Storm fail to complete comeback against Las Vegas Aces for third straight loss
By Christan Braswell, edited by Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - In the win over the Las Vegas Aces on May 25th, a week ago on the day, our Seattle Storm scored 34 points in the first quarter, setting a league record for the 2025 season. In their rematch Sunday, the Storm posted a season-low 30 points in the first half and was outscored 23-14 in the fourth quarter as the Aces handed them their third straight loss, 75-70.
Seattle forward Gabby Williams opened the game with a 5-0 run of her own. She led all scorers with 20 points on a 62.5% true shooting clip. Guard Skylar Diggins added eleven points, five assists, and six turnovers. On an off night shooting-wise, forward Nneka Ogwumike chipped in nine points on 4-for-13 shooting and eight rebounds.
The Aces were held scoreless for the first five minutes of the third quarter, but Seattle’s offense couldn’t muster a quality stretch of possessions to retake the lead. Reigning MVP A’ja Wilson and Aces guard Dana Evans combined for 12 of the team’s 17 points.
From the final seconds of the third and into the fourth quarter, Aces rookie Aaliyah Nye scored eight straight points for Las Vegas, giving them their largest lead at 17, for a score of 64-47.
Storm rookie Dominique Malonga had one of her strongest showings of the season to date, scoring Seattle’s first eight points in the fourth quarter.
After going scoreless for the first 35 minutes of the game, veteran guard Erica Wheeler went on a 5-0 run of her own to bring the deficit to nine at 69-60 with five minutes left in the game.
An 8-0 run, capped off by a layup from Williams, Seattle narrowed it down to a one-possession game with 37 seconds left on the clock. Free throws from Aces star Jewell Loyd ended the game at 75-70, handing the Storm their third consecutive loss.
Quick Storm notes
After Las Vegas scored 10 fast-break points before halftime, the Storm defense held the Aces without any fast-break points in the second half.
Seattle has now scored at least 10 second-chance points in three consecutive games and outscored the Aces 17-7 in second-chance points, the Storm’s largest positive differential in second-chance points since May 19 of last season.
The Storm’s reserves scored 16 of the team’s 23 fourth-quarter points, including all of Seattle’s points during a 13-5 run.
Storm forward Gabby Williams scored the team’s first five points on her way to tying her career highs for points (15) and three-pointers (3) in a single half.
Williams finished with a team-high 20 points on 50% (8-for-16) shooting from the field and 50% (4-for-8) from deep, tying her career high with four made threes.
She has now scored in double figures and made at least one three-pointer in six consecutive games, which are both the longest such streaks of her career.
Storm point guard Skylar Diggins scored 11 points to go with four rebounds and a team-high five assists.
Diggins recorded her 300th assist with the Storm, tying Sue Bird for the fastest in franchise history to 300 assists (47 games), and also passed Betty Lennox for 10th on the Storm’s all-time assists list.
Storm center Ezi Magbegor grabbed a game-high nine boards and added seven points, two assists and a block on 60% (3-for-5) shooting from the field.
This marks Magbegor’s 50th career game with at least eight rebounds and a block, which is the third-most such games in Storm franchise history.
Storm forward Dominique Malonga matched her career high with eight points as she scored eight consecutive Storm points in the fourth quarter.
Malonga passed Liz Cambage as the youngest player to score at least eight points in a quarter since the league switched to quarters in 2006, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
What’s next?
Following this afternoon’s home loss to the Las Vegas Aces in a rematch of last Sunday, with this game being the second contest of a three-game homestand, our Seattle Storm finish out the home set on Tuesday. That Tuesday, June 3rd game at Climate Pledge Arena is a rematch of the first win of the year for the Storm as they’ll take on the Dallas Wings, who will be without rookie phenom Paige Bueckers. That game will be broadcast live on ESPN, with a tipoff time of 6:30PM PDT. For those in the Seattle area, unable to attend that game at Climate Pledge Arena with us, and looking to be surrounded by fans of the Storm when you’re watching this game , you can always head to the official home of Circling Seattle Sports: Rough & Tumble Pub! With more than enough televisions for ALL of the sports, local brews, great food, there isn't a better place to catch a game and R&T is an especially great place to watch any Storm game considering that it’s Seattle's home to women's sports!
This game is the second “Commissioners Cup” game that the Storm will play this year, as the first six games in the month of June that Seattle plays will all be in that in-season tournament. Seattle is trying to stop their current losing skid when they match up against Dallas on Tuesday, and you’d have to think that they’ll have a strong chance to do so considering the struggles that the Wings have had already this year and the fact that they’ll be without Bueckers.
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