Seattle defense holds off late Washington charge in 83-77 win

The Storm forced 22 Mystic turnovers and scored 29 points off them in victory

WASHINGTON – The Seattle Storm got just enough points … and left the Washington Mystics with not enough time.

Jewell Loyd scored five of her 18 points and came up with a crucial steal in the final 2:25, and Nneka Ogwumike scored the last two of her 24 points on a lay-in with 48 seconds left as the Storm hung on for an 83-77 victory on Tuesday night at the Entertainment & Sports Arena.

Ezi Magbegor produced her eighth double-double of the season, this one with 13 points and 14 rebounds. Skylar Diggins-Smith added 17 points and handed out five assists, the fifth one coming on Ogwumike’s final lay-in.

The Storm built several double-digit leads, the last of those at 55-45 midway through the third quarter.

That’s when the Mystics (6-22), who now have lost five straight and haven’t notched a victory since July 10, started to climb back and stayed within striking distance the rest of the way.

The margin was down to four at 61-57 to start the fourth quarter. The Storm pushed it back to seven at 68-61. Washington finally narrowed it down to one at 75-74 on a pair of Shakira Austin free throws at the 1:38 mark.

After Seattle came up empty on its ensuing trip downcourt, Loyd picked off a pass from Brittney Sykes and went back the other way for a lay-in and a 77-74 lead with 1:10 remaining. The Mystics turned it over again on their next possession, and Ogwumike subsequently made it 79-74 at 48.2 seconds.

Loyd rebounded a miss by Sykes, and Diggins-Smith was fouled with 18.1 seconds to go. She missed the first but made the second for an 80-74 advantage. Sykes answered with a 3-point bomb with 11 seconds showing for 80-77.

Jordan Horston hit one of her two free throws at 8.9 seconds to make it 81-77. The Mystics came out of a timeout and immediately turned it over again. Loyd drained a pair of foul shots with 5.4 seconds remaining, effectively clinching it.

In spite of how close it got during the final few minutes, the Storm never trailed after Washington scored the first five points of the game. Seattle answered with a 15-0 run.

Diggins-Smith started it with a short jumper and wound up tallying eight of those 15 points, and Ogwumike chipped in five, part of her 14-point production during the opening period. Seattle kept the Mystics off the scoreboard for a stretch of 3 minutes, 40 seconds.

A nine-point lead at the end of the first quarter (26-17) narrowed to four at 28-24 early in the second quarter. The Storm responded with eight straight points, expanding it back to double-digits at 36-24. They then put up the final six points of the half to take a 44-30 advantage into the break.

Ariel Atkins finished with 25 points and Austin had 24 for the Mystics.

— Seattle forced Washington into 22 turnovers, converting those into 29 points. That’s the most points the Storm have scored off turnovers since June 2022. On Tuesday, 19 of those points came during the first half.

— However, Seattle turned it over 16 times, ending a club-record streak of 20 straight games with 15 or fewer turnovers. That was the fifth-longest such streak in WNBA history.

— Neither team shot well. The Storm finished at 38.6 percent (27 of 70), and the Mystics were at 38.9 percent (28 of 72).

— Seattle did have another solid night at the free throw line, draining 26 of 30 (86.7 percent). That was 13 more makes than Washington (13 of 19).

— The Storm have won all three games against the Mystics this season, including both in D.C.

The Storm has a five-day break before beginning a three-game homestand next Monday, Aug. 26, against these same Mystics, tipping off at 7:00 p.m. in Climate Pledge Arena (Fox 13+ / Prime Video Washington).

—— StormBasketball.com ——