Ezi Magbegor, Storm swat away Sky for third straight win

Marina Mabrey and Chennedy Carter hit the court hard and stared up in disbelief as if to say: “What was that?”

On a couple of momentum-swinging plays in the first quarter, the Chicago Sky guards dribbled through a thicket of Storm defenders and made it to the rim for an apparent layup before Ezi Magbegor emphatically swatted their attempts as they fell awkwardly to the floor.

It was that type of game for Magbegor, who seemingly launched an early bid for WNBA defensive player of the year honors while Skylar Diggins-Smith and Jewell Loyd led the way offensively for the Storm, who won their third straight game 77-68 Tuesday at Wintrust Arena.

Diggins-Smith connected on 7 of 12 field-goal attempts for a game-high 21 points.

Not to be outdone, Loyd, who grew up 15 miles northwest of Chicago in Lincolnwood, Illinois, finished with 19 points — one shy of her career 20.5 points per average game against the Sky, which is her highest against any team on the road.

And Nneka Ogwumike, who has scored in double figures in every game she’s played this season, added 10 points and five rebounds.

Still, it was the fourth member of the Storm’s All-Star quartet who set the defensive tone with five rebounds, four blocks and three steals to go along with 13 points.

“The first thing I think about when I think about Ezi is she’s an amazing person,” coach Noelle Quinn said about the 24-year-old Magbegor. “To be so young, she has a lot of maturity about her. Her poise, her work ethic and her ability to connect with people — she’s special.

“What she’s doing on the court is steadily improve. She’s been very steady on both ends of the floor. Defensively, we know that she’s our anchor. She’s always in the right spots and using her instincts.”

The Storm led 38-37 at halftime and appeared to put the game away when they outscored the Sky 26-15 in the third and scored eight straight to start the fourth for a 71-52 lead with 7:49 left.

However, Chicago used a 12-0 run to cut the deficit to 71-64 in less than three minutes.

Soon after, the Sky had an advantage on a fast break attempt and a chance to cut the margin to two points when Loyd stole a long pass from Mabrey and passed to Diggins-Smith for a dagger three-pointer that put Seattle up 76-68.

The Storm wrap up their two-game road trip on Thursday against the Indiana Fever.