Storm Rally in 2nd Half, Beat Chicago 84-71

Seattle outscored the Chicago Sky by 21 points over the final two quarters.

(Seattle, WA) - The Seattle Storm got their revenge against the Chicago Sky on Sunday by a final score of 84-71. Things didn’t look good to start the game as Seattle trailed 12-3 through the first seven minutes of the opening quarter and made just 1-15 field goal attempts. Seattle trailed by eight points at the half but outscored Chicago by 21 points (53-32) over the final 20 minutes of the game. Seattle improved to 14-7 on the season and remain 1/2 game ahead of Las Vegas.

Coach Noelle Quinn talked about what Chicago was doing defensively that caused some early game problems.

“I think Chicago has a lot of versatility defensively. You know, Mabrey knows how to top block and be physical. Allen has been in this league for so she knows play calls and pressuring the basketball. And then the two young posts, they're very physical. They come from defensive-minded college systems. So their ability to blow up ball screens or just be big and at the nail and have a presence, I think they have length. I think they're physical and they play defense with some aggressiveness and physicality that you have to play with in this league.” Quinn answered.

Jewell Loyd chimed in on this as well.

“I mean, they're definitely aggressive on defense, denying, definitely physical. Obviously, the rebounds and putbacks, things like that. But for us, I mean, they were all good shots. We didn't feel like we were taking bad shots. They were just longer or in and out, things like that. For us, we knew the shots were going to drop, but we had to make sure that we were making the same effort on defense. Just keep at it, and we fought that. We got to a good defensive rhythm, and things started to shift a little bit.” Loyd said.

Quinn also spoke about Seattle’s strong second half.

“I did like the looks that we were getting in the first half. There are points in the game where we have to be sharper with the basketball, like the live ball turnovers, the end of quarter situations. In the second half, I thought we were aggressive to get into the paint. I thought getting to the free throw line was huge for us. And just having some variety in our ball screens, attacking their bigs, finding single side tags, and just reading the game.” Quinn added.

I talked to Loyd about the team’s second half adjustments as well after the game.

“Just staying aggressive, honestly. I think one of the timeouts I came in and just told them, just play basketball. Like, stop overthinking, stop trying to figure out what they're doing. The day we've been playing basketball since we were little, like, just go back to the basics. And I think that kind of calmed all of us down. And then we took a breath and came out in the third quarter and realized what we were able to see. We took a beat. Got some layups to go. A couple of AND1s, momentum kind of shifted. Crowd was getting louder. We kind of rolled that way for a bit” She said.

Nneka Ogwumike led Seattle with 24 points and 13 rebounds. She really stood out with her scoring in the low post and her hustle to get some of those rebounds. Ogwumike occasionally went to the floor to secure the rebound. It was one of Ogwumike’s stronger games this season and I spoke with her about her performance and what it can do for her mindset moving forward.

“It definitely helps me realize not just what I'm capable of, but what my teammates encourage me to be capable of. Throughout the game, I heard so much from Jewell and my teammates like, ‘Hey, let's step this up a level’. And I think there are times when you’re thinking too much, it's not like you forget to play the game, but you're kind of over-consumed with schemes and stops and trying to make sure that you're running things and executing things. And there was a particular time out that Jewell was basically like, ‘Hey, we just got to hoop’. That's really what it is. At the end of the day, they're hooping, we got to hoop, we got to respond, we got to step it up a level. And that's really helpful in those kind of grind-out moments to realize and then, have that manifest in how you play.” Ogwumike said.

Coach Quinn praised Nneka’s play.

“Yeah, she was very solid. There were a lot of 50-50 balls, hustle plays, getting on the ground. (Her) Rebounding was tremendous. Those athletes that she has to defend and go against, it's a tall task to box them out and jump as high as they are jumping. But she's strong, she's physical. A lot of traps that she was in. She was getting deflections, but also pressuring the basketball defensively. It really sparked what we did. And then when you get Nneka in space, she's an efficient finisher. So our ball screen reads and how we attack that, she's a big culprit of that.” Quinn stated.

Ogwumike wasn’t the only player that helped Seattle secure the win. Jewell Loyd finished with 20 points despite being held to just two points in the first half. It’s not a coincidence that Loyd played significantly better in the second half (scoring 18 points) while the Storm outscored the Sky by 21 points. Loyd talked about her adjustments over the final 20 minutes.

“I just stayed aggressive. I feel like I could get to the lane, kind of get my mid-range. I know I'm a pretty good three-point shooter and a scorer in general, but the mid-range is like my bread and butter, so I feel like some teams think I'm nervous in that area, but I actually like it a lot; so I kind of took advantage of that, but I allowed myself to just see what they were giving me. But also getting downhill allowed me to find my bigs, make other plays for everyone else. And so that got me going, just seeing that and being able to pick apart the defense in that category and then the shots started to fall.” Loyd told me.

Coach Quinn also talked about what she saw from Jewell in the second half.

“Yeah, we started the third quarter just trying to get her a little bit of isolation closer to the basket. And her aggressive level picked up once she got two feet in and got some rhythm to her, got to her kill spots and made some really good reads. Playing in transition helps with that as well. So the defenses aren't as set.” Quinn added.

Ezi Magbegor added another double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds. She also added four blocks and four assists. Magbegor totaled 17 blocks through the three games against the Chicago Sky this season. She’s made a strong case for the Defensive Player of the Year award.

Skylar Diggins-Smith was held scoreless in the first quarter but finished with 15 points. She scored eight of those points in the 4th quarter including a critical three-pointer to put the nail in the coffin.

Despite that horrible first quarter, the Storm outshot the Sky 42% (29-69 FG) to 37% (29-78 FG). They were also better from the three-point line (32% to 21%). Both teams made 83% from the free throw line but Seattle doubled Chicago at the charity stripe. Seattle made 20-24 FT compared to Chicago at 10-12 FT. The home team was out-rebounded again but kept it much closer in this game. On Friday, Seattle was out-rebounded by Chicago 37-27. On Sunday, it was just 38-36.

Chicago Sky

After combining for 60 points in Chicago’s win on Friday, Angel Reese and Chennedy Carter were relatively held in check. They combined for 38 points in Sunday’s contest. Reese finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds. It was her 13th consecutive double-double, a new league record.

Nneka Ogwumike and Coach Quinn talked about Reese’s hustle and aggressiveness after the game praising the young rookie.

“She's fearless. One thing about her is that she has an unwavering confidence. You know, she's fearless. She's relentless. When it comes to how she plays. You can teach technique, you can talk about how certain things look and what people should expect when it comes to working on certain skills, but that's not ever, at the end of the day, you can have a skillful person, but if they're not relentless each time, there's only so far that that skill can take you, and so it's clear that she has longevity in this league given how she plays. I think that's something that no one can take away from her.” Ogwumike stated.

“Congratulations to her! What she's been doing her first year in the league is obviously legendary. Not a lot of athletes have done that. She has an innate ability to just go rebound the basketball. She has a knack for knowing where the ball is going to go, A lot of what rebounding is, is heart and desire and pursuit. She's very physical. She doesn't back down any matchup that she's had. And she knows that she's good at rebounding. And so she makes a point to assert herself, whether it's offense or defensive rebounding. And she's finding ways to be an impactful player and playing within herself. The other day she hits those threes and kind of talks a little bit of trash, but I like that because she's a competitor and she's getting better game by game.” Quinn told us.

Chennedy Carter still led Chicago in scoring with 21 points but she was much less efficient during this game. She finished 7-22 FG. What’s notable is she was a game-worst minus 22 in the plus/minus category.

I spoke with the Storm after the game about their defensive adjustments on Chennedy Carter.

“I think we were just crowding the space. I think we were just a little bit more aware. We understand how versatile of a scorer she is, and I think we were just a little bit more aggressive from the start. Not necessarily aggressive pressure-wise, but aggressive with spacing, closing the gaps a little bit, being a little bit more handsy just making ourselves look big. And Jordan does a great job and starts that off. And it's just a group effort with anyone. It's hard to stop a lot of good scorers in this league by yourself. And we know that, so it's a team effort. And I think as a team, we're very aware of all of them, all the shooters in our schemes.” Loyd replied.

“I thought that we were very mindful of being in to be out. I thought that we were too spread out the first time that we played. I thought that Jordan was in her space. An athlete like that who can score at a high clip, you just want to make it difficult. And I thought that Jordan did a better job of just even staying in a stance, keeping her in front. But also, it was a team effort. So our awareness to pack the paint a little bit more, our awareness to be in and transition and understand that our one-on-one defense with her was important, but our help side was even more important.” Quinn added.

Game Breakdown

Marina Mabrey made the game’s first basket. Seattle got off to a sluggish start failing to score on their first seven possessions. Chennedy Carter connected on a midrange jumper. Angel Reese got another offensive rebound for Chicago and scored on the midrange jumper. Seattle finally scored on a transition basket from Jordan Horston to Ezi Magbegor. Angel Reese scored again when she got a mismatch down low against Jewell Loyd. Chicago led 8-2 early. Seattle shot 1-15 FG before Nneka Ogwumike knocked down Seattle’s first three-pointer. Mabrey immediately countered with a corner three. Mabrey found Carter cutting baseline to put the Sky up 17-8.

Nneka’s offense kicked in as she knocked down a midrange jumper and sealed her way to a layup. Carter converted an AND1 driving past the defense. Chicago led 20-12 at the end of the first period. Seattle shot 4-19 FG (21%).

Skylar Diggins-Smith knocked down a three-pointer to begin the second quarter. Diggins-Smith then found Mercedes Russell at the rim. Diamond DeShields stole the ball away and even though Seattle managed to race back and deflect it away from her the ball went straight to Chennedy Carter who laid it up. Sami Whitcomb knocked down back-to-back three-pointers to put the Storm up 23-22. Coach Teresa Weatherspoon called a timeout to get her team in order. It worked as the Sky immediately went on a 10-0 run to retake a nine-point lead. Angel Reese did a lot of the damage scoring five points in that span. It was capped off with a Marina Mabrey triple. This forced Coach Quinn to call a timeout with Seattle trailing 32-23.

Out of the timeout, Nneka Ogwumike scored in the low post, and on Seattle’s next possession Jewell found Ezi cutting to the rim. But Chicago countered with a corner three from Isabelle Harrison. Marina Mabrey drove into the paint for a score.

Jewell Loyd had been held scoreless on 0-5 FG through the first 18 minutes of the first half. She finally got fouled on a drive and made both of her free throws. Skylar then got to the line for two free throws. Isabelle Harrison scored on a short jump hook right before the buzzer. That put Chicago up 39-31 as the two teams headed to the locker rooms.

Loyd scored on Seattle’s first possession out of the break. Seattle started the second half on an 11-3 run to tie the game up at 42-42. Nneka made a basket, Loyd converted a ridiculous AND1, and Skylar Diggins-Smith scored in transition. Seattle would extend that to a 16-3 run with another basket from Loyd and an AND1 by Nneka.

Jewell Loyd drove past Chennedy Carter and Carter swung down hard on Loyd. The referees reviewed the play and deemed the action to be a Flagrant-1 foul. Loyd made both free throws and then knocked down a jumper as Seattle retained possession.

Nneka was fouled and made both of her free throws to put the Storm up 11 points at 55-44. Angel Reese scored a layup and then Chennedy Carter finished at the rim for an AND1. Nneka and Ezi each scored in the paint. Lindsay Allen scored right at the end of the third. Seattle led 60-53 after outscoring Chicago 29-14 in the quarter.

Nneka Ogwumike scored in the low post to start the fourth. Marina Mabrey countered with a layup. Ogwumike scored again from an offensive rebound and dribbled her way through the defense. Jewell Loyd knocked down a three-pointer and Mabrey wasn’t able to answer this time. Diggins-Smith got out in transition and knocked down a midrange jumper to put Seattle up 14 at 69-55. Coach Weatherspoon called another timeout. Out of the break, Isabelle Harrison converted an AND1 after Ezi initially got the block. Harrison scored another AND1 on Chicago’s next possession to cut the Storm’s lead down to single digits.

Angel Reese made back-to-back layups and Chennedy Carter made two free throws to cut the Sky’s deficit down to just five at 72-67 with just over three minutes left in the game. Carter scored two more free throws. Jordan Horston stopped the bleeding getting to the free throw line on a strong drive to the rim. Horston made both foul shots. Horston then found Ezi open down low. Skylar split a pair of free throws after Seattle got another stop to put the Storm back up eight points at 77-69.

Skylar Diggins-Smith knocked in a three-pointer to put Seattle up 11 and seal the game for the Storm. Mabrey missed a three on the other end. Nneka got the rebound and was fouled by Angel. Ogwumike made both free throws and then on Chicago’s next possession Jewell and Nneka trapped Mabrey and stole the ball away. Ogwumike tossed the ball up to Loyd for the transition layup. Mabrey made one more basket but it was too late. Seattle dribbled the clock out and won the game 84-71.

Final Box Score

Additional Analysis

Possible Playoff Rotation

Coach Quinn kept to a shorter rotation resembling what we normally see in playoff games. Seattle played just seven players and only six players played more than 10 minutes in the game. Quinn relied heavily on the starters in this game and her trust in them paid off. They overcame the difficult start to rally Seattle to the win.

I spoke with Coach about keeping the shorter rotation.

“I thought that our bigs were rolling. I thought that we had good energy and a good pace about us. I thought that the unit that was on the floor had some good chemistry and cadence to what they were doing. I thought Sami came in and gave us some great minutes; as did Cedes. Sometimes it's about winning that ball game and keeping them in that pocket. It's always a communication aspect. I took Ezi out kind of late in that fourth quarter, and she communicated that she just needed a break, and that's what it is, is trust, but also awareness of our players to know that we are trying to get some wins.” Quinn told me.

Seattle recently passed the halfway point of the season and currently sits in 4th place in the WNBA standings. It’s important to remember that the Top 4 teams all have homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

In 2022, we saw the 4th seed Seattle Storm host the 5th seed Washington Mystics in the first round of the playoffs. Seattle won the first two games at home at Climate Pledge Arena and because it was a Best of 3 series, the Mystics didn’t even have the opportunity to play a home playoff game.

The Storm have two critical games coming up this week. They host the Las Vegas Aces (13-7) and the Minnesota Lynx (15-6) on Wednesday and Friday. Two wins could move them up to 3rd place overall only behind New York (17-4) and Connecticut (17-4). Two losses and the Storm will fall to the 5th seed and no longer be in position to host playoff games.

While there are still 19 games left in their season, they don’t want to be falling any further down the ladder. If shortening their rotation is the best way to position themselves for success then Coach Quinn may have to rely on the starters more in the second half of the season.

Up Next

The Storm continue their homestand by hosting the two-time WNBA Champions, the Las Vegas Aces. Please note that this game is at 12:00 PM PDT (Noon) on Wednesday, July 10th at Climate Pledge Arena. It’ll be Kids Camp Day, so be prepared for that.

Notes:
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