Short-Handed Tempo Fall to Storm 90-78 in Seattle

The Seattle Storm pulled away from the Toronto Tempo in the fourth quarter to secure a 90-78 victory Wednesday, August 26, at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. The Storm entered the final period holding a 64-61 lead before outscoring Toronto 26-17 in the fourth quarter. The game was played in front of 11,558 fans.

Toronto opened the game with a 19-23 first quarter, taking a four-point deficit into the second period. The Tempo responded with a 23-20 second quarter, but Seattle held a 43-42 advantage at halftime. There were 11 lead changes and six ties through the first half.

Kiki Rice was one of the key contributors for Toronto throughout the first half. She scored 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting and added two rebounds and two assists. Isabelle Harrison had nine points and eight rebounds at halftime, while Laura Juskaite scored nine points and had four rebounds.

For Seattle, Jade Melbourne led the Storm with 11 points and six assists through two quarters. Flau’jae Johnson added 10 points, while Dominique Malonga had eight points and four rebounds. Seattle shot 40 percent from the field in the first half, compared with 39 percent for Toronto.

The third quarter remained close. Toronto briefly extended its lead to five points, but Seattle continued to respond. Awa Fam tied the game at 57-57 with a pair of free throws with 3:28 remaining. Stefanie Dolson then gave Seattle a 59-57 lead with a floating shot at 3:05. Zia Cooke’s two free throws with 1:18 remaining pushed the Storm’s lead to 61-58, and Fam added a three-pointer with 47.7 seconds left to make it 64-58. Toronto answered with an Isabelle Harrison turnaround bank shot and an Ornella Bankole free throw, leaving Seattle ahead 64-61 after three quarters.

Seattle took control early in the fourth quarter. Zia Cooke’s two free throws extended the lead to 66-61, followed by an Ornella Bankole driving layup for Toronto. Dominique Malonga then scored on a layup, and Katie Lou Samuelson hit a three-pointer to give Seattle a 71-63 advantage with 8:20 remaining.

Jade Melbourne added a driving finger-roll layup to make it 73-63 before Temi Fagbenle answered with a three-pointer. Malonga responded with a jumper, and Melbourne scored again to put Seattle ahead 77-66 with 5:51 remaining. Flau’jae Johnson later scored on a driving floating shot to make it 79-68, and Malonga followed with a turnaround fadeaway to extend the lead to 81-68.

Johnson continued to provide offense late, scoring a fast-break layup with 3:09 remaining to give Seattle its largest lead of the game at 83-69. Toronto continued to fight back behind Rice and Harrison. Rice scored a fast-break layup, while Harrison made multiple free throws, and Rice converted four free throws during the final 1:24 to cut the deficit to 85-78 with 54.7 seconds remaining.

Seattle closed the game from there. Melbourne made one of two free throws with 51 seconds remaining, Johnson scored a 20-foot jumper with 26.7 seconds left, and Malonga finished the scoring with a driving layup with 8.4 seconds remaining for the 90-78 final.

Malonga finished with 18 points, nine-of-19 shooting, seven rebounds, two assists, three steals and one block. Johnson scored 20 points on nine-of-15 shooting and added three rebounds. Melbourne had 16 points, seven assists and six rebounds. Fam and Cooke each scored 10 points, while Katie Lou Samuelson added eight points, six rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks.

Rice finished with 24 points, six-of-12 shooting and a perfect 11-of-11 from the free-throw line. She also recorded three rebounds, five assists and one steal. Harrison finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds, while Juskaite had 14 points and nine rebounds.

Seattle finished the game shooting 44.3 percent from the field and 22.2 percent from three-point range. Toronto shot 37.1 percent from the field and 15.4 percent from three. The Storm held advantages in points in the paint, 50-44, and second-chance points, 17-9. Seattle also committed 11 turnovers compared with 17 for Toronto.