SEATTLE – Skylar Diggins scored 24 points and the Seattle Storm broke open the game with a 10-0 run at the outset of the third quarter on Friday night to rout the Connecticut Sun inside Climate Pledge Arena, 97-81.

Diggins was one of four starters in double digits for the Storm – who also broke into double digits for wins, finishing on top for the seventh time in the last nine games.

Nneka Ogwumike and Gabby Williams added 16 points each, and Ezi Magbegor chipped in 12.

Rookie center Dominique Malonga had a career-high 11 points, her first time in double digits with the Storm.

Except for a tie at 8-8, Seattle led for the entire game. Up 37-33, the Storm went on a 15-5 run over the last 4:17 of the second quarter to take a 52-38 lead into halftime.

After Jacy Sheldon started the third quarter with a traditional three-point play for Connecticut, the Storm put the next 10 points on the board.

Diggins started the third with a 12-footer from the right of the lane. Williams came up with a steal in the backcourt and found Erica Wheeler for a 3-pointer. Magbegor blocked a shot by Tina Charles, then took it all the way down for a lay-in, and Ogwumike capped it with a 3-pointer from the right corner.

That put Seattle up by 21 at 64-43. The Sun, who have dropped eight straight, never got closer than 16, and that was inside the final minute.

“We set a standard, definitely in the second quarter, we dictated that,” Head Coach Noelle Quinn said. “At halftime, it was about coming in and making sure we started the third quarter appropriately. Again, it wasn’t about the opponent – it was more about us. The biggest thing was playing out of our defense and being more efficient in our offense, and rebounding.

“There was an intentionality around how we wanted to approach this particular game, and I thought the second and third quarters were indicative of that,” Quinn added.

Ogwumike, whose three finished a third-quarter run, had 10 of her points during that period. The Storm now has 17 individual double-digit scoring quarters this season, with seven by Ogwumike and six by Diggins.

In almost 20 minutes of action on Friday, Malonga hit 4-of-7 from the floor and grabbed five rebounds.

“I wanted to put in the effort to match (my teammates’) effort and I’m practicing every day for that,” Malonga said. “I’ve been challenged this whole year, and it’s going to be challenging for me. I’m always ready to step on the court to play, and all the support of my teammates helps me to grow.”

“She’s very engaged in this process, and that’s been a big part of her role on this team is to dominate the process,” said Diggins. “It’s not easy coming onto a team and trying to learn all these new things and playing with veterans. She has been heavily engaged and that’s where you really see her growth is in her engagement of the process, not having an ego, asking the right questions and learning from the answers.”

Williams led the Storm with eight of their 34 rebounds and seven of their 27 assists.

Rookie forward Mackenzie Holmes, who signed as a free agent on June 16, got into her second game and scored her first basket as a pro, hitting a lay-in off a feed from Wheeler with 1:35 left.

Wheeler came up with two steals, the first of which was the 300th of her career.

Seattle shot 49.3 percent from the floor (34 of 69). It also hit 20 of 23 at the free throw line, including 13-of-15 during the second quarter to help build a double-digit lead. That was the second straight game of 20 makes, following the 20-of-25 performance against Indiana on Tuesday.

Connecticut shot 47.6 percent (30 of 63). The Sun also turned it over 15 times, which the Storm converted into 17 points.

Aneesah Morrow came off the bench to lead Connecticut with 20 points. Bria Hartley added 19.

UP NEXT: The Storm heads to San Francisco to play the Golden State Valkyries on Sunday, June 29 at 5:30pm. The game will be broadcast on CW Seattle and available for Prime Video users in Washington State.

Game 16: Seattle vs Connecticut, 97-81

Storm Waive Brianna Fraser, Mackenzie Holmes and Serena Sundell