Storm rally to win OT thriller over the Dallas Wings 100-97
A historic performance by Breanna Stewart with the help of Jewell Loyd and Jordin Canada leads Seattle to a big win in Texas.
(Arlington, Texas) - On a night when Breanna Stewart made history, the Seattle Storm won a highly competitive game against the Dallas Wings in an overtime thriller 100-97.
“That was a very good early season basketball game. You had two teams going at each other, and Vickie [Johnson] is doing a great job with Dallas. That's how hard they play, and the resilience that they have. And then us, you know, looking at our fourth game and a little over a week, I was really proud that our players had the ability to stay in it, especially mentally. Because they put us in some situations that we had to make plays. But it was just a good basketball game and luckily we found a way to make some key plays” Coach Hughes told media after the game.
Breanna Stewart made history in a couple of different ways. She became the 4th fastest player in league history to reach the 2,500 point milestone. And Stewart is now the fastest player in WNBA history to score 2,500 points and collect 1,000 rebounds in her career. Stewart reached the milestone in 125 games. Former Storm legend, Lauren Jackson, previously held the record accomplishing the feat in 136 games.
The group of players that reached 2,500 points faster than Breanna Stewart are Cynthia Cooper (117 games), Seimone Augustus (120), and Elena Della Donne (124). Between them and Lauren Jackson, that’s some good company Stewart is hanging around with.
Stewart spoke about the accomplishment after the game.
“To be honest, I really wasn't aware of it. But to be in the company of LJ [Lauren Jackson] at any time is obviously something that's a huge, huge honor. But, I mean, the most important thing tonight was getting that road win and just grinding it out” Stewart said.
While that was certainly the big story of the game for Stewie, it wasn’t the only one. Breanna Stewart’s stat line of 36 points, 11 rebounds, and five blocked shots is only the 5th time in WNBA history where a player has put up those numbers in a game.
But this game wasn’t just about Breanna Stewart. Stewart got a lot of help from Jewell Loyd and Jordin Canada.
Loyd had 25 points, led the team in assists with six, and was tied for 2nd on the team with eight rebounds in the game. Through four games Loyd is averaging 21.8 PPG, 4.8 RPG, and 4.8 APG. I spoke to Jewell after the game about being able to contribute in more than just scoring.
“I try to be an all-around player. I know I’m best when I’m active. Early in the game, I was thinking too much. I wasn’t in a good rhythm. I knew I could contribute with rebounding and trying to get other people going as well. I’m trying to do my part. I need to rebound, I need to get people involved. That’s the beauty of basketball, you can’t just do one thing. I want to be able to play both ends of the floor and not just be a scorer” Loyd told me after the game.
Jordin Canada had her second straight excellent game off the bench. She had the third-most points for Seattle with 14 points on 50% (5-10) shooting from the field. Canada also had five assists and zero turnovers in the game. She hit 4-4 from the foul line including some crucial free throws late in the game. No shot was bigger than Canada’s final basket of regulation, a floater in the lane as she sent the game into OT at 86-86.
I asked Coach Dan Hughes to talk about the impact Jordin Canada had in the game.
“The team we put on in the second half had Jordin, Sue, and Jewell on the floor. We asked Jordin to take Arike and to do those things. All the stats lines you just read are very amazing, and that floater that she made I've watched her work on it for four years with Ryan Webb, who does our player development. That work really paid off. But she also impacted this team defensively. We're making them work in those situations, but Jordin being able to mesh in with Sue and Jewell has now led us to a couple of wins. We’ve been able to lean on them.” Coach said.
Not surprisingly, Arike Ogunbowale led the Wings in scoring with 28 points on 43% (10-23) field goal shooting. Ogunbowale also had seven rebounds and six assists in the game. Arike wasn’t the only former Notre Dame player to have a big impact for Dallas. Marina Mabrey had a career-high 26 points on 56% (10-18) FG shooting. Including 6-14 from three-point range. Mabrey also had eight rebounds and five assists.
Game Breakdown
The Storm finally got off to a strong start for the first time this season. Seattle knocked down multiple three-pointers and Breanna Stewart and Candice Dupree also got into the action with the Storm leading 12-5 early in the game. With that hot start, the Storm shot 63% (5-8) from the floor. Stephanie Talbot hit back-to-back corner baskets to give Seattle the seven-point lead early.
A heads-up play by Breanna Stewart and Jordin Canada resulted in an easy two for the speedy point guard. After a beautiful block by Stewart on the number one pick Charlie Collier that forced the jump ball, Stewie won the tip and tipped it to a place that allowed Canada to race the length of the court for a wide-open layup. Seattle led 21-13 with about 3 minutes left in the first quarter. Mercedes Russell gave them a free throw to give Seattle their largest lead of nine points at 22-13.
Both teams had some good offensive looks in the first quarter. The Wings finished the first period on a 10-5 run, but it was the Storm that led 27-23 after one. Seattle shot 45% (9-20) while Dallas shot 43% (9-12). Breanna Stewart and Marina Mabrey led their teams in scoring with eight points each.
Jordin Canada had a beautiful midrange jumper where she split two defenders. On the very next possession, she was able to hound Moriah Jefferson that caused Jefferson to mishandle a pass out of bounds.
The scoring dipped only slightly, but both teams battled back and forth. The Wings were able to tie the game at 40-40 with an Arike Ogunbowale free throw. The Storm quickly took the lead back with a three-pointer. A beautiful shot by Arike and then a three by Marina Mabrey gave the Dallas Wings the lead for the first time in this game at 45-43 with about two minutes left.
Mabrey did a tremendous amount of damage against the Storm leading all scorers with 16 points in the first half. She shot 6-9 FG including 4-7 from the three-point range. Breanna Stewart kept Seattle in a good position by scoring 15 first-half points. However, she wasn’t as efficient going 6-14 from the floor (1-3 from beyond the arc).
The Wings shot slightly better in the first half going 16-36 (44%) and 5-12 (42%) from long distance. Seattle went cold late in the 2nd quarter which allowed Dallas to take the one-point lead into the half. The Storm shot 16-38 (42%) and 5-14 (36) from beyond the arc. Dallas held a small 21-17 edge in rebounds
Towards the end of the second quarter, Breanna Stewart had one of the most impressive rejections I’ve seen in a long time!
Dallas finished the half on a 10-5 run to take a 45-44 lead at the break.
Both teams were a little reckless taking difficult shots instead of making that extra pass for an open look to begin the 3rd quarter. Each team had several missed shots, many from long range.
The Storm scored the first four points of the third period to regain the lead at 48-45. But the Wings immediately responded, Kayla Thorton hit a three and another midrange shot, then Arike Ogunbowale hit a three and drew a foul to take a three-point lead again at 55-52.
In the third quarter, Breanna Stewart knocked down a pair of free throws that gave her 20 points on the game. This was important because it meant Stewart was the 4th fastest player in WNBA history to score 2,500 points in her career (126 games played) and the fastest player in WNBA history to score 2,500 points and collect 1,000 rebounds.
Seattle outscored Dallas 22-16 in the third quarter to take a 66-61 lead going into the final period.
They got Candice Dupree a few looks on the offensive possessions early in the fourth quarter and she was able to score four points on a nice up and under move and then two more at the foul line. Dupree finished the game with eight points and eight rebounds.
Isabelle Harrison had a beautiful spin move to cut Seattle’s lead back down to five at 70-65 with about eight minutes to play. You can check out that highlight and others from Dallas below.
A couple of minutes later, Dupree had a beautiful pass to Jewell Loyd who caught the ball in midair and laid it up for the alley-oop.
With Seattle leading 76-67 with under six minutes to play, Marina Mabrey knocked down another silky smooth three-pointer to cut Seattle’s lead back down to six points. It gave Dallas life as the Storm would struggle over the final five minutes of the game.
The two teams exchanged baskets with Marina Mabrey knocking down another midrange jumper and then Breanna Stewart curling off a screen for a beautiful layup on the other end to keep Seattle up seven at 79-72 with under five to play.
Dallas was trailing by just three, they had a 3-on-1 fast break opportunity with only Breanna Stewart back to defend. And yet Stewie was able to stop it and forced a turnover on the Wings. That would become a critical stop in the game just a few minutes later.
The Storm had a five-point lead with roughly two minutes left to play. But they allowed Dallas to scratch and claw their way back by giving up offensive rebounds in three consecutive possessions. The first was off a missed shot by Arike, where Isabelle Harrison hustled to collect the board and immediately went to work in the low post getting the layup. During the next possession, Marina Mabrey missed a three but Ogunbowale was able to snag the rebound, dribble out to the three-point line and tie the game (81-81) with a three of her own. Seattle then had their second shot clock violation in the final two minutes of the game. Lastly, Isabelle Harrison got a good look from the sideline but missed. Fortunately, for Dallas, Kayla Thorton got the offensive rebound and put-back layup to put the Wings ahead by two at 83-81 after trailing by nine earlier in the quarter.
I spoke to Coach Hughes after the game about giving up so many offensive rebounds in the final two minutes and whether he thought to substitute in Mercedes Russell or Ezi Magbegor as opposed to keeping Candice Dupree in the game in that situation.
“There was a thought of it, to be honest with you. It was probably a mistake I didn’t get (Mercedes) in there earlier. Luckily, I eventually got her in there. That was probably a mistake. She might have been extremely helpful in that regard. You make a great point. We coaches do make mistakes and I probably should have had her in there a little earlier,” Coach Hughes told me after the game.
I really appreciated Coach Hughes giving me an honest answer and his willingness to answer the tough question after the game.
With 33 seconds left and the Storm trailing by two points, Candice Dupree mishandled the inbounds pass and may have accidentally knocked it into the backcourt which forced her to allow Dallas to pick up the loose ball (to avoid a backcourt violation). Dupree was able to tie up Kayla Thorton for the jump ball but Dallas would win the tip.
The Wings went on an 18-5 run to take a four-point lead at 85-81 with just 19 seconds remaining in the game. Seattle then raced down the court, Jordin Canada delivered a crosscourt pass to Jewell Loyd who was wide open in the opposite corner who then buried the three to cut Dallas’ lead to just one at 85-84 with 11 seconds remaining. Mercedes Russell also delivered a beautiful screen to free Loyd up on that possession.
Kayla Thorton missed the first of two free throws before quietly knocking down the second to give the Wings an 86-84 lead with nine seconds remaining. Seattle called timeout and advanced the ball to midcourt. Sue Bird got the ball into Breanna Stewart, who handed the ball off to Jordin Canada who curled off a subtle Stewart screen. Canada got dribble penetration and put up a floater that bounced off the back of the iron and fell through the net to send the game to overtime.
I asked Stewart to comment on Jewell and Jordin’s heroic efforts to force overtime.
“Jewell and Jordin came up big, and to kind of see how they've developed… Obviously, we know Jewell has made big shots like that time and time again, and Jordin, that confidence to kind of just attack it and know that you had to put one up. That’s what got us to win. That’s what gave us the extra opportunity and overtime and that's all we need from them” Stewie said.
Overtime
Kayla Thorton put the Wings up two early with a midrange jumper. Thorton had a very nice game for Dallas with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Isabelle Harrison also had a double-double off the bench with 16 points and 11 rebounds. But Breanna Stewart and Jewell Loyd were able to score for Seattle to tie the game at 90-90.
On the next possession, Marina Mabrey collected a deflected pass near midcourt and then shot a three-pointer from the Dallas Wings logo nearly 40 feet away from the basket. It was an absurd shot choice considering there was still 10 seconds left on the shot clock, but Mabrey calmly sank the 40-footer to put Dallas back up 93-90.
Breanna Stewart scored eight of the team’s 14 points in OT. Both teams swapped leads multiple times in the final 90 seconds of the game. Stewart would answer, then Arike would respond for Dallas, Jewell would score, and then Harrison would score to put the Wings back up. Seattle finally regained the lead for good with a pair of free throws by Stewart.
With under 20 seconds to play, Jordin Canada forced Ogunbowale into an offensive foul which was crucial to give the Storm the ball back to seal the victory. Canada was then fouled again and would knock down both free throws to complete the comeback at 100-97.
Both Arike Ogunbowale and Moriah Jefferson had a chance to tie the game and send it into double-overtime, but fortunately for the Storm both of the shots were wide off the mark.
Additional Analysis
Wins are super important in this league no matter how they earn them. On paper, Seattle should have had a large advantage over the Wings. Dallas was missing Allisha Gray and Satou Sabally who are both overseas playing for their respective countries in the Olympic Qualifying games for 3x3 basketball. And yet, the Storm barely won this game and needed to rally in the final minute to send the game into overtime.
But this just goes to show you how talented the WNBA is. It’s why so many fans are calling for league expansion. Dallas finished 9th last season missing the playoffs by just one game. It’s unclear how good they’ll be this season but they certainly had an extremely impressive win on the road against the Los Angeles Sparks (0-2) in their first game of the season (94-71). There’s a good amount of talent on the Wings, especially when they have their full roster. They should have a legit shot to make the playoffs this season.
Dallas played tough throughout the entire game. It wasn’t that Seattle was having a bad game by any means. In a lot of ways, the Storm looked better in this game than they did in the 12-point victory over the Minnesota Lynx on Thursday. But the Wings went blow-to-blow with the defending champions.
It was good to see the Storm get out to a strong start in this game after struggling in the opening quarter in their first three games this season. More importantly than that, the team seemed more in sync in this game. Their play wasn’t nearly as sloppy and they only committed nine turnovers in the game. The more this new team can play together the better they are going to get.
Breanna Stewart and Jewell Loyd are just so special. I’m pretty sure I’ve already stated that in one of my previous game recaps but it’s worth repeating. Stewart is currently leading the WNBA in scoring at 25.8 PPG, she’s also averaging 10.5 RPG (Top 3) and has had a double-double in three of her first four games this season. Stewart is also Top 5 in blocks per game at 2.3. Meanwhile, Jewell Loyd continues to impress averaging 21.8 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 4.8 APG, and 2.3 SPG. Loyd is Top 5 in scoring and steals per game right now and Top 10 in assists (7th overall).
Seattle’s two young superstars are entering the prime of the career and they are clearly two of the best basketball players in the WNBA. I would argue they are the best 1-2 Duo in the WNBA right now. Although, I’m sure many could make the argument for either A’ja Wilson and Liz Cambage or A’ja Wilson and Chelsea Gray. But as of right now, no two players are better than Breanna Stewart and Jewell Loyd.
Lastly, I will be very interested to see how the rotations work once the team gets more experience together. In four games, we’ve had four separate starting lineups. Obviously, some of that is impacted by Katie Lou Samuelson leaving after the second game of the season to participate in Team USA activities. But it also has to do with whether or not the coaches want to start Candice Dupree or bring her off the bench.
And I’m really not sure what’s the best role with Dupree on this team and I think even the coaches are trying to figure that out right now. She had a solid game on Saturday against Dallas scoring eight points and grabbing eight rebounds. She gives them another consistent scorer at one of the post positions and she’s a decent rebounder. But she doesn’t really excel in the transition game that Seattle loves to play and there are going to be situations where she struggles defensively.
The larger concern from my perspective is what this means for Ezi Magbegor. And even for Kiki Herbert Harrigan to a lesser extent. Magbegor played just 13 minutes against Minnesota and only six minutes on Saturday against Dallas. She’s had just two points total in the past two games. But when she played 26 minutes in a start against Las Vegas, she put up 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Magbegor is arguably one of the five most important players on the Storm roster for their long-term future. She should be getting more minutes than she has over the past two games. But right now it appears she’s behind Breanna Stewart, Candice Dupree, and Mercedes Russell on the depth chart. Hopefully, Coach Hughes and the rest of the staff will find ways to get her more playing time as the season progresses.
Mikiah Herbert Harrigan is in a similar situation. Except she’s only played in one game this season during the final minute of their double-digit loss to Las Vegas.
I understand all 12 players can’t get minutes. Most coaches will usually go with an eight to ten-player rotation. Herbert Harrigan appears to be behind several players on the depth chart including Katie Lou Samuelson, Stephanie Talbot, Kennedy Burke, Breanna Stewart, Candice Dupree, and Ezi Magbegor.
Seattle gave up a 2022 first-round pick for Kiki (likely a Top 8 pick), so I hope she’s able to work her way into the rotation. Ideally, before the final cut must take place in early June when Katie Lou Samuelson returns to the team.
Jersey Count
The Storm pick up their first win of the season in their Green and Gold Explorer jerseys. At 3-1, the Storm now hold the best record in the Western Conference and the third-best record overall in the WNBA. The Connecticut Sun (4-0) and the Chicago Sky (2-0) sit atop the WNBA standings currently. Seattle also leads the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup in the West Bracket at 3-0.
Breanna Stewart spoke to the media about picking up two important road wins the past two games.
“It's huge to take two road wins going forward. But I think we're taking it twofold obviously. We’re happy to these wins, but when we get back to Seattle, we have a lot that we need to work on, and really take advantage of the practice days we have. We will have a little bit of a stretch where it's not every other day [that we play]. So, I'm looking forward to kind of getting back to work with my team and tweaking some things a little bit.”
Records per jersey type this season:
Rebel: 1-0
Explorer: 1-1
Heroine: 1-0
Up Next
The Storm fly home and will get a couple of days to rest after playing three games in five days including the last two on the road. Seattle will host the Connecticut Sun (4-0) on Tuesday, May 25th at 7:00 PM at Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, WA. The game will be televised nationally on CBS Sports channel and locally on Joe TV. The Sun have held their opponents in three of their four games to just 67 points and 69.8 PPG total through four games. Despite Alyssa Thomas being out this season with a torn Achilles; Jonquel Jones and DeWanna Bonner have both played like All-Stars leading the Sun to an undefeated record so far. It’ll be a great challenge for Seattle and should be a very exciting game between two teams that have the potential to be contenders late into the season.
Editor’s Notes: Credit to Across the Timeline for first having the stat about Stewie’s game day numbers only happening four other times in WNBA history. Credit to the Seattle Storm for gameday photos. Other Media members on the post-game press conference call with me: Percy Allen (Seattle Times), Kevin Pelton (ESPN), Mazvita Maraire (CascadiaSports.net).