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Seattle Storm forward Nneka Ogwumike said the team must improve its consistency after a 69-58 loss to the Washington Mystics on Saturday night. Ogwumike, who scored 18 points in the first half but was held scoreless after halftime, highlighted the Storm’s need for stronger starts and sustained effort throughout games.
“We got to do better starting things off, we got to do better sustaining things,” Ogwumike said in a postgame press conference, via the Seattle Storm's YouTube channel. “I think a big takeaway is that we have some strength off the bench.”
Seattle fell into a deep hole early in the third quarter, going over five minutes without scoring. The Mystics capitalized with a 10-0 run, eventually building a 19-point lead. A late rally led by reserves Dominique Malonga, Erica Wheeler, Victoria Vivians and others helped the Storm trim the deficit to four with just over five minutes remaining, but Washington closed on a 6-0 run to seal the win.
“We came out in the second half, and the first unit just was not getting it done. Today our bench mob showed some serious resilience,” Ogwumike said.
Storm coach Noelle Quinn praised the bench for its energy and defense during the fourth-quarter run.
“I thought that unit gave us what we needed in that moment,” Quinn said, per Zachary Ward of Swish Appeal. “They fought hard to hold the Mystics to a nine-point quarter.”
Despite the comeback effort, Seattle struggled on both ends for much of the game, shooting just 33% from the field and making only five of 21 attempts from three-point range. The Storm were also outrebounded 44-28.
The loss dropped Seattle to 15-11 on the season, continuing a pattern of alternating wins and losses since the All-Star break. The team will look to regroup when it travels to face the Connecticut Sun on Monday. The Mystics, now 12-12, host the Phoenix Mercury on Sunday.
Information from the Associated Press contributed to this article.
