Skylar Diggins scored 21 points and dished out 11 assists on Friday as the Seattle Storm ended a six-game losing streak with an 80-78 win over the Atlanta Dream in Vancouver.
Playing the WNBA’s first regular-season game outside the United States, Seattle (17-17) put five players in double figures and committed only six turnovers. Nneka Ogwumike added 16 points, including a foul shot with 1:47 left that gave the Storm the lead for good at 77-76, and eight rebounds.
Seattle’s Brittney Sykes chipped in 13 points, while rookie Dominique Malonga came off the bench for 12 points and eight rebounds. Gabby Williams contributed 11 points for the Storm, who hit 46.5 percent of their field-goal attempts and earned a 25-4 advantage in fastbreak points.
Rhyne Howard scored 21 points for Atlanta (21-12), which saw a six-game winning streak end. Howard was 12 of 13 at the foul line but came up short on the Dream’s final two possessions, as she had a layup attempt blocked by Sykes before missing a runner in the lane just before time expired.
Brionna Jones added 18 points and 10 rebounds for Atlanta, while Allisha Gray was held to 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting. Brittney Griner chipped in 10 points in a reserve role.
Atlanta took the first of two brief first-half leads just before the halfway point of the first quarter on a basket from Griner. Sykes responded two trips later with a driving layup that started a 7-0 burst, and Seattle held a 21-20 edge after 10 minutes.
Naz Hillmon’s layup put the Dream on top 24-23 at the 7:24 mark of the second before the Storm ripped off a 13-2 burst for their first 10-point advantage on Malonga’s layup with 4:21 left in the period. The Storm got to halftime with a 40-34 cushion.
Seattle bid to blow the game open in the third quarter, opening up a 60-45 lead on Ogwumike’s driving layup with 3:25 remaining. Diggins ended the period with a bang, swishing a long 3-pointer to put the Storm ahead 67-55.
–Field Level Media
