Seattle Storm Reign Over Dallas Wings, 97-76

Arike Ogunbowale (No. 24) of the Dallas Wings tallied 24 points against the Seattle Storm at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington, on Saturday, June 29, 2024. (Photo: Dallas Wings Basketball)

SEATTLE — In the first of two games between the Dallas Wings and Seattle Storm at Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle rained on Dallas’ determined efforts led by Arike Ogunbowale in a 97-76 win.

Following Thursday’s riveting victory over Minnesota Lynx, this year’s WNBA Commissioner’s Cup champions, at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas, Dallas flew to Seattle with confidence and focus against their Western Conference foes in Seattle.

For the first 10 minutes, Dallas held their own against Seattle thanks to Teaira McCowan‘s six early points, including the opening hook shot just 17 seconds into the game.

Ezi Magbegor, Nneka Ogwumike, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Jordan Horston and Jewell Loyd led the way on the offensive end for the Storm’s 28 first quarter points. Countering Seattle’s torrid pace for Dallas were McCowan, Ogunbowale, Natasha Howard, Sevgi Uzun, Jacy Sheldon and Kalani Brown, distributing the ball with 25 points.

Going into the second quarter, Seattle opened up on a 5-0 run before Ogunbowale drew the foul on Horston with 8:17 left, making one of two free throws. When Diggins-Smith made her jumper just 37 seconds later, McCowan’s layup with 6:46 brought Dallas within seven of Seattle’s lead, prompting a Storm timeout.

McCowan drew a foul on Victoria Vivians 42 seconds later, making one of her two free throws to bring the Wings within six of the Storm.

Then, Ogunbowale’s 28′ trey made it a five-point game between Dallas and Seattle with 4:35 left in the quarter. This would be the closest margin for Dallas against a red hot Seattle Storm team for the remainder of the game.

In the final 4:22 of the first half, Seattle went on a 17-9 run against Dallas, holding a 54-41 lead.

Seattle effectively dashed any hopes for the Dallas Wings in the third quarter on the strength of a 26-18 pace. With a 7-0 run for Seattle after the first 67 minutes of the third quarter, Latricia Trammell called a timeout for Dallas.

Trailing Seattle by 23 points with 8:15 left in the third quarter, Dallas closed within 13 points inside the final 3:09. Then, a couple of fouls drawn by Ogwumike and Loyd followed by insurance baskets by Loyd and Sami Whitcomb erased Dallas’ progress, ending the third quarter with an 80-59 score in favor of Seattle.

Natasha Howard (No. 6) scored 12 points for the Dallas Wings after begin recognized by her former team, the Seattle Storm, at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington, on Saturday, June 29, 2024. (Photo: Dallas Wings Basketball)

From there, it was a final 10 minute run to the victory for Seattle, stymying any progress by Dallas. Brown, Sims, Ogunbowale, Sheldon, McCowan, Billings and Stephanie Soares contributed to the Wings’ 17 points, a total matched by the Storm.

Once the buzzer sounded, Seattle coasted to a 97-76 win over Dallas, putting the Wings three games behind the Indiana Fever for the eighth and final WNBA playoff spot.

Notably, the Wings turned the ball over 18 times and with the Storm cashing in 23 points in those errant moments. After the game, Trammell made note of this particularly with both teams squaring off again in Seattle on Monday night.

“We’re going to work on our turnovers and then just putting them to the free throw line,” Trammell said. “I mean we had one player [Loyd] on the opposite team shoot 16 for 17 from the free throw. I’m not saying I agree with [it].

“We just got to get back to to playing us like we normally do and go back and watch film and make some adjustments and get ready to compete for another one.”

Echoing Trammell’s thoughts, Ogunbowale, the longtime Wings guard, reflected on the tough loss with composure and clarity, believing in her team to apply takeaways from Saturday night to come out stronger and better for the Monday night matchup.

“Every day, every game is an opportunity, no matter what the record is, no matter what they show, it’s basketball,” Ogunbowale said. “We know how to play basketball, and we’re going to compete every night.

“So we’ve just go out there and give our all. We don’t have anything to lose, a lot to win. And we can keep getting better. So you know the losses are tough. But we gotta learn from it grow from it and get better and focus on the next game.”

Trammell praised Ogunbowale’s consistent play along with Howard’s veteran presence not only for Dallas, but with the Storm, a team she won two of her WNBA championships with in 2018 and 2020.

“Arike was very efficient tonight. Extremely efficient. And Natasha, I want to give her a shoutout because here we are in Seattle,” Trammell observed. “And she was recognized prior to the game as one of the top 25 fan favorites to ever play in this organization. So a lot of good things also happened this this evening.”

Come Monday night at 9 CT, Dallas hopes to return to flight toward their fifth win of the season and rain on Seattle’s 7-3 record in the 10 most recent games.

The Rundown

Dallas Wings: By the Numbers

Jacy Sheldon (No. 4) of the Dallas Wings lays it up for two of her six points against the Seattle Storm in Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington, on Saturday, June 29, 2024. (Photo: Dallas Wings Basketball)

Seattle Storm: By the Numbers