Breanna Stewart hit the game-winning free throws with 6.7 seconds to play as part of her season-high 32 points as the visiting Seattle Storm beat the Dallas Wings 89-88 on Friday in the first of back-to-back games between the teams in Arlington, Texas.
The teams square off again on Sunday when they will meet for the third time in nine days.
The Storm (7-5) led by a point at halftime and by as many as 12 in third quarter before Dallas rallied to score on eight consecutive possessions and take an 85-83 advantage on Tyasha Harris’s jumper with 2:16 to play.
Arike Ogunbowale’s three-point play with 12.9 seconds pushed the Wings back to the lead. But Stewart’s two free throws after a foul by Satou Sabally in the final seconds were the difference as Ogunbowale missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Stewart added 11 rebounds for her first double double of the season and 49th of her career.
Jewell Loyd added 18 points and Ezi Magbegor scored 13 for Seattle.
Ogunbowale scored 23 points to lead Dallas (6-6) while Isabelle Harrison tallied 19 and Allisha Gray had 12 for the Wings. Dallas played without Marina Mabrey, who is in the league’s COVID protocol.
The Storm led 22-12 before Dallas forged a 10-0 run that was jumpstarted when the three starters that began the game on the bench entered for the final three minutes of the first quarter. Seattle got the period’s final basket from Jantel Lavender to go up 24-22 after the first 10 minutes.
Seattle pushed its advantage to 10 points after Loyd’s 3-pointer at the 7:37 mark of the second period. Then the Wings again rallied, tying the game at 34 on Gray’s 3-pointer with 4:32 to play in the half.
Dallas forged a 41-40 lead on two free throws by Ogunbowale before Loyd’s tip-in with 12.4 seconds to play gave Seattle a 42-41 edge at the break.
Stewart led all scorers in the first half with 13 points while Loyd added 10 for the Storm, which outshot Dallas 51.4 percent to 37.8 percent over the first two periods. Harrison paced the Wings with nine points, with Gray and Ogunbowale adding eight each in the half.
–Field Level Media