Stewart hits two free throws with 6.7 left to lift Seattle to win
ARLINGTON, Texas — Breanna Stewart scored a season-high 32 points including two free throws with 6.7 left to lift Seattle to an 89-88 win over Dallas on Friday night at College Park Center.
Stewart secured her first double-double of the season by pulling down 11 rebounds in addition to her season-high 32 points. 10 of those points came in the fourth quarter as she fought to keep the Storm (7-5) in the game while the Wings (6-6) rallied late outscored them 29-23 over the final period.
The fourth quarter was a wild back and forth battle which was both teams seemingly scoring at will and featured six leads changes and seven ties. Seattle held a 66-54 lead with just over minute to go in the third, but Dallas went on an 20-7 run over the next six minutes to take a 74-73 lead with 5:18 to go. That set up a back-and-forth finish which saw neither team lead by more than one possession the rest of the way.
The Wings led 85-83 with under a minute to go when Stewart put the Storm back up with a three-point play with a driving layup and the free throw with :40.7 seconds left. The Storm then forced a turnover on the other end and Seattle extended the lead to two with a free throw by Briann January with :29.4 seconds to go. But Arike Ogunbowale would put Dallas back on top with a three-point play after a questionable foul call on Ezi Magbegor fouled the Storm center out and made it 88-87 Wings with :12.9 to go.
After a timeout, the Storm put the ball right back in Stewart’s hands. She rewarded the decision by driving to the rim and drawing a shooting foul with :06.7 seconds to go. She would convert both free throws to put Seattle up 89-88. Out of timeouts, Dallas got the ball in quickly to Ogunbowale, who quickly ran down the court and fired up a contest, off-balance three-pointer which rattled off as the horn sounded. It was in nearly an identical spot as she hit a dagger three-pointer to beat the Storm when the two met in Seattle last year.
Jewell Loyd had another solid game, scoring 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting, adding five assists and four rebounds. Magbegor contributed 13 points with six rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. Gabby Williams had just six points, but recorded a career-high nine assists and played solid defense against Ogunbowale, who had a team-high 23 points though it came on 6-of-17 shooting and eight coming from the free throw line.
The Wings also threatened Seattle from the free throw line, going 21-for-22, with eight from Arike Ogunbowale. The Storm conversely made only eight free throws on just 13 attempts, going 61.5% from the charity stripe.
Seattle shot a season-best 55.2% from the field, significantly better than Dallas’ 44.1%, but were almost doomed by turnovers. The Storm turned over the ball 18 times, and Dallas capitalized with 21 points from those turnovers alone.
Seattle’s 28 assists were the team’s second most this season, led by Williams’ career high. Sue Bird added seven assists as well, including two highlight-reel bounce passes.
The Storm return to College Park Center on Sunday to face the Wings for the final time this season at 1 p.m. PT on Fox 13+ and Prime Video (WA only).