Seattle Storm ride 56-point second half to dominate Chicago Sky, 95-57

CHICAGO (AP) — Skylar Diggins scored 21 points, rookie Dominique Malonga had 14 points and 10 rebounds for her first double-double and the Seattle Storm rode a 56-point second half to a 95-57 rout of the Chicago Sky on Thursday night.

Malonga, the second pick in the 2025 draft, became the youngest player (19 years, 250 days) in WNBA history to reach 100 career points when she finished off a fast break in the second quarter.

The Storm (15-10) led 39-26 at halftime then scored the first eight points of the second half. Their third-quarter advantage was 13-1 before Rachel Banham hit a 3-pointer for Chicago’s first field goal of the second half.

The lead reached 28 points when Lexie Brown buried a 3-pointer with less than two minutes remaining in the third and Seattle led 70-43 at the end of the quarter.

Seattle started the fourth quarter strong, scoring the first 10 points to build an 80-43 lead. Seattle led by 39 points twice in the fourth quarter.

Erica Wheeler scored 13 points, Brown 12, and Gabby Williams and Nneka Ogwumike 10 each for Seattle.

Kamilla Cardoso had 13 points and 13 rebounds for Chicago (7-17). Banham scored 13 points and Elizabeth Williams added 10.

Angel Reese, who left Tuesday’s game against Minnesota with tightness in her back, did not play for Chicago.

The Storm made 6 of 9 shots and scored 17 points in the first five minutes of the game. They cooled off to 43% for the quarter and led 26-18 heading to the second period.

The Storm scored only 13 points in the second quarter but extended their lead to 39-26 at halftime.

Up next

Seattle: at Washington on Saturday.

Chicago: vs. Indiana on Sunday. ___

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball