Storm Lose Ugly to the Dallas Wings 79-56

Seattle's offensive woes continue for a third consecutive game.

(Arlington, Texas) - The Seattle Storm (3-7) couldn’t get anything going on the offensive side of the court for the entire 40 minutes of action in Dallas on Monday evening. Seattle scored just 25 points in the first half and was held under 50 points until less than two minutes were remaining in the game. Despite a solid defensive effort, the offense was so bad that the Dallas Wings (6-3) were able to rest their starters in the 4th quarter. Ultimately, Seattle fell 79-56.

The bright side for Seattle was that their two rookies had good games. Flau’jae Johnson had her first career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Awa Fam finished with eight points, seven rebounds, and a game-high four steals. Even in the losing effort, it’s important for them to get this WNBA experience.

I spoke to Awa Fam after the game about that.

“I think this is the basketball. We are rookies, we are improving our basketball (skills). But this is step by step. We know that we have a game on Wednesday, so one loss is okay, one loss, but we need to go with a new mentality for Wednesday’s game. So it is what it is. Basketball is a lot of games, so a new mentality is a good mentality.” Fam said.

Outside of them, Natisha Hiedeman was the only other player to score in double figures with 11 points. Hiedeman scored all 11 of her points in the first half. She was tied with Katie Lou Samuelson and Mackenzie Holmes for a team-high in assists with two each. The Storm had just 11 assists total, which was a major problem.

Both teams shot horribly, but Dallas was technically better. They outshot Seattle 36% (29-81 FG) to 33% (20-61 FG). The Storm turned the ball over 17 times and were outscored 16-10 in points off turnovers.

Dallas Wings

The Wings were led by Aziaha James, who scored 18 points off the bench on 50% FG shooting (7-14 FG). She scored 14 of her 18 points in the 2nd half.

The only other Dallas player to reach double figures was Paige Bueckers, who tallied 10 points but was inefficient from the floor (4-12 FG). If Bueckers had played the entire game, she likely would have finished with a triple-double as she ended up with 10 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists in just 24 minutes of action.

Maddy Siegrist and Jessica Shepard both came close to having a double-double. Siegrist finished with nine points and nine rebounds, while Shepard added nine points and eight rebounds.

Dallas out-rebounded the Storm 48-36, but it was their offensive rebounding that killed Seattle. They had an 18-6 advantage in O-Boards and outscored the Storm 25 to 6 in second-chance points. They nearly doubled Seattle in assists (19-11), and outscored them 36-24 inside the paint. Their reserves outscored Seattle’s bench 33-20.

Game Breakdown

Azzi Fudd knocked down a three-pointer after Stefanie Dolson missed one on the other end. Seattle’s first three shot attempts were from beyond the arc. Paige Bueckers avoided the double-team and found Jessica Shepard under the rim for two. Shepard scored again, as the Storm missed their first eight shots and were held scoreless for the first four minutes of the game. It was a sign of things to come.

Flau’jae Johnson finally got Seattle on the board as no one stopped the ball, and Johnson dribbled straight to the rim for two. The Storm’s defense was solid as they limited the Wings to just seven points over the first five minutes. Natisha Hiedeman drew the foul and sank both free throws, cutting Dallas’s lead to three at 7-4. At the first TV timeout, the Storm had made just 1-10 FG (10%) and the Wings weren’t much better at 3-12 FG (25%).

Out of the timeout, Shepard scored again on a set play to the rim. Hiedeman found Dolson slipping to the rim for the easy lay. Arike Ogunbowale was fouled and hit both free throws. Awa Fam knocked down a short corner jumper. Zia Cooke checked in and connected on a jumper near the foul line. Paige Bueckers converted an And-1 to make it a 14-10 lead for Dallas.

Aziaha James scored on a floater down the lane. Both teams struggled mightily with their field goal efficiency. Seattle shot 4-18 FG, and Dallas wasn’t much better, shooting 6-20 FG. At the end of the first, the Wings led 16-10.

Jessica Shepard scored on a spin move down the lane. Flau’jae was fouled but missed both free throws. James scored again at the rim, capping off a 9-0 run and pushing the Wings’ lead to double-digits. Katie Lou Samuelson was fouled, but also missed both free throws, continuing Seattle’s early-game struggles. Johnson was fouled again and this time made both foul shots.

Fudd and Fam exchanged baskets on each end. Dallas regained their double-digit lead after scoring from multiple offensive rebounds. Hiedeman scored in the lane, Lexie Brown got a steal, which led to an easy open layup for Jordan Horston. Arike Ogunbowale scored again from another offensive rebound, forcing Coach Sonia Raman to call a timeout.

Hiedeman did her best to keep Seattle in the game, knocking down another shot and then scoring three from the foul line. That cut the Storm’s deficit back down to six at 29-23. Seattle continued to give up offensive rebounds to Dallas, and it came back to bite them. Maddy Siegrist scored after an initial stop. After that and a midrange pull-up by Bueckers, the Storm were down 10 points again.

Paige extended the Wings’ lead to 11 on a three-pointer. The Storm trailed 36-25 at the end of the first half. Seattle shot an abysmal 9-29 FG, including 0-10 FG from beyond the arc. The game remained reasonably close because Seattle’s defense limited the Wings to 15-44 FG (34%). The home team out-rebounded the Storm 25-17 through the first two quarters. That included a 9-1 discrepancy on the offensive boards. Dallas outscored Seattle 16-0 in second-chance points.

The 2nd half continued where the first half left off. Even when Seattle got defensive stops, it wasn’t enough. The Storm got blocks from Horston and Flau’jae, but the ball went right back to Ogunbowale, who scored. Fudd added a midrange jumper, and Shepard added a free throw. Dallas ballooned their lead to nearly 20 points with points from Fudd and Ogunbowale. Awa Fam was the only Storm player to score for the first six minutes of the third, adding four more points.

Only three players for the Storm scored in the quarter. Fam had the four points, Jade Melbourne tallied five, and Katie Lou Samuelson knocked down a triple. Dallas outscored Seattle 21-12 in the third quarter. Aziaha James led the Wings with seven points in the period. Arike Ogunbowale added five more. The home team led 57-37.

Mackenzie Holmes made a nice drive to the rim early to start the fourth quarter. Alanna Smith made one of two free throws. Odyssey Sims connected on a jumper. Alysha Clark knocked down an open three-pointer for the Wings. And added a few more free throws, scoring all six of her points in the fourth period.

Flau’jae snagged her own offensive rebound and drove to the rim for two. Johnson added 12 points and four rebounds in the final period, which gave her a double-double for the first time in her WNBA career.

Aziaha James finished through contact a couple of times for some tough scores late in the game. Dallas outscored Seattle 22-19 in the 4th quarter, with 18 of those 22 points coming from the reserves. Maddy Siegrist was the only starter to play in the game’s final 10 minutes for the Wings.

As the clock wound down to zero, mostly the reserves played for both sides. Flau’jae scored 12 of the team’s 19 points. Katie Lou added another three-pointer, but it was all academic at that point. At the final horn, the Dallas Wings won the game in convincing fashion, 79-56.

Final Box Score

Part 2

Part 2 will include additional commentary, analysis, and interviews. It will be sent to paid subscribers tomorrow morning.

Up Next

The Seattle Storm (3-7) return home for one game to face the Phoenix Mercury (2-8). They play on Wednesday, 6/3 at 7:00 PM.

Notes:
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Photography Credits: Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography
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