Nneka Ogwumike finished with 20 points and seven rebounds, leading the Seattle Storm to a wire-to-wire 79-69 victory at home over the Chicago Sky Saturday night.
Ezi Magbegor added 13 points for Seattle (22-19), which has won five of its last six and finishes with a 3-0 record against the struggling Sky (9-30) this season.
Seattle moved into the sixth spot in the playoff race behind a balanced attack that also featured double-digit efforts from Skylar Diggins (12), Gabby Williams (12), Erica Wheeler (11) and Brittney Sykes (11).
Chicago dropped its fourth in a row and is now 4-15 in road games despite 20 points and 10 rebounds from Angel Reese, whose double-double streak reached five games.
Michaela Onyenwere finished with 11 points and Kamilla Cardoso just missed on a double-double (nine points, 10 rebounds).
Seattle held a 30-16 advantage in points off turnovers and made all 18 of its free-throw attempts.
Up 44-34 at halftime, the Storm missed their first five shots of the third quarter but finally got one to fall when Sykes tossed the ball up and in and got fouled. Her free throw gave Seattle a 49-38 lead with 7:39 left.
Chicago closed the third on a 6-0 run, cutting its deficit to 57-50 after a layup by Reese with 1:17 to play. Seattle failed to score in the final 2:52.
Diggins’ jumper at the 8:58 mark gave the Storm their first basket in nearly six minutes, giving Seattle a 59-52 edge.
The Storm opened a four-game homestand to close out the regular season and started the game on a 6-0 run, capped by Diggins’ layup at the 7:24 mark.
But the Sky overcame the slow start and were within 22-19 at the end of one after Rebecca Allen nailed a jumper with 2.3 seconds to go. The shot was set up off a rebound by Elizabeth Williams, who dished the ball to Allen.
Wheeler’s back-to-back 3-pointers pushed Seattle ahead 30-22 with 7:12 remaining in the half.
The Storm made four shots from distance in the quarter, including a dagger by Diggins with 3:25 left that made the score 40-28. Seattle was 6-of-14 from long range in the half on its way to a 10-point lead at halftime.
–Field Level Media
