Storm Defeat Depleted Liberty 89-79

Seattle won their third game in a row as they beat the defending champions.

(Seattle, WA) - The Seattle Storm (9-5) picked up their sixth win over their last seven games by defeating the New York Liberty 89-79. The Storm are the only WNBA team to beat all three of the top three teams in the league: The Minnesota Lynx (12-1), the New York Liberty (10-3), and the Phoenix Mercury (11-4). Seattle currently has a 4-2 record against those three teams. It’s another step in the right direction for a team that is hoping to become a legit contender for the WNBA Championship this season.

They got big games from the trio of Nneka Ogwumike, Skylar Diggins, and Gabby Williams. Ogwumike finished with a game-high 26 points and pulled down seven rebounds. Skylar Diggins added 20 points and six assists. Williams had her second double-double in a row with 12 points and a career-high 10 assists. Gabby also had four steals.

The Storm were outshot and out-rebounded in this game, but their defense forced New York into 21 turnovers. They outscored New York 22-13 in points off turnovers. Seattle took care of the basketball and committed just 10, which was key to their victory. The home team also had advantages in points in the paint (42-36), assists (24-21), second-chance points (11-9), and fast break points (15-8).

Seattle outscored New York 46-37 over the final two periods. They made some adjustments at halftime, and their defense was very disruptive.

New York Liberty

The Liberty came to Seattle banged up and missing some of their top players. Leonie Fiebich is overseas participating in the Eurobasket tournament for Germany. Jonquel Jones suffered an ankle injury recently, and the team said she is expected to miss 4-6 weeks. Sabrina Ionescu was announced as a late scratch with a neck issue.

Despite missing 3/5ths of their starting lineup, the defending champions proved their mettle by going toe-to-toe with a talented Storm team. It’s a testament to how deep and talented the Liberty are.

Breanna Stewart led the team with 18 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists. Marine Johannès put on a show with her off-balanced circus shots and high rainbows. Johannès filled in for Sabrina Ionescu and scored 17 points on 7-13 FG shooting. Rebekah Gardner added 12 points and played some excellent defense. She was marred by foul trouble and likely would have made a much larger impact had she been able to play more than 21 minutes. Nyara Sabally added eight points and nine rebounds, replacing Jonquel Jones in the starting lineup.

Kennedy Burke and Jaylyn Sherrod combined for 17 points off the bench, and both had strong moments. New York’s bench outscored Seattle’s reserves 19-16.

New York outshot Seattle 44% (28-63 FG) to 43% (35-82 FG) and 33% (8-24 FG) to 31%. (8-26 FG) from the three-point line. They also out-rebounded Seattle 39-32. The Liberty were a plus-four from the free throw line and knocked down 15-16 FT (94%). It was their turnovers that killed them.

The Liberty currently have the second-best record in the WNBA (10-3), but they are certainly missing some of their star players. New York has now lost three out of their last four games. And if they didn’t rally from down 17 points to the Atlanta Dream, they would be on a four-game losing streak.

The defending champions will be challenged without Jonquel Jones for the next several games.

Game Breakdown

Neither team was particularly sharp to start the game, but New York got out to a 6-2 lead. They were able to score a couple of baskets in transition by Rebekah Gardner and Marine Johannès. Seattle tied the game after a pair of free throws by Skylar Diggins and a layup by Ezi Magbegor. Gardner knocked down a three-pointer. Nneka Ogwumike scored down in the paint on a turnaround layup. Jaylyn Sherrod knocked down a corner three to put the Liberty up 14-10.

Johannès and Sherrod got a basket and a pair of free throws to go up 18-14. Seattle’s offense picked up toward the end of the quarter, outscoring New York 8-4. They got baskets from Dominique Malonga, a three-ball from Erica Wheeler, and a nice score in the paint by Alysha Clark. The score was tied 22-22 at the end of the first period.

Skylar found Malonga down low for the easy layup to begin the second quarter. Gardner got a layup. Kennedy Burke scored two from the free throw line. Wheeler got to the rim again. Breanna Stewart hit a tough shot that bounced off the rim and in to put New York up two. Ezi Magbegor got a big block on Stewie. After the timeout, Nneka Ogwumike knocked down a jumper. Baskets by Johannès and Stewart put the Liberty back up four.

Seattle used an 8-0 run to take a four-point lead. They got a basket from Ogwumike, then back-to-back three-pointers from Gabby Williams and Zia Cooke. The Liberty responded as Marine Johannès hit two three-pointers in consecutive possessions. Diggins drilled a corner three between those two shots. Magbegor was fouled and made both free throws. Breanna Stewart scored at the rim in the final seconds of the first half. The Storm led the Liberty 43-42 at the midway point.

The Storm forced a turnover after blitzing Johannès into a bad pass. That led to a fast break opportunity where Skylar scored a layup. Breanna Stewart answered on the other end. Gabby beat Stewart at the rim for two. Kennedy Burke made a long Euro Step to the rim. Seattle started to get a tiny bit of separation as Skylar hit a three at the top of the arc. Nneka scored from an offensive rebound. Then Diggins made two free throws to put the Storm up eight at 54-46.

Burke made a nice spin move to the rim. Ogwumike countered with a corner three. Jaylyn Sherrod converted an AND1. Williams and Johannès swapped baskets. Then Johannès hit another ridiculous three to cut Seattle’s nine-point lead down to three. Skylar hit a fancy step-back three-pointer to answer. Then Diggins found Ogwumike off the pick-and-roll for the pull-up jumper.

Burke drilled a corner three. Skylar responded with a circus shot and was fouled. She missed the foul shot. Stewart was fouled and made both free throws. Zia Cooke connected on a dribble pull-up. Seattle led 68-61 at the end of the third.

Rebekah Gardner made a three-pointer to begin the 4th and cut Seattle’s lead down to four. The Storm responded with a 6-0 run. Nneka Ogwumike scored back-to-back buckets. Then Gabby Williams got a steal and found Dominique Malonga in transition for the layup. That put the Storm up ten and forced Coach Sandy Brondello to call a timeout.

Breanna Stewart got three free throws after the Storm were whistled for a delay of game penalty because they couldn’t decide on whether they wanted to challenge the foul call on Dominique Malonga. Stewart then scored again at the rim to cut the Liberty’s 10-point deficit down to five.

Alysha Clark and Gabby Williams made their shots to push the lead back up to nine. New York answered with a corner three by Natasha Cloud, forcing Coach Quinn into a timeout. Ogwumike missed a free throw, and then Nyara Sabally made two free throws.

Magbegor founded Nneka on a backdoor cut that scored at the rim right before the shot clock buzzer. New York kept the pressure on. Natasha Cloud made a beautiful pass to Sabally for the layup. Breanna Stewart was fouled and missed one of two free throws. Nneka scored off the pick-and-roll. Cloud got to the rim for two to cut Seattle’s lead down to three with under two minutes to play. The Storm ended the game on a 7-0 run. Nneka Ogwumike hit a dagger three with the shot clock winding down. Cloud missed a three. Skylar was fouled before Seattle could inbound the ball, which resulted in an automatic free throw and the ball. Diggins made the free throw. Gabby found Nneka for a layup to put the Storm up nine with just over 30 seconds to play. Marine Johannès missed another three-point attempt. New York was forced to foul. Gabby split the two free throws for the game’s final score.

The Storm won the game, 89-79.

Final Box Score

Up Next

Seattle hosts Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever on Tuesday, June 24th at 7:00 PM. Expect a large crowd, so try to get to the arena early if you’re attending the game.

Part 2

Part 2 will include additional thoughts, quotes, and discussion from Sunday’s game against the New York Liberty. It’ll be sent exclusively to paid subscribers tomorrow morning.

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