Storm lose their seventh straight game

Seattle (3-10) trailed the Sparks’ (6-6) by three with 28.9 seconds before Dearica Hanby was called for a defensive foul as Jordan Horston drove to the bucket for a layup. Los Angeles successfully challenged the foul call and the Sparks retained possession of the ball; while that possession ended with a defensive stop for the Storm, Seattle wasn’t able to get the bucket on the other end. Erica Wheeler hit both free throws with 1.6 seconds left to put the game out of reach for 88-83 LA victory and the Storm’s seventh straight loss.

While Kelsey Plum was able to score 19 points through the first three quarters, Seattle held her scoreless in the final frame. But the Storm’s inconsistent offense came back to bite them throughout the fourth quarter as they were only able to score 16 points. This was emphasized by a stretch where the only points that the home team scored were from the charity stripe; meanwhile, LA’s offense continued to hit two and three point buckets. The Sparks took the lead for good when Chance Grey hit a three free throws to make it 71-70 with 8:27 left.

Former Storm star Nneka Ogwumike reeled off eight of Los Angeles’s next 10 points to push its lead up to six at 81-75. Over the next couple of minutes, both teams swapped buckets to keep LA’s lead at between four to six points until Hortson hit a seven-foot jumper to make it 83-88 with 28.9 left in the game.

Hamby scored the first points of the third quarter. But those would be the last points the the Sparks scored before they had a two minute and 55 second scoring drought while Seattle went on an 11-0 run to build a 51-42 lead before Plum made a layup. Including the layup she hit to end the drought, Plum either scored or tallied an assist on 22 of LA’s next 22 points. It was the most dominant stretch any player had on the court at Climate Pledge Arena on Wednesday night.

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The UW legend’s stretch is what kept the Sparks in the game because it helped cut Seattle’s lead to three when it finally ended with a 1:44 left in the third quarter.

Rae Burrell drilled a three point buzzer beater at the half to send both squads to the into the locker room tied at 40. It was the second straight quarter to end with a three as time expired. The assist on the bucket came from Plum, it came on the Spark’s immediate possession after a pair of free throws from Flau’jae Johnson pushed Seattle’s lead to three. Those two free throws were the final points the Storm scored in the second quarter and capped off a 13-3 run that had given them their first lead since there was 4:48 left in the first quarter.

The second quarter started with Seattle in a five point hole. Los Angeles hit a two-pointer to start the scoring in the second frame, but the Storm responded with a three. That was really the theme throughout the majority of the frame as both sides traded buckets until the Sparks went on a 9-2 run that started with an Ariel Atkins three ball with 6:01 left on the clock and ended when Seattle’s Dominique Malonga hit a four-foot two pointer and a pair of made free throws by Melbourne with 3:12 left in the half.

From that point on both squads traded buckets until the Storm’s 13-3 run to close out the quarter. Plum led all scorers with 12 points at the half.

Just like the second quarter, the first frame ended with a three pointer at the buzzer. This one was carried drilled by Horston from 25 feet out that cut Los Angeles’s lead down to five. Horston’s three was the Storm’s first points in two minutes and 53 seconds and put an end to the Sparks’ 8-0 run that had pushed their lead to 22-14. Brink and Ogwumike scored the buckets during Los Angeles’s run,

Seattle started the game with a 7-0 run before the Sparks responded with a 22-7 of their own over a five minute stretch as LA built a comfortable lead.