Seattle Storm Score Dominant Win Over Dallas Wings, 95-71

Odyssey Sims (No. 2) of the Dallas Wings dribbles the ball during the game against the Seattle Storm on July 1, 2024 at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington (Photo: Liv Lyons | NBAE via Getty Images)

SEATTLE — Although the Dallas Wings came out of the gates strong against the Seattle Storm in the first half, another difficult third quarter sealed their fate, losing on Monday night at Climate Pledge Arena, 95-71.

Odyssey Sims and Arike Ogunbowale provided some early spark for Dallas along with Natasha Howard, Teaira McCowan and Kalani Brown, tallying 20 points.

Meanwhile, Jewell Loyd, who had 30 points in Saturday night’s matchup against the Wings, Jordan Horston, Ezi Magbegor, Skylar Diggins-Smith and Nneka Oguwmike contributed to Seattle’s 19 first quarter points.

Seattle went on a 6-0 run to start the second quarter before Howard’s reverse layup with 7:09 remaining stopped the Storm’s scoring inundation. Another 6-0 run propelled the Storm to a 31-22 lead with 5:24 left before Dallas countered with a McCowan putback layup and Sevgi Uzun‘s successful free throws, making it a five-point lead for Seattle.

Both teams traded baskets inside the final four minutes after Seattle went on another 6-0 run. Magbegor and Loyd along with Diggins-Smith and Oguwmike continued to dole out points for the Storm, countered by Sims and Ogunbowale’s scoring prowess with Seattle leading Dallas, 45-37, going into halftime.

Despite the close score, costly turnovers by Dallas resulted in Seattle capitalizing with baskets more times than not. In the third quarter, Seattle brought out a deluge of points that put Dallas behind by 29.

Ogwumike, Magbegor, Loyd, Sami Whitcomb and Victoria Vivians made it rain heavily with their offensive attack while the Wings mustered 13 points from the efforts of Sims, Ogunbowale, Howard and Monique Billings.

Odyssey Sims (No. 2) of the Dallas Wings made her first start in the WNBA since 2021 and was a catalyst against the Seattle Storm in Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington, on Monday, July 1, 2024. (Photo: Dallas Wings Basketball)

Once the fourth quarter started, the Storm were relentless, extending their 29-point lead over the Wings to 31 courtesy of Mercedes Russell’s layup with 8:06 remaining. Turnovers and fouls proved costly for any momentum to swing toward the Wings’ way although Dallas outscored Seattle, 21-16, in the fourth quarter.

It was all for naught for the tried and battle tested Wings against a surging Storm.  Following the game, Latricia Trammell, head coach of the Wings, considered some of the immediate takeaways that can be applied going into Wednesday night’s matchup against the Phoenix Mercury at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.

“Being disciplined with the basketball,” Trammell said. “They scored 24 points off our turnovers. And we’ve got to continue to embrace the pressure, make good decisions, keep practicing and we’ll turn it around, for sure.”

Before flying back home to Arlington, Texas, Trammell considered the challenges her squad has endured in the past month along with the need for a mental and physical respite given their quick turnaround to face Phoenix in front of the Wings faithful.

“Yeah, I mean it’s been a long stretch as we know,” she said.” And just the adversity that we have hit throughout the season with our injuries, but also just with players. We’ve got to work on that chemistry. But going back to CPC, in front of our crowd, is always going to be a a positive thing for us.

“We fly all night. We land at 7 a.m. in the morning. Won’t be able to practice tomorrow due to our travel, but we just got to, again, mentally lock in, get the rest and recovery that we need and correct some of these things going into our next game.”

In her third stint with the Wings, Sims was a positive in an otherwise difficult game for the Western Conference squad. The Baylor alum considered how progress is not just a matter of another 40-minute game, but a game-by-game mentality to improve as individuals and a team.

“I mean, I can be better,” Sims said. “There’s still room for improvement. That’s why we go back and watch film together and individually. I figure out what I can do to help my team be better, play better.

“How can I lead better? I continue to talk to my team. We’re going to figure it out. It’s not going to happen in one games, two games, it’s just going to be throughout the season. But we just got to string together a couple wins in a row, get on a little high horse and then just continue to finish out the season.”

Trammell recognized a milestone feat for Sims given her journey throughout her WNBA career. By far, it was a bright light on a stormy stint in Seattle.

“I want to brag on Odyssey just for a moment. She reached her 3,000th career point [and] it was her first start, like you said, since 2021,” Trammell said. “And so she just changes the pace for us. But that that’s a big, pretty big milestone right there, 3000 career points.”

The Rundown

Dallas Wings: By the Numbers

Arike Ogunbowale (No. 24) had a solid 21-point outing for the Dallas Wings against the Seattle Storm in Climate Pledge Arena on Monday, July 1, 2024, in Seattle, Washington. (Photo: Dallas Wings Basketball)

Seattle Storm: By the Numbers