ARLINGTON, Texas — Natasha Howard scored 23 points, Satou Sabally added 21 points and the Dallas Wings secured the No. 4 seed in the WNBA playoffs with a 106-91 victory over the Seattle Storm on Friday night.
Dallas (21-18), which closes the regular season at Atlanta on Sunday, will have a home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Seattle (11-28) has been eliminated from the playoffs but that didn’t stop Jewell Loyd, who passed Breanna Stewart for the most points in a single season in league history with 911. Loyd was 10 of 30 from the field, including 5 of 13 from distance, to finish with 33 points.
Arike Ogunbowale secured her second career double-double with 19 points and a career-high 10 assists for Dallas. Teaira McCowan added 16 points and nine rebounds. The Wings outrebounded the Storm 36-23.
Loyd made her 500th career 3-pointer in the first quarter, and she added a long 3-pointer just before halftime to pull Seattle within 56-45.
Seattle was within 56-49 early in the third quarter before Dallas scored 14 of the next 20 points to go ahead 70-55. Ogunbowale made a jumper in transition to extend Dallas’ lead to 88-77 and Kalani Brown added a layup for a 13-point lead.
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WINGS 106, STORM 91
SEATTLE (91) — Horston 2-3 1-1 5, Magbegor 5-11 4-4 15, Russell 6-6 0-0 12, Loyd 10-30 8-10 33, Whitcomb 1-5 2-2 5, Holmes 0-4 0-0 0, Fankam Mendjiadeu 0-0 0-0 0, Melbourne 0-0 2-2 2, Nurse 7-10 1-2 19, Turner 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-69 18-21 91.
DALLAS (106) — Howard 8-12 4-4 23, Sabally 6-12 8-10 21, McCowan 8-12 0-2 16, Burton 3-5 0-0 7, Ogunbowale 8-18 0-0 19, Kuier 3-3 1-1 7, Siegrist 0-0 0-0 0, Brown 5-6 2-2 12, Sims 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 41-69 16-21 106.
Seattle 20 25 25 21— 91
Dallas 32 24 26 24—106
3-Point Goals—Seattle 11-25 (Loyd 5-12, Nurse 4-6, Magbegor 1-2, Whitcomb 1-4, Holmes 0-1), Dallas 8-20 (Howard 3-5, Ogunbowale 3-9, Burton 1-3, Sabally 1-3). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Seattle 24 (Magbegor 9), Dallas 36 (Howard, McCowan 9). Assists—Seattle 22 (Whitcomb 8), Dallas 30 (Ogunbowale 10). Total Fouls—Seattle 19, Dallas 22. A—4,546.
