Hiedeman’s Career-High Not Enough as Seattle Storm Fall 105-95 to Indiana Fever
By Teren Kowatsch
Seattle, WA - A new career-high of 33 points from guard Natasha Hiedeman wasn’t enough as the Seattle Storm fell 105-95 to the Indiana Fever on Tuesday at Climate Pledge Arena.
The Storm were unable to overcome a 37-point first quarter from the visiting Fever, who owned a 17-point lead after the first 10 minutes.
Fever guard Sophie Cunningham drew a healthy amount of cheers from the visiting crowd and boos from the pro-Seattle crowd for recent perceived anti-trans comments (and received crowds of protesters and supporters outside the arena before the game). She scored 11 points in the first half, nine of which came from beyond the arc, to assist Indiana’s early run.
“Seattle and this organization and Climate Pledge, we always want to be an area where people feel welcome coming into this building,” Storm head coach Sonia Raman said after the game. “I think we’ve always done a really good job with that. I know our organization was working closely with Climate Pledge and with security to just make sure that everybody feels safe and included and welcome when they walk through this door and from what I understand, that was successful.”
After the first quarter, Seattle upped the energy and was able to cut off the Fever’s transition and paint game, which resulted in quicker possessions and a 27-to-21 quarter for the Storm, who cut the visitors’ lead to 58-47 going into halftime.
“We got to create more possessions,” Johnson said in a postgame interview. “That’s just a way to create more possessions in a game. The best way to win a game is to get more shots. Tonight, we had more shots. They just made more.”
The Storm’s defensive pressure on the interior was assisted by the departure of Indiana center Aliyah Boston, who exited the game with just under five minutes to go in the first half after falling to the court with Flau’jae Johnson going for the ball.
Coming out of halftime, Seattle continued to chip away at the Indiana lead.
The Storm cut the Fever lead to as little as two points with 5:51 left in the third after center Awa Fam hit a 3-pointer. Seattle was unable to make a final push to take the lead but went into the final 10 minutes down 76-72, still within striking distance of Indiana.
The Fever came out in the final quarter red-hot from beyond the arc and outscored the Storm 9-4 with a trio of 3-pointers in the first minute-and-a-half of the fourth. Indiana led 85-76 after the early spurt.
Seattle wasn’t able to cut its deficit to less than seven points the rest of the game and Indiana was able to walk out of Climate Pledge with the 10-point victory.
“I think once we were able to limit them more in transition in the second quarter, and it got into a little bit more of a halfcourt game, our ball pressure picked up,” Raman said. “So, even in transition we were trying to find them a little bit earlier and kill the break as early as we could. … Our deflections, our activity, that’s when we’re at our best, when we can be active. … Using our length and our speed and our quickness and I thought they did a good job in that second quarter of playing a little bit more on a string, which is what we always need to do.”
Hiedeman added six rebounds and four assists to her career-best 33 points. Johnson, who fouled out with 1:15 left in the game, finished with 16 points, three rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block.
The Storm will head on the road for a four-game road trip, beginning with a showdown against the Atlanta Dream at 4:30 p.m. PT on Friday at the Gateway Center Arena.
