Ezi Magbegor scored 18 points and Jordan Horston added 16 to fuel the host Seattle Storm to an 81-70 victory over the Atlanta Dream on Sunday.
Magbegor and Horston each made 8 of 11 shots from the floor to help the Storm (16-8) finish their WNBA-record nine-game homestand with a 7-2 mark.
Jewell Loyd collected 14 points and seven assists and Nneka Ogwumike contributed 10 points, 12 rebounds to record her sixth double-double of the season and the 107th of her career, fourth-most in league history.
Sami Whitcomb added 13 points off the bench for Seattle, which saw Skylar Diggins-Smith sustain an ankle injury in the second quarter. Diggins-Smith did not return for the start of the second half.
Maya Caldwell scored a career-high 19 points to go along with five rebounds, four assists and three steals to pace Atlanta.
Aerial Powers recorded 14 points and eight rebounds off the bench, and Tina Charles and Allisha Gray each had 12 points for the Dream (7-16), who have lost seven games in a row and 10 of their last 11.
Cheyenne Parker-Tyus’ tip-in brought Atlanta within one point at 62-61 with about eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Seattle countered with a 19-6 run, capped by Magbegor making a layup and a 17-foot jumper and Loyd and Horston each adding a layup.
Whitcomb drained her third 3-pointer to stake Seattle to a 50-40 lead early in the third quarter, before Atlanta cut the deficit to one early in the fourth. Caldwell made two layups, a mid-range jumper and 3-pointer to power the Dream before Gray’s 13-footer trimmed the Storm’s advantage to 60-59.
Powers made a bucket in the interior to give Atlanta a 30-28 lead with 7:53 remaining in the second quarter before Seattle scored the game’s next 12 points. Whitcomb sank a pair of 3-pointers in transition and Victoria Vivians also connected from beyond the arc during that surge.
Atlanta answered by scoring six of the final eight points of the quarter to cut Seattle’s lead to 42-36 at halftime.
–Field Level Media
