Seattle Storm make quick work of struggling Connecticut Sun

SEATTLE – Needing a feel-good game to get back on track following an upset loss in their previous outing, the Storm jumped on the Connecticut Sun at the start and ran away with a 97-81 victory Friday night.

Seattle had little difficulty dispatching Connecticut, which has lost eight straight, with a dominant performance that produced several highlights for the crowd of 10,776 at Climate Pledge Arena to savor.

“We wanted to have a better effort than we did on Tuesday,” said Skylar Diggins, noting a 94-86 loss to the Indiana Fever. “We wanted to put this team away early.”

Diggins, who scored a game-high 24 points, got things going with red-hot first-quarter shooting while canning all four shots, including two three-pointers.

Gabby Williams, who flirted with a triple double, drew a loud ovation after ripping the ball away from unsuspecting rookie forward Aneesah Morrow and racing to a layup. She finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

Nneka Ogwumike scored 10 of her 16 points in the decisive third quarter while Ezi Magbegor finished with 12 points for the Storm, who shot 49.3% on field goals and out-rebounded the Sun 34 to 28.

“We have to command this game from the beginning,” coach Noelle Quinn said during a pregame interview. “We know that we have a lot of firepower everywhere, so we have to address that in our start.

“The other thing is our rebounding. I think no matter who we’re playing, it’s going to always be a focus on top of the scout.”

Seattle went up 24-19 after the first quarter and took a 52-38 lead into halftime.

The Storm blew the game open with an 18-5 run at the start of the third quarter that included four three-pointers — one from Erica Wheeler and Williams and two from Ogwumike.

Ogwumike’s last three put Seattle on top 70-43 with 5:02 left in the third.

Connecticut, which played without injured sharpshooter Marina Mabrey (ankle), received 20 points off the bench from Morrow. Jacy Sheldon and Bria Hartley each added 15 points and Olivia Nelson-Ododa had 11 for the Sun (2-14).

Following their three-game homestand, the Storm (10-6) embark on a four-game road trip starting with Sunday’s game at Golden State.