SEATTLE – Nneka Ogwumike became the first player over 34 years old to notch 37 points and 12 rebounds, but the Seattle Storm fell short to the Los Angeles Sparks in double overtime on Friday night inside Climate Pledge Arena, 108-106.

Skylar Diggins added 18 points for the Storm, Erica Wheeler had 15 and Gabby Williams tallied 14.

Ogwumike, who pushed past 7,000 career points, made it a double-double by tying her season high with 12 rebounds.

Regulation time ended at 86-86. The Sparks led by as many as five points in the first overtime at 95-90, and they were still up by four at 97-93 when the Storm scored four in a row to tie it at 97-97 with under a minute left. L.A. went back on top, then Diggins tied it at 99-99 on a driving lay-in with 16.2 seconds remaining, forcing the second extra period.

Tied at 101-101, the Sparks put five straight on the board for a 106-101 lead with 2:35 left. A pair of free throws by Ogwumike made it 106-103.

An offensive foul on the Sparks gave the ball back to the Storm and Williams dropped a three off an assist from Diggins to make it 106-106.

L.A. got the ball back and took the 108-106 win. 

Altogether, the Storm – whose last double-overtime game was on May 17, 2024, at Minnesota – rallied five times during the two OTs to level the score and stay in it.

“That’s who we are – we have a group of resilient women who want to play the right way and for each other, the best version of themselves,” Head Coach Noelle Quinn said of the multiple comebacks. “With a game like this, whether it’s reps or execution down the stretch, all of the things that matter, good and bad – we’ll take a look at it and learn from it and grow from it. But this is a game that will help us down the road.” 

“Still staying locked in and being able to force double overtime and literally play to the last second, I think you can definitely grow from that,” added Ogwumike.

Ogwumike, whose career scoring high was 38 against Atlanta in 2016 while she was with the Sparks, hit 14-of-25 from the floor and was 7-of-9 at the free throw line. She also handed out four assists. She also knocked down her 200th career three.

“This is someone we don’t talk enough about in his league. She’s just steady-Betty every day,” Williams said. “We watch her being disciplined every single day. I think that’s why you see results like this. … Noey said it in the locker room: The plays she made and the things we did – we did a lot of great things tonight even though we didn’t get the result we wanted – it will pay off later.”

Ezi Magbegor had five blocked shots, giving her 15 straight games with at least one block, passing Lauren Jackson for the third-longest blocks streak in Storm franchise history. 

Rickea Jackson led Los Angeles with 27 points and Kelsey Plum finished with 22.

UP NEXT: The Storm takes on the Indiana Fever on Sunday, August 3 at Climate Pledge Arena. Tipoff is at 12:00 pm PT, and the game will be broadcast nationally on ABC and available on ESPN+.