Seattle Storm use 1st half onslaught to hold off Dallas Wings

ARLINGTON, Texas — Nneka Ogwumike scored 23 points and grabbed 19 rebounds and Skylar Diggins scored 21 points and distributed nine assists and the Seattle Storm held off Dallas in the second half to beat the Wings 79-71 on Monday night.

Gabby Williams scored 17 points for Seattle (1-1) which as a team distributed 25 assists on 29-made baskets.

Dallas rookie Paige Bueckers scored 19 points and distributed eight assists, NaLyssa Smith and reserve Maddy Siegrist scored 12 points apiece and reserve Teaira McCowan 10 for the Wings. Arike Ogunbowale struggled from the field shooting 2 for 14 and scoring eight points.

Dallas made just 4 of 19 3-point attempts.

Despite falling behind by 17 points in the first half to hot shooting Seattle and trailing 56-41 at the break, Dallas rallied and drew within 64-61 with 46 seconds left in the third on basket by McCowan but it never got closer.

The Storm finished 9-for-11 shooting (81.8%) from 3-point range before halftime and were 18-for-36 shooting overall. Seattle finished 29 for 70 (41.4%) for the game.

After Dallas posted a 26-25 lead after the first quarter, Diggins buried a 24-foot 3 to break a 30-all tie with 7:28 before halftime and the Storm led for the remainder. The basket ignited a 14-4 run and Seattle recorded its first double-digit lead at 44-34.

Williams’ 3 with 1:23 left before the break made it 54-37.