ARLINGTON, Texas – Breanna Stewart scored 36 points, becoming the fastest player in WNBA history with 2,500 points and 1,000 rebounds, but it was Jordin Canada who came up with the tying basket to force overtime and two key throws late in the extra session to help the Seattle Storm beat the Dallas Wings on Saturday night, 100-97.
Stewart already had reached 1,000 boards last season. She came into 2021 with 2,413 points and started Saturday’s game just 20 away from the 2,500 mark.
She got there on the first of two free throws with 3:11 left in the third quarter. Stewart then came up clutch in overtime with eight Seattle’s 14 points.
That made her the fourth-fastest player overall to reach the 2,500 mark. Cynthia Cooper got there in 117 games, Seimone Augustus in 120, and Elena Della Donne in 124.
The Storm (3-1) were down 85-81 after Arike Ogunbowale drained two free throws with 19.7 seconds left in regulation. Jewell Loyd, who finished with 25 points, buried a 3-pointer from the left corner at 11.8 seconds, cutting it to 85-84.
Needing to foul, Seattle sent Kayla Thornton of the Wings to the line with 9.9 seconds left. Thornton missed the first, but made the second, making it 86-84.
After a timeout, the Storm inbounded in front court. Canada took the ball into the lane and shot a right-handed floater from three feet in front. It bounced off almost every part of the rim and dropped through with 4.5 seconds left. Ogunbowale’s long trey for the win was well off the mark, setting up the extra five minutes.
Seattle did not get the lead in overtime until a driving lay-in by Stewart with 1:54 remaining produced a 94-93 edge. The lead changed hands three more times before Stewart went to the free throw line with 30.5 seconds left and the Storm down 97-96. She hit both.
Canada then drew an offensive foul from Ogunbowale with 15.4 seconds, left, thus giving the ball back to the Storm. Thornton fouled Canada with 12.9 seconds showing, and Canada drained both for a 100-97 lead.
Deep 3-point tries by Ogunbowale and Moriah Jefferson were both off the backboard before time expired.
Seattle had a 76-67 advantage with just less than six minutes remaining before Dallas roared back with an 18-5 scoring run for its 85-81 edge inside the final minute.
Ogunbowale led Dallas (1-1) with 28 points, and Marina Mabrey added 26.
The Storm, which has had slow first-half starts in its first three games, got off to a quick one on Saturday, putting eight straight on the board for a 10-2 lead. It grew to as many as nine at 22-13 late in the opening quarter.
Dallas climbed back into a 40-40 tie with 3:46 left in the half, but Loyd drained a 3-pointer on a third-chance opportunity to put Seattle right back on top at the 3:22 mark.
Back-to-back baskets gave the Wings their first lead of the night. Ogunbowale cut the margin to 43-42, then a 3-pointer from the right side by Mabrey put Dallas on top, 45-43. Seattle’s only point in the final 3:22 before the break was a free throw by Stewart with eight seconds left, leaving the Wings with a 45-44 halftime edge.
ALL ABOUT STEWIE
- The previous fastest player to 2,500 points plus 1,000 boards? That was none other than former Storm star and new Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Lauren Jackson. She reached that milestone in 136 games.
- Stewart made it another double-double – her third in four games – by grabbing 11 rebounds.
- Her 36 points was the highest total in the league this season.
- She also had five of Seattle’s season-high eight blocked shots.
- Per the Elias Sports Bureau, the most points previously scored by a player on the night she reached 2,500 was 31 by Lisa Leslie of Los Angeles on July 28, 2001 at Portland.
- It was Stewart’s 10th career game of 30-plus points.