Storm Earn Bounce Back 79-65 Win

Seattle outscored Connecticut 24-13 in the 4th quarter.

(Seattle, WA) - It wasn’t pretty, but the Seattle Storm (13-8) earned a grind-it-out victory over the Connecticut Sun (3-17) on Friday night. They trailed by 10 points in the first quarter. It mirrored the two teams’ previous game on Wednesday, where Seattle got up big but relinquished their lead. This time, it was the Sun who were ahead early, but couldn’t hold on in the end. With that said, Connecticut fought hard, and it was tied with a little over six minutes left in the game. Seattle finished the game on a 19-5 run. They outscored the Sun 48-32 in the 2nd half and won 79-65.

Once again, the Storm used a balanced attack with four starters scoring in double figures. First-time All-Star Gabby Williams led the team with 18 points on 6-10 FG shooting. She also had five assists and three steals. Nneka Ogwumike added 16 points, five assists, and two blocks. Skylar Diggins contributed 14 points, five rebounds, and five assists. Ezi Magbegor tallied 14 points on 60% field goal shooting. It was Magbegor’s third game in a row in double figures.

Seattle outshot Connecticut 45% (29-64 FG) to 36% (21-58 FG) and 25% (6-24 FG) to 19% (3-16 FG) from beyond the arc. The Storm doubled the Sun 22-11 in assists. They were also better on the defensive end. They had an 11-4 advantage in steals. The home team forced Connecticut into 17 turnovers and committed just eight.

Connecticut Sun

Tina Charles led the Sun in scoring again, battling through a sore shoulder. She finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds, but was not the most efficient. Charles made just 5-18 FG. However, she was a perfect 10-10 from the Free Throw line. More impressively, during this game, Tina Charles reached 8,000 career points. She becomes just the second player in WNBA history to score 8,000 or more points. The first being Diana Taurasi, who scored over 10,000 points in her career.

Beyond Charles, Center Olivia Nelson-Ododa had a strong game. She nearly finished with a double-double as she scored 10 points and pulled down eight rebounds. She also had two blocked shots.

Rookies Saniya Rivers and Leila Lacan each scored in double figures. Rivers finished with 12 points and Lacan added 10 points and seven rebounds.

The Sun out-rebounded the Storm 35 to 28. Their bench outscored Seattle’s reserves 16-11.

Game Breakdown

Tina Charles found Olivia Nelson-Ododa cutting to the basket for the game’s first basket. Charles was fouled a couple of possessions later and made both free throws. She then made another shot to put Connecticut ahead 6-0 early in the first period. The Storm went nearly four minutes before scoring as Skylar finally made a shot.

The Sun continued to push the pace, extending their lead to 14-4. Saniya Rivers made a nice pass to Charles, who cut to the rim for two. Bria Hartley made two free throws. Leila Lacan got open at the rim. Skylar Diggins ended the run with a much-needed three-pointer.

Zia Cooke made a beautiful reverse layup past the defense. Tiffany Mitchell entered the game and was able to draw a foul. She made one of two free throws to cut the Storm’s deficit down to six. At the end of the first quarter, the Sun led 16-10.

Tiffany Mitchell made a strong drive to the basket. Lindsay Allen responded with a drive of her own. Gabby Williams scored on a pull-up jumper. Leila Lacan snagged an offensive rebound and made the easy putback. Aneesah Morrow scored off the pick-and-roll.

Diggins made a three-pointer, but quickly picked up her third foul of the first half with more than seven minutes remaining. She had to sit out the rest of the quarter. Mitchell made a beautiful drive and kick to Magbegor. Ezi missed the first shot, but Mitchell hustled for the offensive rebound. That eventually led to a Magbegor basket with a nice pass over the defense by Erica Wheeler. That cut the Sun’s lead down to five at 24-19.

After a Magbegor basket, Tina Charles was fouled on her shot and made both free throws. Mitchell grabbed another offensive rebound and scored on that possession. Ezi’s steal led to a fast break where Nneka was fouled. Ogwumike made both free throws to cut Connecticut’s lead down to one.

The Storm took the lead after Magbegor made two free throws and Erica Wheeler scored off a curl cut. Connecticut quickly retook the lead by getting to the foul line multiple times. The Sun led 33-31 at the end of the first half.

Saniya Rivers scored to begin the second half. Skylar Diggins drove to the rim for two. Charles and Ogwumike exchanged baskets. Bria Hartley hit a three-ball. Charles scored two more from the line to put the Sun ahead by seven. The Storm used a 9-3 run to cut the Sun’s lead back down to one, forcing Coach Rachid Meziane to call a timeout.

After the Storm briefly retook the lead, the Sun went on a quick 4-0 run. Bria Hartley made a nifty fadeaway floater. Nneka Ogwumike hit back-to-back three-pointers to tie the game up at 52-52. Gabby Williams was fouled in a transition take foul and made the free throw. Williams then knocked down a jumper in the final seconds of the third period. Seattle led 55-52 entering the fourth quarter.

Charles was fouled near the rim and made both free throws. Dominique Malonga grabbed her own offensive rebound and scored the putback. Seattle got another stop, and Nneka found Malonga down low again for another layup.

After the Storm built a five-point lead, the Sun quickly scored four points to make it 59-58 Seattle. They regained the lead after forcing Seattle into a shot clock violation and getting two more at the foul line.

Lacan got to the rim. Gabby answered with a three-ball and a running floater. Diggins found Magbegor down low for two to extend Seattle’s lead to five. The Storm finally took control of the game. They were able to put multiple stops together and scored in transition. Wheeler scored four, Magbegor made an aggressive drive to the rim, and Ogwumike scored from a transition offensive rebound putback. The 8-0 run put the Storm ahead by 11 at 75-64.

Tempers flared up at the end of the game as Skylar Diggins and Bria Hartley got into a heated conversation. A couple of plays later, Hartley fouled Gabby Williams very hard around the head and neck area. If this were the NHL, the refs would have ejected Hartley since there was only around one minute left in the game, and there was clearly a lot of tension going on.

Hartley’s foul on Williams was upgraded to a Flagrant-1. Gabby made both free throws. Seattle retained possession, and Ogwumike was fouled. She made both free throws. The Sun got one more free throw at the very end of the game. Seattle walked away with a 79-65 victory.

Final Box Score

Up Next

The Storm hosts the Washington Mystics (10-10) on Sunday, July 13th at 3:00 PM. It is the first time the Storm and Mystics will face each other this season.

Part 2

Part 2 will include additional thoughts and discussion from Friday’s game against the Connecticut Sun. It’ll be sent exclusively to paid subscribers tomorrow morning.

Notes:
Thanks for all the great support! Please share my coverage with other WNBA fans. Please share, retweet, repost, etc., if you enjoy my articles.
Thanks to Her Hoop Stats and Across the Timeline for being great resources.
Photo Credits: Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography

Social Media:
Follow me on Bluesky (@wnbastormchasers.bsky.social)
Follow me on Threads (@WNBAStormChasers)
Follow me on X/Twitter (@WNBAStormChaser)