Instant Takeaways: Diggins Leads Storm’s Fierce 21-Point Comeback in Win Over Lynx
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="2047"]
Completing a huge 35-point swing led by guard Skylar Diggins, the Seattle Storm pulled off their gutsiest win of the season in a 93-79 victory over the Minnesota Lynx on Thursday. Credit: John Mac [/caption]
Skylar Diggins and the Seattle Storm erased a 21-point deficit and created a 35-point swing in a miraculous, fiery 93-79 win over the Minnesota Lynx on Thursday, Aug. 28, at Target Center.
Seattle (21-19) handed Minnesota (30-8) just its eighth loss of the season, and the Storm own two of those wins over the league-leading Lynx. The Storm approached the second half with the same assertiveness that the Lynx had in the first two quarters, surging ahead and keeping their lead till the final buzzer.
Early on, there was nothing positive to say about Seattle’s performance. Later, there was almost nothing at all to criticize as the team became unstoppable on both ends of the court.
Here’s what we learned from a huge Thursday night win for the Storm.
Early woes give way near the end of the first half
Minnesota dominated immediately. It was clear which team was 30-7, and which was battling to even stay in the playoffs. The Storm looked flustered on offense, unable to adjust to the Lynx’s swarming defense. They wouldn’t have even cracked 10 first-quarter points if it weren’t for an Erica Wheeler triple with just a few seconds remaining in the period.
Seattle shot 4 for 18 in the opening quarter, while the Minnesota offense continued to look like the well-oiled machine they’ve built a reputation around in 2025. The Storm went to the second period trailing 25-12.
Minnesota had 13 fastbreak points in the first half, giving the Storm a taste of their own medicine. Seattle is generally used to dictating the pace of the game with their defense-to-offense approach, but it was the Lynx that got going and started pouring it on.
Even in the early madness, Dominique Malonga shone for the Storm. She limited Napheesa Collier while on the court and contributed six early points on offense. That helped keep Seattle somewhat in the game until the rest of the team began to find its shot.
The Storm mounted a late run in the second quarter after trailing by as much as 21. Seattle’s 14-3 run, highlighted by consecutive threes from Gabby Williams and Nneka Ogwumike, trimmed the game and made its deficit more manageable entering the second half.
Still, Seattle shot just 11 for 35 (31.4 percent) in the first half and trailed 46-33 at the break.
Seattle’s gutsiest comeback of the season
Diggins showed she can still take over a basketball game in the second half. She scored 13 points in the third quarter alone, leading a fierce Seattle comeback and a 34-point quarter by the Storm.
The Storm defense tightened up, mitigating McBride and Williams’ output — Minnesota’s stars of the first half — while giving a little more room to Collier. That still hindered Minnesota’s offense, as two top scoring options were reduced to one.
Following a huge 19-4 run, the Storm took their first lead of the game since early in the first quarter with 55 seconds remaining in the third period, 64-63. They kept their foot on the gas pedal, and Diggins hit a 3-pointer with 1.4 seconds left in the quarter to push Seattle’s lead to four.
Seattle outscored Minnesota 34-17 in the third period alone. The Lynx looked completely demoralized — flabbergasted, even — into the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, the Storm kept growing their lead, galvanizing the bench and lineup with huge threes and Ezi Magbegor blocks on the interior.
After looking completely gasless in the first two periods, the Storm showed more resilience than they have all season and cruised to a 14-point victory.
3-point barrage fuels Storm offense
The Storm are 10-0 this season when sinking eight or more threes. Their record, while extremely strong in those scenarios, includes so few wins because Seattle has rarely shot the ball well from beyond the arc this season.
On Thursday, however, Seattle sank a season-high 16 threes. Williams, Diggins and Wheeler all hit four apiece, while Ogwumike had two. Seattle kept hoisting them up in the second half, hitting 16 of 33 total attempts. Minnesota made just 9 of 24 attempts from beyond the arc.
Entering the game, Seattle was ninth in the league in 3-pointers made per game (7.3). The Storm more than doubled that total, and the energy it provided the team may have been even more important than the points added.
Diggins sparks comeback, but team finishes it
After her third-quarter burst, Diggins totaled 23 points, three rebounds, five assists and four steals in the Seattle win. But the Storm had four total players in double figures, as Gabby Williams totaled 16 points, four rebounds, three assists, one steal and two blocks.
Malonga (13 points, seven rebounds and two blocks), Ogwumike (12 points and nine rebounds) and Magbegor (eight points, seven rebounds and five blocks) all nearly notched double-doubles. Wheeler wrapped up the top group with 13 points, two rebounds, three assists and three steals.
All of the top contributors posted quality games on both ends of the court. They couldn’t stop anything or buy a bucket in the first half before completely flipping the game on its head in the final two periods.
If the Storm maintain that level of fight through their final four games, they could end up in a much better place in terms of playoff positioning.
Up Next
Seattle returns home for its final four games of the season. The first game will be against the Chicago Sky (9-28) on Saturday, Aug. 30. The Storm have fairly handily won each of their first two games against the Sky this season.
However, they are just 8-10 at Climate Pledge Arena this season and 13-9 on the road. The Storm — currently in seventh place in the WNBA — need a strong final push to improve their playoff seeding.
