CHICAGO – Skylar Diggins scored 21 points on Thursday night, rookie Dominique Malonga recorded her first career double-double with career highs of 14 points and 10 rebounds, and the Seattle Storm started its three-game eastern road swing by routing the Chicago Sky, 95-57.

The 38-point margin inside Wintrust Arena was the biggest blowout of the season for Seattle. The previous one was a 31-pointer in Los Angeles, 98-67 on June 17.

Chicago’s 57 points was the lowest total this year by a Seattle opponent, one less than Golden State managed on July 16 in a 67-58 Seattle victory.

Erica Wheeler had 13 points for the Storm, Gabby Williams and Nneka Ogwumike added 10 each, and Lexie Brown tallied 12 off the bench.

Except for a 2-2 tie in the first minutes of play, Seattle led the entire game.

“I felt that the way we started the game and particularly in the third quarter, it’s fun when you execute,” Head Coach Noelle Quinn said. “I think that was it today: discipline in doing the right things consistently. And when you’re able to bring in everyone off the bench and everyone is really contributing, that says something. That does something for the feel and the vibe, and the aura. We got great play in a lot of places.”

Up by just seven at 33-26 near the midpoint of the second, Seattle kept the Sky off the scoreboard for the final 5 minutes and 50 seconds heading into the halftime break. During that stretch, Seattle forced Chicago into seven turnovers and 0-for-5 shooting.

The Storm effectively broke it open during the third quarter against the short-handed Sky, who was missing leading scorer Ariel Atkins and double-double threat Angel Reese due to injuries. Up 39-26 at halftime, Seattle put up 31 points in the third on 12-of-16 shooting from the field. That built the lead to 70-43 entering the final quarter, and the Sky never threatened.

“I liked our energy in the second quarter defensively – it was like 10 or 11 possessions (of getting a stop) that we finished the quarter on,” Diggins said. “Today we talked about trying to put together the whole 40 minutes on defense. We know what we can do on offense when we are able to play defense how we want to play it: get out and run and not let them set up in a zone too much.”

Malonga’s 14 points topped her previous career high of 11 and included the 100th of her career. She became the youngest player ever (19 years, 250 days) to post a double-double and to reach the century mark for points.

“It felt good, but we got the win today and that was the most important part, to bounce back and start the road trip, and I’m happy for that,” Malonga said. “It was a good game for my teammates, and everybody did their job well, and that’s what helped me have a good game today. I give the credit to my teammates, because I can’t do that by myself.”

Malonga hit 6-of-9 from the floor, including her first career three-pointer. Of her 10 rebounds, three were at the offensive end. Her 10 rebounds beat her previous high of eight.

“Dom has worked extremely hard up to this point. We see it every day, and we want to show that on the court,” Quinn said. “The matchup tonight was conducive for her to show what she has really been working hard on. It’s kind of not a surprise anymore.”

Diggins hit a pair of statistical milestones: her seven rebounds pushed her past 900 for her career (now 906), and her three made treys put her at exactly 400 career three-pointers.

Led by Malonga and Brown (who shot a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor), the Storm got a season-high 32 points from the reserves.

Seattle shot 53.6 percent (37-of-69), its fourth game this season with 50 or better – including 45 percent (9-of-20) from beyond the arc.

Kamilla Cardoso and Rachel Banham had 13 points apiece for Chicago.

UP NEXT: The Storm heads to Washington, D.C. to take on the Mystics on Saturday, July 26. Tipoff is at 4:30 pm PT and will be broadcast locally on KOMO and CW Seattle, and available for Prime Video users in Washington State.

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