Storm Detach Wings 97-76

Jewell Loyd's 30 points led the Storm to another victory.

(Seattle, WA) - Despite not being fully healed from her left eye injury that occurred on Thursday, Jewell Loyd didn’t let that stop her. Loyd followed up her 34-point performance against Indiana with another 30-point game against the Dallas Wings. Seattle won their third game in a row and improved their record to 12-6. That’s more wins than they had all of last season.

Jewell wasn’t alone in her contributions. This was a full team effort. All five starters scored in double figures. Loyd finished with 30 points, five rebounds, and five assists. Nneka Ogwumike added 16 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Ezi Magbegor finished with 13 points and five rebounds. Jordan Horston, earning her third consecutive start, added a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds. She also made Arike Ogunbowale earn every single one of her points. Lastly, Skylar Diggins-Smith contributed with 11 points, five assists, and a team-high three steals.

“Everybody can get busy. It makes one through five harder to guard. I know that Jewell can get busy. You know that Skylar can get busy. You know that Ezi can get busy. And now y’all know that I can get busy too!” Horston said in the immediate post-game interview.

The Storm used strong second and third periods where they outscored the Wings 26-16 and 26-18 (a total of 18 points) to take full control of the game. Both teams were red-hot in the first period. Dallas made nearly 71% (12-17 FG) of their shots in the opening quarter. Seattle wasn’t far behind knocking down 59% (10-17 FG) of their attempts through the first 10 minutes. After giving up 25 points in the first, the Storm’s defense limited the Wings to less than 20 points during each of the remaining three quarters.

When asked if this current three-game win streak is the best the team has played this season, Coach Noelle Quinn responded.

“I don't think so. I think we're getting there, though. I think we're finding ways in portions of the game to put spurts together. But as you saw in the fourth quarter, there's still a lull there. There are still aspects about us in a game that we have to address a little bit better. And that's just me being greedy and wanting excellence all the time, but I think that we're trending in the correct direction.” Quinn stated.

Seattle outshot Dallas 49% (32-65 FG) to 46% (32-70 FG). The Wings were slightly better from beyond the arc 33% (6-18 FG) to 29% (5-17 FG). But it was Seattle’s dominance from the free throw line that was the largest difference in the game. The Storm had a 22-point advantage from the free throw line. They made 28-30 FT compared to Dallas who completed just 6-14 FT. Jewell Loyd made more free throw attempts (16-17 FT) than the entire Dallas team. Loyd’s 16-made free throws set a new franchise record surpassing both Lauren Jackson and Breanna Stewart who each previously owned the record at 15.

I spoke with both Loyd and Coach Noelle Quinn about the free throw disparity in this game and how Seattle was able to take advantage of that.

“Yeah, I mean, to be honest, I feel like I get bumped a lot, so I'm surprised that I get certain calls. I've tried to play through contact as much as possible, so I think a lot of the hand checks and the freedom of movement were called tonight, which has allowed us to execute a bonus. So just being aware of that as well, but really just trying to, I think when we get those calls, we're forcing closeouts. So we’re able to attack, and that's kind of what made things open for us in the second half, definitely the first half as well.” Loyd said.

Quinn reiterated how they were able to get so many free throws.

“Yeah, definitely. If you look at what they do statistically, they're really good offensively. What they do defensively, they allow you to get into the paint. They allow you to get second-chance points. They allow you to get fast break points. And that kind of plays into what we want to do with our pace, with our ball movement and all those things. So to be able to attack them in transition, we know that they are foul-prone. And so it's just a matter of being focused and trying to get to the free throw line, playing off two feet though.” Quinn added.

Seattle held a slight advantage in rebounds, out-rebounding Dallas 35-32. They had a slight offensive rebounding edge at 10-8. However, the Wings had more second-chance points (11-8). The home team had a 14-9 advantage in fast break points. The Storm also won the turnover battle. They forced the Wings into 19 turnovers and scored 23 points off of those. Seattle committed 15 turnovers and Dallas scored 19 points from those errors.

Dallas Wings

Arike Ogunbowale led the Wings with 24 points on 7-15 FG but that included 6-10 FG from beyond the three-point arc. Arike made some wickedly impressive threes in this game. Natasha Howard had a very nice game as she returned from a broken foot. Howard finished with 12 points on 6-12 FG. She also had seven rebounds, five assists, and three steals. It was great to see Tash again. She was such an important player for the Storm’s two Championship teams in 2018 and 2020.

Teaira McCowan was the only other Wings player to score in double figures. She finished with 15 points on a perfect 7-7 FG. McCowan was literally unstoppable whenever she got the ball within a few feet from the basket. Her 6’7” frame makes her such a difficult player to defend. Seattle’s defense made a huge adjustment in the second half, limiting her to just two points and one field goal attempt.

I spoke with both Ezi Magbegor and Coach Noelle Quinn about the keys to defending such a dominant player like McCowan. And the challenge of facing 6’7” McCowan and then facing 6’7” Kalani Brown who subs in for her.

“They're both great players. Obviously, they have height as an advantage, and I think just be able to do your work early, not let them get deep post (position), which I did let them get deep in the first couple of possessions, but I think we did a great job. The team did a great job of adjusting and helping me out, helping Cedes out as the game went on. I thought Cedes did a really great job on that match-up as well. But yeah, like I said, they're great players. They know how to use their strengths as well.” Magbegor answered.

Coach Quinn had this to say.

“Yeah, it's difficult. (McCowan) is a difficult matchup because of her size and her ability to just shoot over you. And my biggest thing for Ezi was to not foul, and stay on the floor, and she did that in the first half. And I know Teaira got some deep post touches, but what we did in the second half, she only scored a field goal, talked about playing with a little bit more pace so that she can play for 35 minutes and be very efficient like she can be. With a player like that, you literally have to … it's the other things. It's the ball pressure. It's the physicality before she gets into her position. It's a tough ask and a tall task, but I thought that we did the best that we could.” Quinn added.

One thing I liked from Seattle’s defense, is that a couple of times when McCowan got the ball in too deep, another Storm player would come with the help defense and foul Teaira to force her to make her free throws. McCowan made just 1-3 FT. Instead of having Ezi foul her and get into foul trouble, one time Sami Whitcomb fouled her and another time it was Victoria Vivians. That was a smart strategy by the Storm to limit the damage by McCowan. And have other Storm players use up their fouls while allowing Ezi to stay in the game for as long as possible.

Dallas’s reserves outscored Seattle’s 17-15. Odyssey Sims led the way off the bench with seven points but wasn’t very efficient. She finished making just 3-11 FG. Joyner Holmes led the Storm with six points off the bench. Sami Whitcomb added five more points.

Game Breakdown

Teaira McCowan got deep post position and was able to easily lay the ball for the game’s first basket. Ezi Magbegor scored at the rim on Seattle’s first possession. Natasha Howard snagged an offensive rebound and scored quickly on the putback. Howard then forced a jump ball and the Wing’s Sevgi Uzun was able to grab the ball and score in transition.

McCowan and Howard each scored again in the paint. Nneka Ogwumike made a three-pointer to cut into Dallas’s lead. Jordan Horston scored on a strong drive to the rim. Jewell Loyd nearly had the ball stolen away by Jacy Sheldon but recovered and buried a midrange turnaround jumper over Sheldon to cut the Wings’ lead down to one.

Ezi Magbegor got a steal and it led to a three-pointer by Loyd to give Seattle their first lead of the game. Baskets by Howard and Arike Ogunbowale tied the game up at 18-18. Loyd was able to get two free throws and then found Ezi on the next possession to put the Storm back up four. 6’7” Kalani Brown replaced 6’7” Teaira McCowan and continued where McCowan left off. Brown got deep position and quickly scored in the paint. Natasha had a beautiful turnaround jumper. Jewell made another pair of free throws. Then Arike knocked down a high-arching three-ball with 6’2” Jordan Horston’s hand right in her face.

Ezi scored with a second left on the shot clock and was fouled but missed the chance at the AND1. Seattle led 28-25 at the end of the first quarter.

Jordan Horston was fouled and made both free throws to begin the second quarter. Sami Whitcomb curled off a screen and made a three-point attempt. That put the Storm up eight points at 33-25. Arike split a pair of free throws. Skylar Diggins-Smith hit a baseline jumper. Teaira McCowan got the ball near the rim again and it was another automatic two points. Seattle smartly fouled McCowan once she got the ball again deep and she missed one of two free throw attempts. Nneka scored on the other end.

Natasha Howard was able to steal the ball away from Seattle’s rebounder and found Arike open for another three-pointer. Nneka completed an AND1 on the other end to put Seattle back up eight at 40-32. Ogwumike then had a huge block against Odyssey Sims. That led to a fast break where Diggins-Smith found Ezi hustling towards the rim for two points. Seattle’s defense got another steal and SDS was able to finish with her own AND1 in transition. McCowan knocked down a midrange jumper near the foul line right before the shot clock expired.

Arike hit another three-pointer to cut the Storm’s double-digit lead back down to seven. Joyner Holmes made two free throws. Monique Billings and Holmes swapped baskets on the next two possessions. Loyd was able to draw another foul and made both free throws. Arike was able to draw the defense to her and dumped it off to McCowan for the easy two. SDS was able to drive to the rim for the final basket of the first half. Seattle outscored Dallas 26-16 in the second period. The Storm led by 13 points, 54-41 at the midway point.

Jewell Loyd started the third period by banking in a three-pointer. Jordan Horston found Nneka Ogwumike cutting from the opposite end for two more points. Horston then got a steal, had the ball deflected away from her but straight to Magbegor who tossed it back to Jordan. Once the defense went to Jordan, she fed the ball back to Ezi for another easy two. Just one minute into the third, the Storm had gone on a 7-0 run to take a 20-point lead at 61-41. Dallas Head Coach Latricia Trammell quickly needed a timeout to calm her team down.

After the timeout, Seattle got another stop after Natasha Howard missed a three. Ezi Magbegor then connected on her three-point attempt. Jewell then got a steal and the Storm had a three-on-one break but tried to get too cute and made too many passes. Loyd wasn’t expecting to get the ball back after it went up to Skylar and then to Jordan. And Loyd missed the bunny shot. I believe Coach Quinn called timeout shortly after this to talk to her players about that.

Odyssey Sims scored on back-to-back possessions. Loyd backed Jacy Sheldon down into the paint and shot over her. Arike made another three-pointer, her 5th of the game. One play later, Ogunbowale made her 6th three-pointer of the game. Loyd took a hard foul and appeared to have the wind knocked out of her. She stayed on the ground for a bit before making both free throws.

Jacy Sheldon hit a jumper. Natasha Howard was fouled but missed both free throws. Howard was able to score on Dallas’s next possession however to cut the Storm’s lead down to 13 at 72-59. Seattle countered with an 8-0 run to end the third period. They carried an 80-59 lead into the final quarter.

Kalani Brown scored and was fouled to start the fourth quarter. Odyssey Sims scored in the lane. Skylar found Mercedes Russell for the short hook. Jewell made two more free throws. Horston used a nice Euro-Step to score two more. Natasha Howard connected on a midrange jumper. Arike found Jacy Sheldon in transition for two more.

Mercedes Russell scored on a layup. Monique Billings buried a midrange jumper. Jordan Horston scored one of her own and then made a nice pass to Joyner Holmes for two more points on the following possession. Odyssey Sims split a pair of free throws for the game’s final point. Seattle finished the game with an impressive 21-point victory at 97-76.

Final Box Score

Additional Analysis

Beating a Dead Horse

I feel like I’ve brought up this topic several times in the past. But this game was another reminder. The rest of the WNBA will continue to look foolish for allowing the Seattle Storm to draft Jordan Horston with the NINTH overall pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft.

I’m not a professional talent evaluator. But I feel I have a pretty good eye for good basketball players and athletes. While it was a great thing for Seattle that multiple teams passed on Jordan Horston and allowed her to fall to the 9th pick, it’s also a bit mind-boggling. Indiana had two first-round picks before the Storm selected. The Atlanta Dream had two first-round picks before the Storm. Dallas had three first-round picks before Seattle and they all passed on Horston.

To me, no team was more egregious in their mistake than the Dallas Wings. The Wings originally had two first-round picks ahead of the Storm during the 2023 draft. They had the third and fifth overall selections. Then during the draft, they traded with the Washington Mystics for the fourth overall pick. Dallas ended up having picks three, four, and five and didn’t take Jordan Horston with any of their choices.

They took Maddy Siegrist with the third overall pick. They drafted Stephanie Soares with Washington’s 4th overall pick. And then finished things up by drafting Lou Lopez Sénéchal with the 5th pick.

Frankly, I’m not even certain I would have taken any of those three players ahead of Horston just because of all of the things Jordan brings to the game of basketball. She has excellent height and elite athleticism. She’s a strong defensive player with great length. Jordan was an excellent rebounder in college but also played some point guard or at least played as a guard who focused on distributing the ball. And she had a solid offensive game.

Maddy Siegrist averaged over 24 PPG and nearly 10 RPG during her senior season in college. She was an elite scorer in college. I can forgive Dallas for taking her over Horston. But I don’t see any justification to take Soares or Lopez Sénéchal over Jordan. Soares played just 13 games at the D1 level at Iowa State. She also suffered two separate ACL tears during her college career between her time at Master’s University and Iowa State.

I have to wonder if Jordan had a poor interview or something that gave Dallas’s front office concerns prior to the draft. Seattle didn’t even bother meeting with Horston because they didn’t see any realistic possibility that she would fall to them at nine. Once she did, they submitted her name to the league with haste.

In this game, Jordan finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, one steal, and one block. Maddy Siegrist has honestly had a great second season (averaging 14.6 PPG) after doing nearly nothing in her rookie year. But sadly, she’s out with a broken finger and did not play in this game. Lou Lopez Sénéchal played nearly nine minutes and finished with zero points on 0-3 FG shooting. She had two rebounds. Stephanie Soares played two minutes in garbage time and finished with two points and one rebound.

Horston significantly outplayed all three of the players Dallas drafted ahead of her. Looking back at the 2023 WNBA Draft, I realistically believe there is a chance Jordan Horston ends up being the second-best player in that draft only behind #1 overall pick, Aliyah Boston. What Dallas did with their draft choices almost feels like franchise malpractice.

More Wins Than Last Year

Seattle finished the 2023 season with an 11-29 record. They had the second-worst record in the WNBA last year. It was also the team’s second-worst record from a win percentage standpoint (.275) in their 25-year history. Only the team’s inaugural year where they finished 6-26 (.188) was worse.

With the additions of All-Stars Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins-Smith, plus the improvement of Ezi Magbegor and Jordan Horston, they have turned the Storm into one of the top teams in the WNBA.

I asked Ezi Magbegor about this season compared to last year and she had some interesting things to say.

“We acknowledged that the other day. I think obviously it was a different thing this season, but I think last year was something that we were building up, so... know we don't have this year without last year so yes we've won more games already but I think we did build that chemistry with the players that were here last year taking into this season so it's nice to see that progress and see that chemistry still builds with the addition of a few other players as well.” Magbegor said.

Coach Quinn still views the team as a major work in progress.

“It’s still a work in progress. We're building and to go through a season like we went through last year and knowing what those reps were doing for the players that we had this year. I'm very proud, but I'm not satisfied with where we are. I think that this group has an ability to do the things that we've been showing the past games night in and night out. But the season is nowhere near the end. And I'm proud of where we are as we're growing, but not satisfied.” Coach proclaimed.

Up Next

Seattle will host the Dallas Wings (4-14) again on Monday, July 1st at 7:00 PM at Climate Pledge Arena. The Storm (12-6) can win the season series against Dallas with another win. After Monday, they’ll face the Wings just one more time and that won’t be until September 13th in Dallas.

Notes:
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