Diggins-Smith’s big second half leads Seattle Storm past Aces

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Jewell Loyd had 25 points and nine rebounds, Skylar Diggins-Smith scored 19 of her 21 points in the second half to go with seven assists, and the Seattle Storm beat the Las Vegas Aces 78-65 on Friday night for their sixth straight victory.

Seattle Storm 78, Las Vegas Aces 65: Box Score

Diggins-Smith scored nine points during Seattle’s 11-2 run, including two 3-pointers, a three-point play and a nice pass to Nneka Ogwumike for a layup, to extend their lead to 74-61 with 2:01 left. Diggins-Smith capped the scoring with 14 seconds remaining.

Nneka Ogwumike and Ezi Magbegor each had a double-double for Seattle (7-3), which made 20 of 22 free throws. Magbegor had 14 points, 15 rebounds and five assists, and Ogwumike added 12 points and 11 boards.

Loyd reached double-digit scoring for the 51st straight game, extending the longest active streak. She also reached 5,000 career points.

A’ja Wilson had 29 points, 13 coming from the free throw line, and 11 rebounds for Las Vegas (5-3). Kelsey Plum added 18 points and Jackie Young, averaging 20.4 points, was just 1 of 12 from the field to finish with three points.

Seattle led 36-28 at halftime behind Loyd’s 15 points, and Magbegor’s 12 points and nine rebounds. The Aces were just 10 of 34 from the field (29%) in the first half with 10 turnovers. Plum led Las Vegas with 14 points, while Wilson was held to six on 2-of-7 shooting.

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