SEATTLE – Nneka Ogwumike scored 24 points, one of four Seattle players in double figures, but the Storm came up short of the Phoenix Mercury inside Climate Pledge Arena on Sunday afternoon 85-82.

Skylar Diggins added 14 points, Gabby Williams had 13 and Brittney Sykes chipped in 11.

The game in front of 14,169 fans had a wild finish as the Storm nearly came back from five points down inside the final half minute. 

Trailing 83-78 after a Phoenix run late in the fourth, Ogwumike latched onto a loose ball under Seattle’s basket and got up a shot that went in, cutting it to 83-80.  

With 12.5 seconds left, Sykes stole the ball from Alyssa Thomas in the backcourt and went coast to coast, bringing the score to 83-82 at 8.5 seconds.

Phoenix got the final points to make it 85-82.

Ogwumike hit 10-of-17 from the field on the way to her 24 points. That was her 11th game this season of 10 or more field goals. She also grabbed eight rebounds.

“Being closer in the rebounds race, being able to share the ball and playing in transition – for all of these tight games that we’ve been in, there’s so much to build off of,” Ogwumike said. “Those are just some of the things that we know we did pretty well today.”

“I think we’re doing a great job of getting to 50-50 balls,” added Head Coach Noelle Quinn. “I think we’re engaged in that area when you think of intangibles and little things. And little things can also imply our attitude of next-play mentality. That’s something that feels like a simple phrase, but it actually goes a long way for us, and our team is doing a better job in that area.” 

Williams handed out seven assists to go along with her 13 points. The Storm had 19 assists altogether and did not allow Phoenix any points off of turnovers.

Thomas finished with a triple-double of 19 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists for the Mercury. 

UP NEXT: The Storm leaves for its last road stand of the season with the first stop on Tuesday, August 19 in Chicago against the Sky. Tipoff is at 5:00 pm PT and will be broadcast locally on KOMO and CW Seattle and available for streaming for Prime Video users in Washington state.