Nneka Ogwumike returns to Seattle, leads Sparks past Storm
Nneka Ogwumike didn't want to leave Seattle.
Not after the Storm fell two points shy of advancing to the second round of the playoffs last September and lost to the Las Vegas Aces for the second straight year in the postseason.
However, the 10-time All-Star forward, who led the Storm in scoring and rebounding during her two-year tenure, realized her short stint was over when the team didn't retain coach Noelle Quinn.
"It became a reality when they decided to move in another direction with the coaching staff," Ogwumike said. "It became a reality for all of us. … No hard feelings or anything like that. I'm grateful for my time here."
In her first game against her old team, Ogwumike received a warm reception from the Climate Pledge Arena crowd before scoring a game-high 24 points and leading the Los Angeles Sparks to an 88-83 victory Wednesday night.
"Nobody wants to play against Nneka because she's (a) legend of this game," Storm forward Jordan Horston said. "I learned a lot while she was here. … I always love seeing Nneka. That's my girl. She came in and swooped me up and took me in and taught me a lot. I'm forever grateful for her.
"But when you step on the court, you kind of forget about all of that. We're not teammates anymore. It's about who's on the Storm team. After the game, it's all laughs and giggles and sisterhood again. It's good seeing them, but it's kind of weird seeing them on the other side."
Ogwumike made a triumphant return alongside guard Erica Wheeler, who expressed gratitude for her one season with the Storm last year.
"Being here at Seattle last year brought life back to my career," said Wheeler who spent the previous years (2023 and '24) with the Indiana Fever. "Just going from Indiana, not really playing where I kind of just fell off the face of the Earth for a little bit. Then being able to come here in Seattle and play a role that I was OK with and killing it, and then being able to be embraced by these fans, like literally pumped life back into me.
"I never lost my love for the game, but I was definitely losing confidence, like this might be it and this is not looking too good. Coming to Seattle and them embracing me how they did, and to have the opportunity that the owners and the coaching staff gave me, I wouldn't change it. I wouldn't change anything."
On second thought, Wheeler would change how things ended.
"Hell yeah, I wanted to run it back, but that was their decision to make and you have no choice, but to live with it and be OK with it," she said. "That's the business side of things. … But honestly, I never got an offer from Seattle, and it is what it is. Obviously, they moved on and went in a different direction and that's cool."
The new-look Storm, which lost their top five scorers from a 23-21 finish last season, are no longer suffering lopsided losses anymore with second-year center Dominique Malonga playing her third game after missing eight due to a concussion.
Malonga has provided a boost to an offense that's ranked last in the WNBA at 76.7 points per game. In the past two games, the Storm have scored 91 and 88 points.
However, their once vaunted defense has allowed 88, 101 and 88 points, respectively, in the last three outings.
"Just defending without fouling and being able to keep our opponents off the glass better," coach Sonia Raman said when asked about the defensive miscues. "There's some good rotations. There's some good initial parts of our defensive possessions, but I think those two are the areas that we really need to shore up."
Los Angeles converted 21 of 25 free throws while Seattle was 14 of 16. The Sparks also had 13 offensive rebounds and the Storm had five.
"The offense is coming together for sure," said guard Natisha Hiedeman, who led the Storm with 16 points and five assists. "L.A. was the third-ranked offensive team in the league and we knew that it was going to be a big defensive game for us. Obviously, you want to get stops, but they got elite scorers on their team so it was tough."
Ogwumike gave her old team fits while connecting on nine of 18 shots and collecting nine rebounds.
"Just a high-level player, really versatile, can get inside and out, crash the glass for offensive rebounds and just find ways to impact winning and to do all the little things that it takes to get there," Raman said about Ogwumike. "She understands what that is really well as a vet in this league. Just a high-level game from her tonight."
The Sparks led 22-17 in the first quarter and were up 34-25 late in the second period when the Storm finished the first half with a 15-6 run to tie it at 40 points apiece at the break.
After the intermission, Seattle seized control with an 11-2 run highlighted by Hiedeman's three-pointer to go up 51-42. The Sparks roared back late in the third quarter and took a 69-67 lead early in the fourth.
Trailing 86-79 in the final two minutes, the Storm cut their deficit to 86-83 and had a chance to tie when Hiedeman's three-pointer rattled out with three seconds left.
Malonga tallied 15 points and seven rebounds, Flau'jae Johnson finished with 14 points, 12 rebounds and six assists while Awa Fam had 12 points and Horston 11.
The Storm have lost seven straight games, which is tied for third most in franchise history, and fell to 3-11 overall and 0-5 in the Commissioner's Cup race.
Former Washington Huskies standout Kelsey Plum had 19 points and 11 assists for the Sparks, who improved to 6-6.
The Storm host the Golden State Valkyries on Friday in their final Commissioner's Cup game.
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