Storm Fall Short to Fever 78-74

Natasha Howard and Aliyah Boston led Indiana to a big road win.

(Seattle, WA) - The Seattle Storm had several opportunities to tie the game late, but they couldn’t get a three-pointer to fall. They took five shots from beyond the arc in the final minute. Seattle needed just one of them to go down, and it could have forced overtime. But sometimes the basketball gods are against you. Despite their rally and some great hustle late to grab offensive rebounds, the Storm fell to the Indiana Fever (17-12) by a final score of 78-74.

Seattle had a balanced attack. Four players scored in double figures, and six players scored eight points or more. Nneka Ogwumike led the team with 16 points. However, she was not as efficient as we are accustomed to. Ogwumike finished 7-20 FG from the floor. Maybe we can credit the Fever’s defense, but it’s hard to imagine that fatigue from playing 46 minutes in a double-overtime game just 30 hours prior didn’t play some type of factor. To Coach Quinn’s credit, she kept Ogwumike under 30 minutes and gave her multiple opportunities to rest. Skylar Diggins added 13 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Gabby Williams had 12 points, a team-high nine rebounds, and a team-high five assists.

One of the main stories of the game was the performance of rookie Dominique Malonga. She finished with 12 points on 60% FG shooting, five rebounds, and three assists. More notably, she played nearly 21 minutes and played eight minutes in the 4th quarter, including the final seven minutes of the game. She closed out the game alongside Nneka Ogwumike and in place of Ezi Magbegor.

Seattle out-rebounded Indiana 33 to 32. They had a slight advantage in second-chance points (10-8). They also forced the Fever into 16 turnovers and had a slight 19-16 advantage in points off turnovers. The Storm’s reserves outscored the Fever’s bench 16-6.

Indiana Fever

Former two-time Seattle Storm Champion, Natasha Howard, led the Fever with 21 points on an impressive 10-12 FG performance. Howard also added five rebounds. Sophie Cunningham was red-hot and scored 17 points. She finished the game 5-6 FG and made her first five shot attempts. Four of those were from beyond the arc.

Seattle did a better job of limiting Aliyah Boston compared to the first matchup, where they gave up a career-high 31 points to the three-time All-Star. However, Boston still had a large impact with a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds. Caitlin Clark did not play in the game as she’s still dealing with her groin injury.

Indiana outshot Seattle 48% (32-67 FG) to 44% (30-68 FG). Both teams struggled from the three-point line. Sophie Cunningham was the only Fever player to make a three-pointer. She went 4-5 FG, and the rest of the Fever went 0-17 FG from beyond the arc. Even though Indiana made just 18% of their long-distance shots, the Storm were even worse, connecting on 13% (2-15 FG).

The road team had better ball movement and had a 27-20 advantage in assists. They also dominated down low, scoring 52 points in the paint. They had a tiny advantage in fast break points, 15-14.

Game Breakdown

The Fever got off to a strong start with back-to-back baskets by Natasha Howard and Aari McDonald. The Storm responded with a drive to the rim by Erica Wheeler and a bank shot in the paint by Gabby Williams. Nneka Ogwuike rimmed in a corner three to put the Storm ahead 7-4. Indiana snagged an offensive rebound off their missed three-pointer that led to an easy layup for Howard. Kelsey Mitchell got fouled on a drive to the rim and made both free throws to put Indiana ahead by one.

Ezi made a turnaround shot over Howard, but Aliyah Boston found Howard under the rim for two. Sophie Cunningham went baseline passed Skylar Diggins for two. Diggins responded with her first basket of the game. Wheeler and Gabby got out in transition, and Williams finished for two.

Out of a timeout, Magbegor was fouled on a drive and made both free throws. Boston scored another easy layup down low. Then Sophie Cunningham drilled a three-pointer in transition to put the Fever ahead by two (17-15). Diggins was fouled and made one free throw. Neither team was able to score over the final two minutes. Indiana led Seattle 17-16 after one quarter of play.

Damiris Dantas scored on the mismatch switch over the smaller defender. Dominique Malonga hit a tough fadeaway over Dantas on the other end. The Storm then had miscommunication on defense and left Sophie Cunningham wide open for a three-pointer that she easily drained. Tiffany Mitchell was fouled with a strong drive to the rim and made both.

Malonga then made two impressive plays in a row. She stopped Dantas down low, then drove past her on the other end for two. Indiana regained the lead with a 6-0 run, getting baskets from Howard, Dantas, and Aari McDonald. With the Fever leading 28-22, Coach Noelle Quinn called a timeout. Wheeler knocked down a tough two with a hand in her face.

Indiana’s posts made another strong pass. This time, it was Howard to a cutting Dantas for the easy layup. Skylar was fouled and made another shot. Nneka Ogwumike used a beautiful up-and-under step through past Howard. Kelsey Mitchell made a difficult shot through contact, but wasn’t able to complete the AND1 at the foul line. Ogwumike got to the rim again to cut the Fever’s lead down to two at 32-30.

From there, the Fever ended the first half on a 10-4 run. Indiana led 42-34 at the midway point. The road team outshot Seattle 53% (18-34 FG) to 42% (13-31 FG). The Fever out-rebounded the Storm 18-11 and outscored them 30-18 inside the paint in the first half.

Nneka scored the first basket of the second half, but Seattle gave up another three-pointer to Sophie Cunningham. After Gabby Williams hit a pull-up jumper, Aari McDonald scored an AND1 on the other end, finishing her layup through contact. Erica and Ezi each made layups, forcing Fever Coach Stephanie White to call a timeout. Indiana still led 48-42.

Out of the timeout, Natasha Howard made a layup and was fouled by Skylar. She made the additional free throw. Sophie Cunningham hit her fourth three-pointer (in four attempts) to put Indiana ahead by 13 points (55-42). That forced Coach Noelle Quinn to call another timeout. Once play resumed, Gabby was able to draw a foul and converted at the line. Howard hit a tough midrange shot over Ezi’s outstretched arms. Tiffany Mitchell hit a crazy athletic layup. Then Dominique Malonga scored at the rim with her left hand. The Storm rallied from 13 points down with under four minutes to play in the third period and cut the deficit down to four at 58-54 by the end of the frame.

Natasha Howard made back-to-back baskets to open the fourth quarter. Dom Malonga scored again inside the paint. Aari McDonald scored on an open-court steal, forcing Quinn to call another timeout as Seattle had given up eight points in under 90 seconds. Indiana continued to gain the upper hand. They pushed their lead back up to double-digits after baskets from McDonald and Boston.

After an Ezi layup, Aliyah Boston went on her own 5-0 run to push the Fever’s lead to 12 at 73-61. Coach Quinn called another timeout with 4:42 left in the game. Malonga and Ogwumike scored on consecutive possessions, which then forced Stephanie White to call another timeout. The Storm still trailed by eight.

Seattle used a 9-0 run in total to cut their deficit down to one. Kelsey Mitchell hit a huge jumper with her toe on the line. Skylar had two looks at a three-pointer, but wasn’t able to convert either. Quinn drew up a nice play to find Erica Wheeler in the corner, but she was unable to hit the shot. The Storm got another offensive rebound, and Nneka missed a three-point attempt. Gabby Williams got another offensive rebound, and Malonga scored in the paint to cut the deficit to one (75-74) with 12 seconds remaining in the game. Kelsey Mitchell got free to the rim for two to put the Fever ahead by three. Gabby Williams had a good look at a three that would have sent the game to overtime, but she missed. It was the Storm’s 5th missed three-pointer in the final 67 seconds of the game. They had several great looks, but they just weren’t able to knock any of them down. Seattle fouled Aliyah Boston with two seconds remaining in the game, and she made one of two free throws. The final buzzer sounded as the Fever defeated the Seattle Storm 78-74.

Final Box Score

Up Next

The Seattle Storm (16-13) host the Minnesota Lynx (24-5) on Tuesday, August 5th at 7:00 PM at Climate Pledge Arena. Seattle and Minnesota split the first two games of the season series, with each team winning on its home court. The Lynx defeated the Storm 82-77 back on May 27th. Seattle returned the favor by defeating Minnesota 94-84 on June 11th. The Storm handed the Lynx their first loss of the season that day.

Part 2

Part 2 will include additional thoughts and discussion from Sunday’s game against the Indiana Fever. It’ll be sent exclusively to paid subscribers.

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