Seattle, WA – In similar fashion to their only victory of the season, June 6th over the Sparks, the Seattle Storm used a thunderous comeback to overcome an ugly start to their game against the Washington Mystics. The Storm once trailed by as much as 28 points before rumbling back into this game with their suffocating defensive performance and big performances from Ezi Magbegor, Kia Nurse, and Ivana Dojkic. The surge from Seattle wasn’t enough, as the Storm ran out of time in a six-point loss to the Mystics on the day that the team honor Sue Bird and send her retired jersey into the rafters of Climate Pledge Arena.
“Just weren’t hyper aware and focused with our speed and our scope. I think we just struggled to score. Jewell had to really focus on that and help us offensively. Not playing well in transition, we made some mistakes…” Noelle Quinn, Seattle Storm head coach, on today’s game.
These past three games for Seattle have seen slow and sluggish starts in the first half, immediately pitting themselves in a hole to begin the contest and putting them at a huge disadvantage. In all three games, the Storm have been able to come back and keep themselves in the fight thanks to adjustments and improvements on defense plus some quality contributions from the starting lineup and Ivana Dojkic. Washington built an early lead with domination in the paint while hitting more than half their shots from beyond the arch, taking advantage of Seattle’s aggressive defensive play. It wasn’t as if the Storm weren’t displaying the right effort on defense, they were almost displaying too much as they overcommitted and left Mystics players open.
Seattle’s offensive struggles in the first half were ugly, as the Storm made four shots in each quarter and eight total in that first half. In the first quarter in particular, Seattle struggled heavily in the paint to create offense. The Storm missed their last nine shots and saw the Mystics go on a 12-point run in the final four and a half minutes of that frame. Those struggles continued into the second quarter, as Seattle continued to miss shots while Washington buried jumper after jumper. It was getting ugly, as the halftime mark saw the Mystics more than double the Storm score.
As the fourth quarter rolled around, with the Storm down by 21 points, young center Ezi Magbegor began to go to work in the paint and seemingly dragged the team’s offensive effort back into the game. Their big push came as that fourth and final quarter began, as Seattle went on a 17-point run in the first six minutes. The Storm defense suffocated and battled hard, while the starters and Ivana Dojkic gave their all towards the effort. A Kia Nurse three-pointer brought them within a basket, but that was the closest that Seattle got. On a possession a little over two minutes later, Nurse got a rebound and gave a little bit of a shake on Washington’s Ariel Atkins which earned Nurse a technical foul. It pushed the Mystics lead to four, and the Storm couldn’t battle back. A tough loss to put a cap on a strong and ferocious effort.
“Confidence. Here understanding of our schemes and being in the correct place, especially on the defensive end. She’s an elite athlete, it’s so important for her to hone in on the how-to things and she’s doing that on the defensive end. Then offensively, just playing basic in transition and finding things to learn,” Noelle Quinn, Seattle Storm head coach, on Jordan Horston’s recent play that earned her a starting spot.
Following these past two games against the Mystics at home and their third straight contest at Climate Pledge Arena in general, the Storm will head out on the road for their next three games. The first of those three is on Tuesday, June 13th in Phoenix against the Mercury with a tipoff time of 7PM PST. It’ll be a battle of the struggling sides, as the Mercury aren’t much better than the Storm with an abysmal 1-5 record on the season. One of the sides will pick up their second win of the year, when those two teams battle it out on the CBS Sports Network inside of the Footprint Center.
