Late run carries Storm past Sparks

A dominant fourth quarter capped by Seattle's 10-0 run in the closing minutes powered the Storm to a 95-79 win over the visiting Los Angeles Sparks in Tuesday's Commissioner Cup matchup.

Seattle never trailed but Los Angeles -- coming in on its first winning streak of the season after back-to-back wins over the weekend -- remained in striking distance throughout.

That is, until the final stretch. With the Storm holding a 76-70 lead, Nneka Ogwumike hit a 3-pointer at the 2:41 mark. To ignite the decisive flurry in which the Storm poured in 10 points over 1:28, including a Skylar Diggins-Smith 3-pointer and Jewell Loyd basket.

The trio of Ogwumike, Loyd and Diggins-Smith paced Seattle at 26, 21 and 19 points, respectively. Ogwumike complemented her game-high point total with eight rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. Loyd grabbed six rebounds and blocked two more shots, and Diggins-Smith finished with six assists and five rebounds.

Ezi Magbegor struggled offensively, shooting just 3 of 10 from the floor, but snared a game-high 13 rebounds, dished out four assists and blocked three shots to help the Storm to their seventh win in their last eight games.

Sami Whitcomb added nine points off the bench, and Jordan Horston chipped in four points, five rebounds and two assists. One of Horston's assists boosted the Storm into the fourth quarter, as she found Ogwumike on a long fling to set up a layup just before the third-quarter buzzer.

The score turned a three-point Seattle lead to five, and Diggins-Smith added to it to open the final period. The Storm lead never dipped below five points the rest of the way.

Dearica Hamby recorded her 10th double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds in the Los Angeles loss. She was the only Sparks starter to reach double-figures scoring.

Li Yueru shot 6 of 9 from the floor and 6 of 6 at the foul line en route to a career-high 18 points. Aari McDonald added 15 points.

--Field Level Media