Seattle, WA – Returning home from a three-game road trip that saw them snap their franchise worst ten-game losing streak to come into tonight’s contest with a two-game win streak, the Seattle Storm fell to the Dallas Wings. Seattle struggled with the paint presence and size of Dallas all night, in an otherwise close game that they were in the whole way through. The Storm battled to get this contest within single digits on multiple occasions, but as has been the case throughout 2023, Seattle was unable to close the gap and ultimately dropped their 20th loss on the season.
Storm star shooting guard Jewell Loyd left this game early as she suffered a turned ankle after a closeout from a Wings player. Loyd was on the court for a few minutes after the play had occurred, which was a jumper made by Jewell, before having to be helped off the Climate Pledge Arena court by two team staff members into the locker room. Play would resume afterwards, with the consensus being that this injury was bad and likely was going to keep Loyd out of the rest of the game, but Jewell returned just five minutes later. As per usual, Loyd was the best Storm player on the court as she went on to tally 31 points in this game to outduel Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale.
“I just want the officiating crew to be mindful of their consistency on those plays. There’s a point of emphasis that we’ve been reviewing those plays all year, that continues to be consistent throughout the rest of the season and finding space is a point of emphasis,” Noelle Quinn, Seattle Storm head coach, on the dangerous play where Jewell Loyd suffered an injury.
Seattle’s struggles in the paint, whether that be their points in the paint or their issues with rebounding, have been apparent even dating back to last season when the team was making a run in the WNBA Playoffs to try and get Sue Bird a fifth and final title. The issue hasn’t been addressed consistently at any point during this season, at least to this point, and that continued tonight against a Wings team that rebounds well and is able to get second chance points off their offensive boards. It was one of Seattle head coach Noelle Quinn’s keys to the game, as stated in the pre-game press conference, and her Storm team failed to take care of that aspect of the game. Dallas scored 16 points off second-chance opportunities, which came in part due to their 17 offensive rebounds.
“They thrive off of their offensive rebounds and their second chance points in scoring off with turnovers and we weren’t very good in those areas today,” Noelle Quinn, Seattle Storm head coach, on the Wings thriving in the paint.
Following tonight’s loss to the Wings in a short one-game return home, the Storm head back out on the road for a quick trip down to Phoenix for a battle against the Mercury on Saturday, August 5th with a tipoff time of 7PM PST. It’ll be a battle of the two teams sitting at the bottom of the WNBA standings, as both the Storm and Mercury have only tallied six wins each. That game will be broadcast on Amazon Prime Video here in the state of Washington, as the Storm will try to get back in the win column before they return to Climate Pledge Arena for a four-game homestand.
