Paige Bueckers took over late in the fourth and in overtime to lead her Dallas Wings (11-6) to a 112-110 victory over the Seattle Storm (3-15). With 5.6 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the Storm got the ball to their young superstar Dominique Malonga as time wound down but she was unable to score the game winner and the game went into OT where the Wings scored just enough to hold on for the road victory.
Seattle had the final play of regulation after Bueckers hit a turnaround jump shot with 5.6 left on the clock, and the Storm got the ball into Malonga’s hands. But the play design left their budding superstar in a position where she faked hand off before she drove to the lane and twisted into an awkward layup that was bounced off of the rim to send the it to overtime.
In the end, Beuckers finished the night with 27 points – 19 of those points were scored in the final seven minutes of the game. Malonga lead all scorers with 37 points but it wasn’t enough for Seattle to snap its losing streak.
Overtime was a seesaw affair as neither team’s defense was able to consistently earn a stop. Seattle’s defense struggled to contend with the fact that the 24 year old shooting guard had found her stroke. Aziaha James scored the first points of the extra five minutes and then she hit the dagger when she drained the final free throw for the final point of the game. James free throw added to the go-ahead jumper from Azzi Fudd to reach the final margin.
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Bueckers scored the final eight points for the Wings in regulation to keep her team in the game. The 24 year old was unstoppable in the final three minutes of the fourth as Seattle was unable to keep the rock out of her hands. It was a complete reversal of the previous three and a half quarters as the Storm had held her to eight points until she went off down the stretch and in overtime. Even with the shooting guard’s lack of offensive output throughout the majority of the game, Dallas had managed to build a seven point lead early in the fourth that the Storm had erased thanks to a 18-6 run that built them a 94-88 lead before the Wings’ star took over.
Dallas went on a 8-3 run in the final two minutes of the third quarter to take a 67-66 lead into the fourth. The Wings offensive turn around in the final minutes of the third was generated when James drove the lane and hit the layup. An defensive board for Dallas led to a an Fudd 26-foot jumper to cut Seattle’s lead to two; and then another Storm turnover turned into a Yueru three at the buzzer.
Initially the third quarter started off hot for the Storm outscored Dallas 12-6 in the first four and half minutes, but then there was a couple of offensive fouls and poor passes that allowed thee Wings back into the game. Zia Cooke prevented Dallas from building a comfortable lead as she scored the last four points for Seattle in the frame.
With 7.9 seconds left in the first half Malonga pulled up for a 23-foot three pointer that put her squad up 42-40 at the half. Seattle’s offense went on an 11-0 run to give the team their first lead since there was 7:50 left in the first. But the Wings would snap it with a pair of layups by Ogunbowale and Shepard to regain the lead before Heideman hit a 12-footer and then Malonga’s three. The offensive onslaught from Seattle saw the squad close out the first half with a 19-4 run.
Johnson drilled a three pointer to get Seattle within four of the Wings to start off the second quarter. But the Storm would only score one point over the next five minutes as the Wings sliced through the defense on 10-1 run that Cook ended with Seattle’s second three of the frame. That three ball marked the start of Dallas’s scoring drought that allowed the Storm to get back into the game.
While the first part of the first quarter started off slow, the Wings offense found their stride in the final two minutes as they scored nine in the final 120 seconds before the intermission. The Storm had started to respond and cut the lead down to three thanks to a pair of free throws for Fam before Dallas went on a 9-2 run to close out the quarter at 26-19.
Malonga started off the game with six of Seattle’s first nine points as she was the focus of throughout the first part of the game. The Storm were able to shut down Dallas’s three point offense as the Wings only got off one three point attempt in the first seven minutes of the game. But they weren’t able to keep the visitors off the board as the Wings drained their mid-range jumpers in route to a 17-11 lead through the first seven minutes of the game.
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