Turnovers Cost Storm Again in Atlanta

Seattle drops their 8th straight in 98-89 loss to the Dream.

(College Park, Georgia) - It was an all too familiar story for the Seattle Storm (6-25) on Friday night, as they fell behind by double-digits early due to too many turnovers, and didn’t have enough to overcome their 17-point deficit in the second half. The Storm battled to the end, cutting the deficit to four points with less than a minute to go, but Atlanta made all six free throws in the final 30 seconds, as the Dream hung on to win the game 98-89.

Seattle committed 15 of their 20 turnovers in the first half as they trailed by 14 points at the break. Coach Raman spoke about the bad starts the Storm have had.

“Yeah, it definitely hasn’t been good, how we’ve been starting games, in those 1st quarters. So, we just talked about it, and we’ll look at it more. But we know we have to be better. We show what kind of team we’re capable of for the rest of the game, and we have to show it for 40 minutes.”

Raman went on to say, “I think that the team understands that, you know, they’re committed to that, and it’s just a matter of taking the next step forward and getting better. A big part of it is taking care of the ball, right? And against a team like Atlanta, especially, they lead the league in steals and their points off turnovers. They can convert really quickly. They’re really high-level defensive teams. So we knew that going into it, just taking care of the ball, which will then allow us to at least get stops and then get out and run. I think it starts there. That’s probably the biggest thing in terms of a pattern. We know we have to be better there.”

Three players scored in double figures. Natisha Hiedeman led the way with 23 points, five rebounds, and five assists. She went 0-6 FG from beyond the arc, which was an issue for the entire team (5-23 FG). Dominique Malonga finished with a double-double of 16 points (8-10 FG) and 13 rebounds. Ezi Magbegor, returning from her broken nose, added 12 points on 4-7 FG off the bench. Magbegor scored eight of those late in the fourth quarter to help Seattle close the gap.

I spoke with Dominique Malonga and Coach Raman about Ezi’s performance.

Malonga responded, “That’s Ezi, we know what she’s capable of, and we’re super happy she’s back with us. And she will get back in her rhythm day by day, but that’s what she can project. That’s even the minimum. She can even do more than that, and we know that we need her in those moments. She’s our force, she’s our defensive anchor. And so just having her on the court is amazing, and we can see how it changes our offense and our defense. I mean, she was a huge part of the run we had towards the end of the game… so we're just glad she’s back with us.”

Raman added, “Ezi was great. Really nice to see her out there. I loved how aggressive she was on the offensive end. Just finding her spots, talking on defense, communicating with her teammates, being aggressive on that on the floor as well. And, I think just kind of getting her legs back under and getting the rust off. A couple extra fouls there than what she’s typically used to. So, I’m sure she’ll clean that up, but like, really, really good stuff having her back, and that’s going to be huge for us going forward.”

Seattle slightly outshot Atlanta 44% (30-68 FG) to 42% (27-64 FG), but they were outscored by 15 points from the three-point line. They had more points in the paint (42-32). Despite committing 20 turnovers, the Storm had a 23-18 edge in points off turnovers, forcing Atlanta into 17 mistakes.

Atlanta Dream

The Dream had five players reach double figures. They were led by Angel Reese, who finished with a double-double of 21 points and 13 rebounds. Naz Hillmon poured in 18 points on 6-9 FG. Allisha Gray added 16 points, and Brionna Jones pitched in 14 points and five rebounds off the bench.

Seattle did a good job of limiting Rhyne Howard in this game. Howard finished with nine points on 3-13 FG. I spoke with Coach Raman and Natisha Hiedeman after the game about that.

Raman said, “I thought we were really good with our awareness. She’s a great shooter. She got really hot against us last game. We lost her a few times. So, really good growth there on really understanding where she is, what she’s capable of, what her tendencies are. She’s a high-level scorer, so that’s definitely something that we challenged ourselves with.”

Hiedeman answered, “(Howard) creates a lot of attention. We had a game plan going into the game, and I think that we executed our game plan really well, keeping her in single digits. She still got shots off, and nine three-point attempts, but great players are going to get their shots. I feel like it could have went either way. She could have hit those. So just continuing to execute the game plan and try to be better at that all around.”

The home team out-rebounded Seattle 33-30, with an 11-8 advantage in offensive rebounds. More importantly, they outscored Seattle 19-8 in second-chance points. They held the edge in assists (24-17), steals (14-10), blocks (7-5), and fast break points (13-10). The Dream went 34-39 FT from the foul line and were a +10 over Seattle in that area.

Game Breakdown

Dominique Malonga knocked down a midrange jumper for the game’s first basket. Allisha Gray got to the rim for two. Dominique Malonga scored inside the paint, but lost Naz Hillmon on the other end. Jade Melbourne was fouled attacking the rim and made both free throws. Rhyne Howard knocked down a three-pointer to cut the Storm’s lead down to one. Atlanta took the lead on a pair of free throws from Angel Reese.

Natisha Hiedeman got inside the lane for a bucket. Brionna Jones added two more from the line. Ezi Magbegor, in her return game, scored quickly with a floater in the lane. After Jones snagged an offensive rebound, Isobel Borlase connected on a three-pointer.

With the game tied at 14-14, the Dream went on an 8-0 run that ended with back-to-back three-pointers from Allisha Gray and Jaylyn Sherrod. After the second triple, Storm Coach Sonia Raman called a timeout.

Out of the break, Seattle turned it over, and Melbourne fouled Sherrod to prevent a layup. After two more free throws, Atlanta went ahead by 10. Flau’jae made one of two free throws to end the Dream’s 10-0 run, but Jordin Canada immediately got back to the line for two more. Reese added two more free throws before the end of the quarter as Atlanta led 27-15 after one.

Flau’jae scored on a turnaround jumper to open up the second quarter. Reese and Malonga exchanged baskets in the paint. Two free throws by Johnson cut the Storm’s deficit back to single digits. Hiedeman banked one in before Bri Jones made an easy layup. Free throws from Johnson and Fam cut Atlanta’s lead to 33-26.

Magbegor picked up her third foul trying to stop Reese. Hillmon caught Malonga up in the air and finished through contact for the And-1. After a Hiedeman basket, Hillmon knocked down a three-pointer. Reese scored another one at the rim to extend Atlanta’s lead to 13 points.

Jade Melbourne connected on a three-ball, but Atlanta answered with four more points to end the quarter. At the midway point, the Dream led 47-33 over the Storm. Seattle committed 15 turnovers through the first two quarters, and Atlanta outscored the Storm 14-6 in points off turnovers. Both teams shot poorly in the opening half. Seattle was slightly better at 39% (11-28 FG) to Atlanta’s 36% (13-36 FG).

Naz Hillmon picked up where she left off in the first half by knocking down an open three-pointer to begin the third quarter. Jade Melbourne was fouled on a drive and made both at the line. The Storm continued their push with an 8-1 run since Hillmon’s opening three. After Malonga scored on back-to-back possessions, Coach Karl Smesko called a timeout with the Dream leading 51-41.

Out of the break, Allisha Gray scored. After a Hiedeman basket, Rhyne Howard drilled a three-pointer. Seattle used a 6-0 run with points from Malonga, Hiedeman, and Magbegor. Bri Jones ended that with a quick layup. A layup high off the window by Gray pushed the Dream’s lead back to double-digits.

Malonga picked up her fourth foul as Reese knocked down two more free throws. Katie Lou Samuelson hit a three, and Zia Cooke added two from the line to cut the Dream’s lead down to eight, 62-54. Bri Jones added four more, but Samuelson countered with five points, including another triple. At the end of the third quarter, the Dream led 66-59.

Samuelson missed a three-pointer on one end, and Angel Reese knocked down one on the other end. Jordin Canada made two free throws. Seattle punched back with a 7-0 run as Jordan Horston scored in transition, and Awa Fam made two jumpers, including a banked-in three-pointer. Reese hit her second three-pointer of the quarter to make it 76-66.

Hiedeman scored on back-to-back plays, including an open-court steal. Two free throws from Fam cut the deficit to six. Atlanta immediately responded with a 9-2 run that began with a desperate heave from Rhyne Howard from beyond the arc that went in. After Gray’s layup put the Dream ahead by 13, Coach Raman called another timeout.

Seattle made a late-game push led by Ezi Magbegor. Magbegor scored eight points, including a three-pointer and an And-1. The Storm managed to cut Atlanta’s lead to four after a Melbourne layup with 43 seconds to go in the game. Gray and Canada went 6-6 FT from the line in the final 30 seconds, as Atlanta held on for the 98-89 victory.

Final Box Score

Part 2

Instead of a traditional Part 2 article for more detail on this game, I’m going to do a separate article based on interviews I did earlier this week with Flau’jae Johnson, Awa Fam, and Dominique Malonga. That will be sent exclusively to paid subscribers on Saturday.

Because of this, I’ve included more quotes in this game story, and I’ll post the post-game audio interviews below.

Player Interviews

Dominique Malonga and Natisha Hiedeman:

Coach’s Quotes

Coach Raman post-game:

Up Next

Seattle (6-25) travel to New York to face the Liberty (16-13) in back-to-back games. Their next game is on Monday, August 3rd at 4 p.m.

Notes:
Photography Credits: Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography
Thanks to Her Hoop Stats and Across the Timeline for being great resources!

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