Storm able to hold off late run by Chicago Sky
By Bel Garcia
Seattle, WA - Seattle’s defense was impressive once again as they held Chicago to only 71 points, winning the game with a score of 74-71. A run by the Chicago Sky, led by Candace Parker would test the Storm’s defense at the end of the game. A late 3 point shot attempt was just short, hitting the front of the rim and securing the win for the Storm. The beginning of the game gave the impression that this would be a shoot-out with both teams going back and forth in scoring. However, it was Seattle’s defense that would once again be the highlight of the game.
Gabby Williams had another solid night defensively for Seattle (Photo courtesy of Seattle Storm Twitter)
Ezi Magbegor comes up big
Continuing a dominant performance, Ezi Magbegor started the game aggressive. The last game against the Mercury, Magbegor had an exceptional career-high in blocks with a total of 7. Tonight, as the reigning champs came into town, Ezi was aggressive in the paint. She was posting up Candace Parker on several occasions and going up strong in each one of her lay ups. By the end of the first half, the Storm were shooting 51.4% from the field. Magbegor had 13 of the 46 points scored in the half, giving her a new career high. At the beginning of the second half Ezi continued to cook down low with 6 quick points to add to the Storm’s lead.
Breanna Stewart, Jantel Lavender, and Reshanda Gray warm up pregame (Photo courtesy of Seattle Storm Twitter)
A Tale of Two Halves
While the Storm’s offense started strong to begin the game, they hit a bit of a dry spell in the second half. Normally, what we have become accustomed to seeing in the second half, is a big performance by Jewell Loyd. Especially, if Loyd only has single digit points in the first half, but Loyd’s struggles continued. After Ezi scored her 8 points in the 3rd quarter she would also not score again. The Storm went 4 minutes at the end of the 3rd quarter without scoring until Breanna Stewart finally hit on an And-1 layup to end the drought. They would end the quarter only scoring 12 points and were outscored in the second half. Candace Parker got hot at the right time and scored 4 points with less than 2 minutes in the 4th quarter to bring the Sky within 5 points. Seattle’s defense once again stepped up as Gabby Williams had what Coach Quinn called a “LeBron James chase down block” on Courtney Vandersloot’s lay-up attempt. Unfortunately, that was recovered by Candace Parker, who once again scored and had the Sky within 3 points. With a missed jumper on the other end, the Storm’s defense would have to come up big to seal their victory and it did. They were able to force a shot by Allie Quigley that bounced off the front of the rim just as the buzzer to signal the end of the game sounded.
After just one day of practice with both Epiphanny Prince and Breanna Stewart back in the lineup, the Seattle Storm get ready to welcome the LA Sparks into Climate Pledge Arena.