Ezi Magbegor scores 18, Jordan Horston adds 15 as Storm beats Dream 81-70

SEATTLE (AP) — Ezi Magbegor scored 18 points and Jordan Horston added 16 to lead five Seattle players scoring in double figures and the Storm beat the Atlanta Dream 81-70 Sunday.

Jewell Loyd had 14 points and seven assists, Sami Whitcomb scored 13 and Nneka Ogwumike finished with 10 points, 12 rebounds, two steals and two blocks for the Storm (16-8).

Atlanta cut its deficit to a point on two occasions early in the fourth quarter but the Storm answered each time and used a 13-2 run, beginning with two free throws by Loyd with 5:33 to play, that gave Seattle its biggest lead of the game when Horston’s layup capped the spurt and made it 81-67 with 1:42 remaining.

Atlanta (7-16) has lost seven straight games and 10 of 11. Rhyne Howard, the 2022 WNBA rookie of the year and a two-time WNBA All-Star, has missed 10 consecutive games since she suffered an ankle injury during a 68-55 loss to the Minnesota Lynx on June 19 in Minneapolis. The Dream’s 78-74 win at Connecticut on June 28 is their only victory since Howard went down.

Maya Caldwell scored a career-high 19 points to lead the Dream and Aerial Powers added 14 points, Tina Charles and Allisha Gray scored 12 apiece.

After the Dream was called for technical foul (defensive 3-seconds), Skylar Diggins-Smith hit the free throws, Victoria Vivians made a 3-pointer and Whitcomb followed with a pair of 3s just 36 seconds apart before Owgumike hit a step-back jumper on the baseline to give Seattle a 40-30 lead and cap a 12-0 run with 6:16 left in the first half. The Storm led the rest of the way.

Seattle didn’t score again until Whitcomb hit two free throws with 1:21 left. Despite missing their final 11 field-goal attempts of the second quarter, the Storm led 42-36 at halftime.

Seattle had eight steals — including two apiece for Diggins-Smith, Whitcomb and Horston — and forced 11 Dream turnovers in the first half. The Storm had 13 assists on 16 field goals while shooting 40% (16 for 40) overall and hitting 4 of 15 (27%) from 3-point range.

Diggins-Smith left the game (ankle) late in the first half after a collision with Atlanta’s Allisha Gray and did not return.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball