Storm Get Important Win at Chicago 94-88

Seattle gets back to .500 with the road victory.

(Chicago, Illinois) - The Seattle Storm (18-18) did what they had to do in Chicago. They took care of business and beat an inferior team 94-88. The final score wasn’t indicative of the game at large. Seattle controlled the game from the second quarter on. They outscored the Sky 46-30 over the second and third periods and led by 19 points in the 4th quarter. Unfortunately, some of their negative tendencies crept up again over the game’s final 10 minutes. The Storm turned the ball over five times and allowed Chicago to score 38 points. Despite that, they hung on to win and got back to .500 on the season.

Seattle had several strong performances in this game. Five players scored in double figures, and six players scored nine points or more. Skylar Diggins led the way with a highly efficient performance of 24 points on 7-11 FG. She was 3-6 FG from beyond the arc and 7-8 from the free throw line. Diggins also had a team-high six assists. Nneka Ogwumike added 21 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Ogwumike also made 3-5 FG from beyond the arc. Brittney Sykes contributed 12 points, five assists, and four rebounds.

Dominique Malonga and Ezi Magbegor both had impressive games. Malonga finished with 15 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks off the bench. Magbegor added 11 points, eight rebounds, and a game-high four blocks. Seattle had 10 blocks total in the. game.

The Storm outshot the Sky 50% (34-68 FG) to 47% (36-77 FG). Surprisingly, Seattle also out-rebounded Chicago 32-30. They had a 17-10 advantage in second-chance points. They also won the free throw battle. They were +10 from the charity stripe in made free throws (18-23 FT to 8-10 FT). They also had a 21-13 edge in fast break points.

With the victory, the Storm have two wins more than the LA Sparks (16-18) to stay in the 8th and final playoff spot. The Washington Mystics (16-19) lost to the Connecticut Sun 80-69 earlier in the evening.

Chicago Sky

Chicago also had five players score in double figures in this game. Angel Reese and Ariel Atkins both led the team with 19 points each. Reese added seven rebounds and four assists. Kamilla Cardoso had 10 points, six rebounds, and a team-high six assists. Elizabeth Williams had a near double-double of 10 points and nine rebounds off the bench. Kia Nurse got red-hot in the 4th quarter, scoring all 13 of her points in the final period.

The Sky had 30 assists compared to the Storm’s 21. They had 11 assists in the 4th quarter alone. Chicago’s bench outscored Seattle’s reserves 35-17. The home team also outscored the Storm 48-44 inside the paint. They also knocked down 50% (8-16 FG) of their shots from beyond the arc.

Game Breakdown

Ariel Atkins scores on a runner in the lane. Seattle then turned the ball over, which led to a 3-on-1 fast break for Angel Reese. Nneka Ogwumike scored for Seattle. Kamilla Cardoso bullied her way to the rim for two. Brittney Sykes split the defense and got to the rim for the layup. Ezi Magbegor got another big rejection, her second of the game. Skylar Diggins made a three-pointer. Sykes got a steal that resulted in a transition basket that Ogwumike made before falling out of bounds. Ariel Atkins connected on a three to tie the game at 9-9. Diggins hit a second three-pointer. Cardoso was fouled and made both free throws.

Rebecca Allen knocked down a three-pointer to give Chicago the lead at 14-12. Cardoso had a massive rejection on Sykes; her teammate was able to save the ball from going out of bounds, and then Kamilla scored down low. Ezi Magbegor scored inside the paint. Then Gabby Williams tied the game on a finger roll at the rim. Elizabeth Williams and Dominique Malonga swapped baskets down low. Gabby tied the game with another fast drive to the hoop. At the end of the first period, the two teams were tied 20-20.

Ogwumike was fouled on her shot and made both free throws. Angel Reese scored down low. Ogwumike snagged an offensive rebound and made a beautiful turnaround jumper. Seattle nearly forced a 24-second shot clock violation, but Rachel Banham knocked down a three-pointer right before the clock expired. That put Chicago up one. The Storm countered with a 7-0 run as Malonga made back-to-back baskets. Then Tiffany Mitchell got a steal, and Williams got to the rim for the AND1. Cardoso scored on a cut to the rim. Seattle got two big blocks on one possession; first by Dom and then by Gabby. Malonga raced down the court and was fouled. She split the two free throws. Gabby scored on a pull-up, then Skylar got a steal and layup to put Seattle ahead by seven at 36-29.

Sevgi Uzun made a reverse layup. Diggins countered with a deep two. Then Nneka Ogwumike knocked down a three at the top of the arch. That put Seattle ahead 41-31 with 2:16 left in the first half. Uzun drilled a triple. Skylar scored and then found Magbegor slip to the rim right before the halftime buzzer. Through two quarters, the Seattle Storm led 46-34. Seattle outshot Chicago 58% (19-33 FG) to 35% (14-40 FG). Surprisingly, the Storm also out-rebounded the Sky 16-14. The Storm outscored them 28-18 with points in the paint and 14-2 in fast break points.

Brittney Sykes knocked down a corner three to begin the third period. “Slim” was then fouled on a drive and made both free throws. After an Angel Reese basket, Skylar connected on her third three-ball of the game to put the Storm ahead by 18. Reese scored on back-to-back baskets where she didn’t get all the way down the court, but benefited from being the first player down the other end. Diggins curled around a screen for a jump shot. Rachel Banham made a layup on the other end. There was a reckless closeout against Sykes that awarded her three free throws. She made two out of the three. Seattle retained possession, and then Diggins was fouled. After she made both, the Storm went ahead 60-42.

Cardoso scored again in the low post. Magbegor countered with a short corner jumper. Elizabeth Williams was fouled on a layup but missed her free throw. Rebecca Allen and Ariel Atkins made back-to-back baskets

Dom Malonga sank a jumper with less than one second to go in the quarter. Seattle led 66-50 at the end of the third.

Ariel Atkins made two quick baskets to open up the fourth quarter. That cut Chicago’s deficit down to 12. Seattle went on a 9-2 run, getting baskets from Ogwumike, Malonga, and Mitchell. It was capped off by a three-pointer by Ogwumike that put Seattle ahead by 19 points and forced the Sky’s Coach, Tyler Marsh, to call a timeout.

It was all Chicago after that timeout. The Sky went on a 13-2 run to cut Seattle’s lead down to eight. They got baskets from Williams, Nurse, Atkins, Uzun, and capped off with an AND1 by Angel Reese that got the home crowd fired up.

Diggins made two free throws. Elizabeth Williams scored on a layup with a nice assist from Angel Reese. Seattle got a defensive stop and found Sykes in the corner for three. Kia Nurse countered with a triple immediately on the other end.

Ezi was fouled and then whistled for a Technical Foul. It may have been the first Technical of Magbegor’s career. It wasn’t an attitude issue. She inadvertently hit Ariel Atkins in the face after being fouled. Atkins hit the technical, but Magbegor made both of her from the personal foul.

After Elizabeth Williams hit two free throws, Nneka Ogwumike hit a three-pointer with 36 seconds left in the game. Kia Nurse hit two triples in the final 30 seconds. Despite heroics from Nurse, the Storm were able to hang on for the win. Skylar made three of four free throws in the final seconds. Ariel Atkins hit another three at the game’s final buzzer. Seattle won 94-88 on the road.

Final Box Score

Up Next

The Storm continue their five-game road trip as they head to the Lone Star State. They face the Dallas Wings (9-26) on Friday, August 22nd at 4:30 PM. Seattle won the first two games of the series 79-71 and 83-77. However, the Wings won the most recent matchup 87-63.

Part 2

Part 2 will include additional thoughts and discussion from Tuesday’s game against the Chicago Sky. It’ll be sent exclusively to paid subscribers.

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