Loyd, Ogwumike combine for 53 in 89-83 thriller over Sparks
By Christan Braswell, edited by Charles Hamaker
Los Angeles, CA - When speaking with reporters before tipoff, Seattle Storm coach Noelle Quinn expressed the importance of not looking ahead to the month-long Olympic break awaiting them. She wanted a narrowed focus on the task at hand — leaving Crypto.com Arena with a win over the Los Angeles Sparks (6-18).
“Hopefully they listened, but I walked into the locker room and said, ‘You know when you’re in high school and it’s two weeks before summer break and you stop bringing your books in your backpack and teachers are showing movies in class and you have your yearbook and trying to get all of the signatures in your yearbook. That feeling? Don’t have it.”
At this point in the season, every team is exhausted and is looking forward to the break. It’s fair to say Seattle started the game as such.
Like Quinn said prior to facing the Atlanta Dream back on Sunday, any team in the WNBA can win on any given day. The Sparks gave the Storm everything they had until the veteran savviness of Storm All-Stars Jewell Loyd and Nneka Ogwumike took over in the fourth quarter, netting 20 of the team’s 25 points and sealing the win, with a final score of 89-83.
Loyd led all scorers with 30 points on 8-of-18 shooting, and 11-of-16 from the free-throw line. “The Gold Mamba” also had six rebounds and seven assists. It was Loyd’s 25th game with 30-plus points, moving her past Maya Moore for the fifth-most all-time.
Seattle Storm guard Jewell Loyd led her team with 30 points in the teams road win over the Los Angeles Sparks on Tuesday, July 16th at Crypto.Com Arena. (Photo via the Seattle Storm)
Jordan Horston, who scored eight of Seattle’s first 15 points, had 14 points and eight rebounds.
In her return to Los Angeles for the first time since leaving for the PNW, Ogwumike made history in a way only she can. Finishing with 23 points, 10 rebounds, a career-high six steals, and four steals, she’s just the 6th player with 23-plus points, 10-plus rebounds, four-plus assists, and six-plus steals in WNBA history. She also passed Sparks legend and Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie for 12th all-time in scoring with Leslie in attendance.
Seattle Storm forward Nneka Ogwumike with the legendary Lisa Leslie after the Storm’s 89-83 win over the Los Angeles Sparks on Tuesday, July 16th, at Crypto.Com Arena. (Photo via the Seattle Storm)
Jumping out to a 4-0 run to start the game for Seattle, Sparks forwards Dearica Hamby and Rae Burrell combined for 12 of their team’s 17 opening points.
The Sparks went on a 13-4 advantage stemming from the first quarter that only grew in the second. Both teams went cold for two minutes until Loyd responded and ended the streak with a three-pointer. On forward, Seattle found their rhythm, going on a 16-7 run to end the first half.
Losing by as much as 10, the Sparks ignited a colossal 18-7 run to end the third quarter, bringing the deficit within a single possession, 64-61.
The final frame was one for the history books. With the Sparks up two with 6:29 left in the game, Loyd scored five straight points, part of an 11-0 stretch. On the next play, she found a cutting Ogwumike. Holding the Sparks scoreless for nearly four minutes in the clutch, they responded by going on a run of their own, closing in with 19 seconds left before Seattle netted five straight points at the free-throw line.
What’s next?
Following today’s win over the Los Angeles Sparks to end their regular season schedule ahead of the Olympic break, our Seattle Storm aren’t in competition together as a team until Friday, August 16th with a tipoff time of 4:30PM PDT at Gateway Center Arena @ College Park in Atlanta, GA that will be broadcast live on ION. It’s going to be a while before we get to that mark, but head coach Noelle Quinn mentioned the importance of hitting the ground running once returning from the Olympic break following today’s victory so there will be work done by those not headed to Paris in order to improve upon their game and keep active while also finding a balance for rest during this time. Before that, the WNBA All-Star game approaches and takes place on Saturday, July 20th with a tipoff time of 5:30PM PDT as Team USA squares off against the WNBA All-Stars. The Storm will have two participants in this game as forward Nneka Ogwumike plays with the All-Stars and guard Jewell Loyd plays with the USA team. From there, Loyd and the two other Storm Olympians in Ezi Magbegor and Sami Whitcomb for Australia, will head to Paris for the games to attempt to earn medals.
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