Former Notre Dame guards Jewell Loyd (39 points) and Arike Ogunbowale (41 points) both went off for career highs Saturday afternoon at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas with Loyd’s Seattle Storm defeating Ogunbowale’s Dallas Wings 109-103.
Loyd dropped 25 on the strength of six threes in the first half before being held scoreless in the third and coming through heroically in the fourth. She was aided by a 4-of-4 three-point effort from teammate Ezi Magbegor, who had never made more than two triples in a single game and was shooting 21.1 percent from deep on the season entering the contest.
Loyd, who added five rebounds and five assists and was 7-of-12 from beyond the arc, made what appeared to be a dagger three that made the score 104-95 with 1:03 remaining. Dallas (5-6) wasn’t done though, as a Natasha Howard steal led to an Ogunbowale three that cut it to 104-100 with 33 ticks to go. The Storm (3-7) were still able to ice the game with a 5-of-6 effort at the stripe from that point on.
Loyd made a mid-range fade that made it 92-89 Seattle with 3:36 remaining and made an absolutely filthy behind-the-back dribble before another mid-range fade that made it 97-92 at 2:23. She also had 2-of-2 trips to the stripe that made it 99-93 and 101-95 with 1:57 and 1:32…
