Ezi Magbegor leads Storm with 18 points, defense keys another win
Skylar Diggins-Smith took a hard fall in the second quarter after absorbing a charge from Atlanta Dream All-Star Allisha Gray, and while she got back on her feet, she soon went to the locker room under her own power and did not return due to an ankle injury.
When facing a team on a six-game losing streak, that kind of fight — putting one’s body on the line for the team — is crucial not only for extinguishing any hope for a squad desperately searching for a spark but also for the Storm, who are focused on maintaining defensive intensity on a game-by-game basis.
Following one of their strongest defensive showings of the season, the Storm delivered another solid performance against the Atlanta Dream, forcing 16 turnovers on their way to an 81-70 victory Sunday afternoon.
The Storm (16-8) recorded 13 steals and seven blocks, while holding the Dream (7-16) to just 13 points in both the second and fourth quarters.
Ezi Magbegor finished with 18 points, five rebounds, and three blocks, while Jordan Horston added 16 points, three steals, and two blocks.
As the team has emphasized in recent games, good defense leads to great offense, and this was especially true for the Storm’s two defensive specialists, who helped compensate for the team’s offensive struggles. They both went 8 of 11 from the field.
“Defensively, it doesn’t just mean getting stops all the time,” Magbegor said. “It’s deflections, playing team defense. Whether we were switching, helping, fronting the post, I thought we did a great job of rotating. That leads to transition offense and just getting our hands and being active, it’s going to be a lot easier for us offensively.”
The rest of the team went 14 of 53 from the field. Overall, the Storm were just 5 of 28 on three-point attempts.
“We will get better at the three-point line,” coach Noelle Quinn said. “I’m manifesting it.”
Sami Whitcomb notched her second consecutive game in double digits with 13 points off the bench, 10 of which came in the second quarter, Jewell Loyd finished with 14 points on 3-of-13 shooting and Nneka Ogwumike recorded a double-double with 10 points, 12 rebounds, three blocks and two steals on 3-of-11 shooting.
The Storm understood the assignments against Atlanta: first, recognizing that any team in the league could win on any given night, and second, staying focused on their goal of finishing 7-2 on their WNBA-record nine-game homestand.
Horston’s seat-belt celebration with less than five minutes left in the first quarter spoke to the team’s commitment to defense and maintaining it on a game-by-game basis. She also played a key role in holding Gray to 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting.
“It’s personal,” Horston said. “I don’t like being scored on. I don’t know if y’all know, but I take it to heart when you score on me. My mom and my sister were in town for the game, so they gave me some energy today.”
In the first four minutes, the Storm demonstrated the defensive consistency they’ve been working toward.
Horston made a steal on the game’s first possession, followed by a block from Ogwumike on the next.
Moments later, Horston jumped into the passing lane to intercept a pass from Atlanta’s Haley Jones and drove coast-to-coast for a layup, while Magbegor bolstered the defensive effort with a block on Jones in the paint, her first of two in the quarter.
“They’re both playing with a lot of confidence and when they’re able to give us some extra lift on the offensive end, that’s amazing,” coach Noelle Quinn said. We always talk about their athleticism and their ability to come and get steals and blocks. But when they are playing efficiently on the offensive end, it is great for us.”
Yet, the Storm found themselves only one point ahead at the end of the quarter.
Victoria Vivians and Whitcomb came off the bench with some much-needed offense in the second quarter.
The momentum began with Whitcomb’s layup on their first possession of the quarter and continued just minutes later with three consecutive scoring plays from the duo.
Vivians hit a three-pointer to give the team a one-point lead at 7:30, followed by two more three-pointers from Whitcomb on consecutive possessions from nearly the same spot on the left wing, the last one assisted by Vivians.
After forcing eight turnovers the second quarter, the Storm still only led 42-36 at halftime.
Replacing Diggins-Smith in the lineup to start the second half, Whitcomb stayed hot, sinking a corner three-pointer and then executing a perfect pick-and-roll to find Magbegor for a layup, pushing the Storm’s lead to nine with four minutes remaining.
With the assist on Whitcomb’s three, Loyd moved into second place in franchise history for assists, surpassing Dream coach Tanisha Wright, who was honored pregame Sunday as part of the Storm’s 25th anniversary commemorating the franchise’s top 25 players.
Without a true point guard in the third quarter, the Storm turned to Kiana Williams, who had recently signed her second seven-day contract, to start the fourth.
Leading 70-65 at that point, the Storm would go on an 11-5 run to close out the game and still managed to record 27 assists without their starting point guard.
“It made me very proud because there is a lot of growth,” Quinn said about how her team stepped up without Diggins-Smith. “It’s a next-woman-up mentality and I thought everyone stay locked in. No one panicked. We continued to play tough defense and some good offensive things happened. That’s all I can ask out of the group without an amazing player, leader and point guard like Sky.”
The Storm hit the road for the first time in 21 days, facing the Los Angeles Sparks on Tuesday to kick off a four-game road trip that won’t see them back at Climate Pledge Arena until August 26.