SEATTLE – Nneka Ogwumike scored 26 points, including a shot clock-beating 3-pointer with 1:31 left, and the Seattle Storm hung on to beat the New York Liberty on Sunday afternoon at Climate Pledge Arena, 89-79.

Gabby Williams double-doubled with 12 points and a career-high 10 assists. Skylar Diggins tallied 20 for the Storm, who now has its third three-game winning streak of the season and has won six of the last seven.

Seattle is the only team in the league to have defeated the top three in the overall standings: Minnesota (the Lynx’ only loss is to the Storm), New York, and Phoenix (twice in three meetings).

“We still have a lot of work to do, but I think we’re trending in the right direction with a lot of the things we’ve been emphasizing,” Head Coach Noelle Quinn said. “Playing the top teams super-early is tough to do in this league. And to be successful, especially against teams who are a well-oiled machine and have a lot of firepower – these are important wins. It’s good for our group to feel how we should be playing.”

Seattle was up just 80-77 with 2:20 to play. Ogwumike buried a foul line jumper off an assist from Diggins at the 2:01 mark to make it 82-77. Natasha Cloud’s lay-up at the 1:52 mark cut it to 82-79. 

Then on a broken play and the shot clock about to expire, Williams got the ball out to Ogwumike just beyond the arc at the top of the key. Ogwumike’s shot swished through for an 85-79 lead. 

“To be honest, I was in the game, I was open, and I shot it,” Ogwumike said of pushing it back to a two-possession margin. “That was one of those plays where the hustle yields something. That’s exactly what happened on that play. Between me and Sky, if we’re open, we have to have that aggression in our heads all the time. And understanding that an open shot, especially for the two of us, is the right shot.” 

The Storm kept the Liberty off the scoreboard the rest of the way. Diggins hit a free throw to make it a three-possession lead at 86-79 with 39.3 seconds left.

“We have players who have been in the league for a long time, and they know that moments and possessions matter,” Quinn said of the closing surge. “Throughout the game, the hustle plays – those are the plays that get you over the hump. You have to come up with possessions and capitalize on those possessions. I thought today, the extra effort was great to see.”

Ogwumike was in the 20s for the third straight game after going for 26 at Los Angeles on Tuesday and 25 at Las Vegas on Friday. 

“She’s still in her prime,” Diggins said with a grin towards her teammate who is in her 14th year in the league, “and she continues to get better and better.”

Williams’ double-double was her second in a row – and her second straight with a career high. In Friday’s game at Vegas, she had 18 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. Sunday’s 10 assists beat her previous high of nine set in 2022 against Dallas.

The Storm fired 19 more shots (82-63) and had seven more makes (35-28) than the Liberty, finishing the day at 42.7 percent. 

Williams’ 10 assists were part of the Storm’s total of 24 – their third straight game of 20-plus and 10th this season. 

New York was missing injured starters Jonquel Jones (ankle) and Sabrina Ionescu (neck injury) and was led by Brianna Stewart’s 18 points and Marine Johannès 17 points. 

UP NEXT: The Storm take on the Indiana Fever on Tuesday, June 24 at 7:00 pm PT. The game will be broadcast on nationally on NBA TV, locally on CW Seattle and available for Prime Video users in Washington State.