If you have a Seattle Storm fan in your life, go check on them. It’s been a stressful 48 hours.
The Storm had another nail-biting run on Sunday afternoon, narrowly falling to the Indiana Fever 78-74 in front of a sellout crowd of 16,819 at Climate Pledge Arena.
After trailing for the entire second half, a 10-0 burst of life late in the fourth quarter brought the Storm within two points, 73-71, with just over two minutes left.
The crowd erupted when Storm guard Skylar Diggins stole the ball at half court and came barreling to the basket at full speed. She missed the left-handed running layup, but rookie reserve Dominique Malonga, following close behind, rebounded the ball. Malonga took a layup shot herself, missing the net before Diggins returned the favor and rebounded it. Diggins drained it for good, clenching her fists and storming toward the Storm bench in celebration.
“We call those championship plays,” Malonga said after the game. “It’s just a play that gives us the energy and shows us that if we are down 15-20, we always bring that energy. It really was a never-give-up play, and it was a close game, so those plays are the plays that keep us in the game.”
Despite the Storm going 0-for-5 on 3s in the final minute, Malonga brought the Storm within one, 75-74, off a turnaround jump shot with 12 seconds left. After the referees added 2.3 seconds to the clock, the Storm thought they might actually make the comeback.
Sunday’s dramatics mirrored those of Friday night, when the Storm suffered a 108-106 double-overtime loss to the Los Angeles Sparks. It was the league’s first double-overtime game so far this season and saw 10-time All Star Nneka Ogwumike record a season-high 37 points.
“I’m super proud of our group, having had a tough game on Friday and coming back and rallying back to get us into position to win the game,” Quinn said. “We executed really well in finding the looks that we wanted, and for us, we want to not just have moral victories around those particular things. We are getting better in those areas, and we know that there’s going to be deposits and pay dividends coming up.
“This group needs to feel a win, getting rewarded for all of their hard work, effort, to get us into that position.”
It seems that when it comes to the Indiana Fever, the Storm struggle to cover their bases.
It was Storm’s second time facing Indiana this season, with both occasions in Seattle. The Fever bested the Storm 94-86 on June 24, despite Seattle holding its main focus defensively, the second-year superstar playmaker Caitlin Clark, to a season-low six points.
Clark, however, was kept courtside on Sunday, missing her seventh consecutive game due to a right groin injury suffered July 15.
Without Clark on the court, the Storm did not have to worry about the Fever’s potent pick-and-roll, focusing their attention instead on Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell, who dominated Climate Pledge with a season-high 31 points and 26 points, respectively, in the teams’ last meeting.
Mitchell went just 1-for-9 from the field and 0-for-4 on three-point attempts for four points in the first half. Boston, who went 3-for-3 from the field for six points in the first half, just couldn’t get many shots off.
But while the Storm kept their eyes on Boston and Mitchell, once again, other Fever players slipped through the cracks.
Forward Natasha Cunningham was 5-for-5 from the field and 4-for-4 from three with 16 points midway through the third quarter, while Howard had 17 points and went 8-for-10 from the field.
Howard ended with a game-high 21 points, and Cunningham had a season-high 17. Boston broke away from the Storm’s defensive grip with 10 points in the fourth quarter to finish with 16 points.
Ogwumike led the Storm with 16 points, while Diggins added 13 points and six rebounds.
Malonga, the No 2. overall pick in this year’s draft, shined on the court. She had 12 points, six towards the fourth quarter comeback attempt. She also recorded her 100th career rebound in the first half, becoming the second-youngest player in WNBA history to reach the mark.
“At the end of the game, [Malonga] had good energy and her length defensively helped to deter some shots,” Quinn said. “Being in the paint and able to be efficient in that area, it’s providing a lot of energy that we needed to get through a game like this.”
The 19-year-old center became the youngest player in WNBA history to record a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds on July 24 in the Storm’s 95-57 win against the Chicago Sky.
Storm forward Gabby Williams tallied her 700th career rebound in the first quarter.
The Storm return to action Tuesday when they host against the Minnesota Lynx, who holds the WNBA’s best record, at 7 p.m.
“We’re making deposits in effort and resilience,” Ogwumike said. “We’re not backing down, given the results of these games. We know that everybody is fighting for their lives right now, so we are doing what we can to play hard and hopefully net some wins.”
