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As the Seattle Storm head down the home stretch of a season that will see them make a return to the playoffs, they’re glad to have Skylar Diggins-Smith as their point guard.

After enjoying a big game in a Wednesday night win at Los Angeles, Diggins-Smith and Seattle continue their run at home-court advantage in the first round of the WNBA playoffs with a trip to Arlington, Texas, for a matchup on Friday night with the Dallas Wings.

Diggins-Smith piled up 26 points, five assists, four steals and three blocked shots as Seattle (22-14) erased a 13-point second-quarter deficit to post a 90-82 win over the Sparks that kept the Storm within a game of the Las Vegas Aces for the fourth seed.

“There is a different look in her eye,” Storm coach Noelle Quinn said of Diggins-Smith. “It’s not just the playmaking ability, it’s the defense. I’m super-impressed with the four steals and three blocks … this is why she’s elite.”

Diggins-Smith is averaging 14.8 points — making her one of four double-figure scorers on the team — along with 6.4 assists and 1.6 steals. She’s also one of six players collecting at least one steal per game for a team that leads the league in steals per game at 9.3.

Meanwhile, Dallas (9-28) is nearing the end of a long, lost season. The Wings are playing on back-to-back nights after suffering a 99-67 home loss Thursday against New York for their sixth straight defeat.

The only good news for the franchise is the continued excellence of Arike Ogunbowale, who hit two fourth-quarter free throws to set the team’s all-time career scoring record at 3,972 points. Deanna Nolan set the original mark in nine seasons, three fewer than Ogunbowale needed to break it.

“It’s definitely special,” Ogunbowale said after an 11-point outing. “It’s been a lot of great players to come through here, so to have that now is definitely special.”

Ogunbowale is averaging 22.6 points a game this year, second in the league to Las Vegas’ A’ja Wilson (27.3).

Seattle has won the teams’ first three meetings this year by an average of 17.7 points per game.

–Field Level Media