Magbegor scores 18 points, leads Storm past Atlanta 81-70
Jul 14, 2024, 6:25 PM | Updated: Jul 15, 2024, 12:19 pm
Ezi Magbegor of the Seattle Storm shoots a free throw against the Las Vegas Aces on June 19. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
(Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
SEATTLE (AP) — Ezi Magbegor scored 18 points and Jordan Horston added 16 to lead five Seattle players scoring in double figures and the Storm beat the Atlanta Dream 81-70 Sunday.
Seattle Storm 81, Atlanta Dream 70: Box score
Jewell Loyd had 14 points and seven assists, Sami Whitcomb scored 13 and Nneka Ogwumike finished with 10 points, 12 rebounds, two steals and two blocks for the Storm (16-8).
Atlanta cut its deficit to a point on two occasions early in the fourth quarter but the Storm answered each time and used a 13-2 run, beginning with two free throws by Loyd with 5:33 to play, that gave Seattle its biggest lead of the game when Horston’s layup capped the spurt and made it 81-67 with 1:42 remaining.
Atlanta (7-16) has lost seven straight games and 10 of 11. Rhyne Howard, the 2022 WNBA rookie of the year and a two-time WNBA All-Star, has missed 10 consecutive games since she suffered an ankle injury during a 68-55 loss to the Minnesota Lynx on June 19 in Minneapolis. The Dream’s 78-74 win at Connecticut on June 28 is their only victory since Howard went down.
Ezi Magbegor showed off her efficiency with 18 PTS on 8-11 shooting, 72.7% from the field 🙏
Magbegor also pulled down 5 REB, 3 BLK in the win over the Dream #WelcometotheW pic.twitter.com/Pwf1GT0huF
— WNBA (@WNBA) July 15, 2024
Maya Caldwell scored a career-high 19 points to lead the Dream and Aerial Powers added 14 points, Tina Charles and Allisha Gray scored 12 apiece.
After the Dream was called for technical foul (defensive 3-seconds), Skylar Diggins-Smith hit the free throws, Victoria Vivians made a 3-pointer and Whitcomb followed with a pair of 3s just 36 seconds apart before Owgumike hit a step-back jumper on the baseline to give Seattle a 40-30 lead and cap a 12-0 run with 6:16 left in the first half. The Storm led the rest of the way.
Seattle didn’t score again until Whitcomb hit two free throws with 1:21 left. Despite missing their final 11 field-goal attempts of the second quarter, the Storm led 42-36 at halftime.
Seattle had eight steals — including two apiece for Diggins-Smith, Whitcomb and Horston — and forced 11 Dream turnovers in the first half. The Storm had 13 assists on 16 field goals while shooting 40% (16 for 40) overall and hitting 4 of 15 (27%) from 3-point range.
Diggins-Smith left the game (ankle) late in the first half after a collision with Atlanta’s Allisha Gray and did not return.
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