory for the Mystics. Seattle was forced to foul and after two made free throws, the game’s final score was 84-79.
Final Box Score
Up Next
The Seattle Storm (6-19) travel next to Chicago to face the Sky (7-16) for an early morning game on Wednesday, July 15th at 9 a.m. It is the first matchup between the two struggling teams this season.
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This was very definitely a winnable game and the Storm should have won it, especially in a game where T was dominant and scored her all-time high of 31 points and Dom had her all-time high rebounding with 15. That was definitely a step in the right direction as we outrebounded the Mystics. Yet we still allowed them to get too many costly O-boards. We have to stop that from happening. I liked Mack finally getting some P.T. Of course that also meant that our main post players were in foul trouble. Our most costly mistakes were a bunch of terrible passes some of which went straight to Mystics players. We have to stop turning the ball over so much if we want to win again. Also I'd like to hear the interviews post-game with the players and Coach.
This game looked winnable.