Jessica Shepard’s triple-double drives Dallas Wings past Seattle Storm in 103-91 road win

The first quarter left Seattle chasing

Seattle’s night was uphill almost immediately. The Storm scored first and even held their only lead at 1-0, but Dallas answered with the kind of crisp, connected offense that can make a game feel tilted before it is technically out of reach. By the end of the first quarter, the Wings were up 29-12, and nearly every part of their attack had already announced itself.

Jessica Shepard set the tone inside and between the lines, scoring repeatedly while also feeding teammates. Paige Bueckers scored on a layup and a pair of jumpers in the opening stretch, Arike Ogunbowale hit from deep and got to the rim, and Awak Kuier added both a layup and a three. Dallas had built the margin to 27-10 by the 1:20 mark of the first, and that sequence mattered because it forced Seattle to spend the rest of the game responding rather than directing.

To the Storm’s credit, the response in the second quarter was real. Seattle trimmed a 31-14 deficit down to 35-31 by 4:55 of the period, with Awa Fam hitting two threes, Flau'jae Johnson scoring in the midrange and around the basket, and Dominique Malonga continuing her efficient work near the rim. But Dallas kept enough order in the half-court to take a 49-42 lead into the break, and that cushion turned out to be the game’s most valuable possession bank.

Shepard’s triple-double was the game’s organizing force

Some stat lines describe a player’s night. Shepard’s explained the game. She finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists on 9-of-12 shooting, a triple-double that touched almost every important Dallas possession. Early, she was the scorer Seattle could not settle; later, she was the connector finding Bueckers, Kuier and Maddy Siegrist. When Dallas needed late composure, she went back to finishing at the basket.

That all-around control is why Dallas could absorb Seattle’s second-quarter push and still regain authority after halftime. The Storm cut the margin to 54-49 on Fam’s free throws with 7:25 left in the third, which was as close as Seattle came in the second half. Dallas answered with a Siegrist three at 7:10, Ogunbowale’s layup at 6:33, and a run of Shepard and Bueckers scores that stretched the margin back out. By the end of the third, the Wings led 76-63, and the game had again moved onto Dallas terms.

The supporting numbers match the feel of that control. Dallas shot 56.5 percent from the field, 50 percent from three and 84.2 percent at the line. The Wings also assisted on 32 of their 39 made field goals. Bueckers finished with 25 points and seven assists, Ogunbowale added 23 points and six assists without a turnover, and Kuier supplied 14 points while going 4 of 6 from deep. Both teams committed 13 turnovers, so this was not a story of one side giving the ball away; it was a story of Dallas doing more with its possessions.

Seattle’s scorers kept coming, but the margin never disappeared

Seattle produced enough offense to make this interesting. Malonga scored 29 points with eight rebounds, Fam added 22 points and four made threes, Johnson had 21, and Natisha Hiedeman piled up 14 assists. The Storm won the second quarter 30-20 and edged the fourth 28-27, which says something important: after the first 10 minutes, this was not a one-sided offensive performance. Seattle found rhythm, shared the ball and kept presenting Dallas with another answer to solve.

The problem was that every time the Storm threatened to turn the game, Dallas found a stabilizing shot. Seattle cut the deficit to 90-82 on Jade Melbourne’s three at 4:19 of the fourth. It was 94-88 when Hiedeman scored with 2:01 left. Then Hiedeman scored again and added a free throw at 1:14 to make it 97-91, finally giving the late push a real edge. Bueckers answered at 57.8 seconds with a 25-foot three that pushed the Wings to 100, and that was the cleanest summary of the night: Seattle could get close, but Dallas kept the last word.

Our take: Seattle has enough scoring talent to punish slow stretches from opponents, and the Storm showed that with 91 points, 50 percent shooting and 23 assists. But the fixes start with what happened before the comeback even began. Allowing 29 first-quarter points put too much pressure on everything that followed, and going 15 of 23 at the free-throw line left useful points behind. Dallas, meanwhile, should still look at the middle and late-game slippage with a critical eye. The Wings led by 17 after one quarter, were outscored 30-20 in the second, and saw the margin cut to six in the final minutes. Even so, this result belongs first to their offense: sharp, balanced and repeatedly decisive, with Shepard at the center of it all.

Scoring moments

1. 1st Quarter · 9:43

   Dominique Malonga makes free throw 1 of 2

2. 1st Quarter · 9:25

   Paige Bueckers makes 1-foot layup (Jessica Shepard assists)

3. 1st Quarter · 9:07

   Dominique Malonga makes layup (Natisha Hiedeman assists)

4. 1st Quarter · 8:48

   Jessica Shepard makes 8-foot driving floating jump shot (Arike Ogunbowale assists)

5. 1st Quarter · 8:27

   Paige Bueckers makes 17-foot jumper (Jessica Shepard assists)

6. 1st Quarter · 7:41

   Jessica Shepard makes layup (Paige Bueckers assists)

7. 1st Quarter · 7:22

   Dominique Malonga makes finger roll layup (Natisha Hiedeman assists)

8. 1st Quarter · 7:03

   Arike Ogunbowale makes 23-foot three point jumper (Maddy Siegrist assists)

9. 1st Quarter · 6:13

   Awak Kuier makes 2-foot layup (Jessica Shepard assists)

10. 1st Quarter · 6:05

    Dominique Malonga makes free throw 2 of 2

11. 1st Quarter · 5:17

    Dominique Malonga makes layup (Natisha Hiedeman assists)

12. 1st Quarter · 4:40

    Jessica Shepard makes 14-foot jumper (Paige Bueckers assists)

13. 1st Quarter · 3:47

    Maddy Siegrist makes 24-foot three point jumper (Jessica Shepard assists)

14. 1st Quarter · 3:16

    Paige Bueckers makes 10-foot fade away jump shot (Jessica Shepard assists)

15. 1st Quarter · 2:52

    Jessica Shepard makes 15-foot jumper (Awak Kuier assists)

16. 1st Quarter · 1:56

    Arike Ogunbowale makes running layup (Paige Bueckers assists)

17. 1st Quarter · 1:41

    Dominique Malonga makes 2-foot layup (Jade Melbourne assists)

18. 1st Quarter · 1:20

    Awak Kuier makes 25-foot three point jumper (Jessica Shepard assists)

19. 1st Quarter · 49.7

    Jessica Shepard makes running layup

20. 1st Quarter · 35.6

    Flau'jae Johnson makes free throw 1 of 2

21. 1st Quarter · 35.6

    Flau'jae Johnson makes free throw 2 of 2

22. 2nd Quarter · 9:35

    Flau'jae Johnson makes 17-foot jumper (Taylor Thierry assists)

23. 2nd Quarter · 8:18

    Haley Jones makes 4-foot two point shot

24. 2nd Quarter · 8:03

    Jade Melbourne makes 24-foot three pointer (Mackenzie Holmes assists)

25. 2nd Quarter · 7:26

    Flau'jae Johnson makes two point shot

26. 2nd Quarter · 7:05

    Awa Fam makes 3-foot layup (Flau'jae Johnson assists)

27. 2nd Quarter · 6:39

    Paige Bueckers makes free throw 1 of 2

28. 2nd Quarter · 6:39

    Paige Bueckers makes free throw 2 of 2

29. 2nd Quarter · 6:28

    Awa Fam makes 25-foot three point jumper (Taylor Thierry assists)

30. 2nd Quarter · 6:02

    Flau'jae Johnson makes 16-foot running jump shot

31. 2nd Quarter · 5:45

    Paige Bueckers makes 12-foot jumper (Jessica Shepard assists)

32. 2nd Quarter · 5:29

    Awa Fam makes 24-foot three point jumper (Natisha Hiedeman assists)

33. 2nd Quarter · 4:55

    Dominique Malonga makes 2-foot layup (Flau'jae Johnson assists)

34. 2nd Quarter · 4:36

    Paige Bueckers makes 20-foot pullup jump shot (Arike Ogunbowale assists)

35. 2nd Quarter · 4:35

    Paige Bueckers makes free throw flagrant 1 of 1

36. 2nd Quarter · 4:19

    Flau'jae Johnson makes 15-foot jumper (Natisha Hiedeman assists)

37. 2nd Quarter · 4:09

    Arike Ogunbowale makes free throw 1 of 2

38. 2nd Quarter · 4:09

    Arike Ogunbowale makes free throw 2 of 2

39. 2nd Quarter · 3:54

    Flau'jae Johnson makes tip shot

40. 2nd Quarter · 3:33

    Awak Kuier makes 26-foot three point jumper (Arike Ogunbowale assists)

41. 2nd Quarter · 3:16

    Dominique Malonga makes 3-foot layup (Natisha Hiedeman assists)

42. 2nd Quarter · 2:58

    Arike Ogunbowale makes free throw 1 of 2

43. 2nd Quarter · 2:58

    Arike Ogunbowale makes free throw 2 of 2

44. 2nd Quarter · 1:51

    Dominique Malonga makes 2-foot two point shot (Flau'jae Johnson assists)

45. 2nd Quarter · 1:04

    Paige Bueckers makes 11-foot jumper (Li Yueru assists)

46. 2nd Quarter · 53.0

    Awa Fam makes 26-foot three point jumper (Natisha Hiedeman assists)

47. 2nd Quarter · 31.2

    Arike Ogunbowale makes layup (Paige Bueckers assists)

48. 3rd Quarter · 9:45

    Arike Ogunbowale makes 25-foot three point jumper (Paige Bueckers assists)

49. 3rd Quarter · 9:04

    Maddy Siegrist makes layup (Arike Ogunbowale assists)

50. 3rd Quarter · 8:43

    Dominique Malonga makes 23-foot three point jumper

51. 3rd Quarter · 7:59

    Dominique Malonga makes 2-foot layup (Natisha Hiedeman assists)

52. 3rd Quarter · 7:25

    Awa Fam makes free throw 1 of 2

53. 3rd Quarter · 7:25

    Awa Fam makes free throw 2 of 2

54. 3rd Quarter · 7:10

    Maddy Siegrist makes 25-foot three point jumper (Paige Bueckers assists)

55. 3rd Quarter · 6:33

    Arike Ogunbowale makes layup

56. 3rd Quarter · 6:12

    Flau'jae Johnson makes 10-foot step back jumpshot (Natisha Hiedeman assists)

57. 3rd Quarter · 5:53

    Jessica Shepard makes driving layup

58. 3rd Quarter · 5:46

    Awa Fam makes 3-foot layup (Natisha Hiedeman assists)

59. 3rd Quarter · 5:11

    Flau'jae Johnson makes 1-foot two point shot

60. 3rd Quarter · 3:51

    Jessica Shepard makes layup (Paige Bueckers assists)

61. 3rd Quarter · 3:28

    Paige Bueckers makes free throw 1 of 2

62. 3rd Quarter · 3:28

    Paige Bueckers makes free throw 2 of 2

63. 3rd Quarter · 2:43

    Aziaha James makes 18-foot pullup jump shot (Jessica Shepard assists)

64. 3rd Quarter · 2:22

    Flau'jae Johnson makes 15-foot pullup jump shot

65. 3rd Quarter · 2:22

    Flau'jae Johnson makes free throw 1 of 1

66. 3rd Quarter · 2:12

    Paige Bueckers makes driving layup

67. 3rd Quarter · 2:12

    Paige Bueckers makes free throw 1 of 1

68. 3rd Quarter · 1:33

    Odyssey Sims makes driving layup (Aziaha James assists)

69. 3rd Quarter · 1:16

    Taylor Thierry makes 22-foot three point jumper (Mackenzie Holmes assists)

70. 3rd Quarter · 58.9

    Arike Ogunbowale makes driving layup

71. 3rd Quarter · 45.9

    Jessica Shepard makes free throw 1 of 2

72. 3rd Quarter · 43.7

    Aziaha James makes free throw 1 of 2

73. 3rd Quarter · 11.4

    Awa Fam makes 1-foot layup (Flau'jae Johnson assists)

74. 4th Quarter · 9:46

    Dominique Malonga makes 6-foot turnaround jump shot (Natisha Hiedeman assists)

75. 4th Quarter · 9:32

    Arike Ogunbowale makes 2-foot layup (Jessica Shepard assists)

76. 4th Quarter · 9:32

    Arike Ogunbowale makes free throw 1 of 1

77. 4th Quarter · 9:20

    Dominique Malonga makes free throw 1 of 2

78. 4th Quarter · 9:20

    Dominique Malonga makes free throw 2 of 2

79. 4th Quarter · 9:04

    Jessica Shepard makes layup (Aziaha James assists)

80. 4th Quarter · 9:04

    Jessica Shepard makes free throw 1 of 1

81. 4th Quarter · 8:51

    Natisha Hiedeman makes driving layup

82. 4th Quarter · 8:33

    Arike Ogunbowale makes 10-foot two point shot (Jessica Shepard assists)

83. 4th Quarter · 7:46

    Natisha Hiedeman makes 10-foot two point shot

84. 4th Quarter · 7:29

    Awak Kuier makes 23-foot three point jumper (Arike Ogunbowale assists)

85. 4th Quarter · 6:55

    Odyssey Sims makes driving layup (Aziaha James assists)

86. 4th Quarter · 6:55

    Odyssey Sims makes free throw 1 of 1

87. 4th Quarter · 6:24

    Flau'jae Johnson makes free throw 1 of 2

88. 4th Quarter · 6:24

    Flau'jae Johnson makes free throw 2 of 2

89. 4th Quarter · 6:00

    Awa Fam makes 22-foot three point jumper (Natisha Hiedeman assists)

90. 4th Quarter · 5:32

    Dominique Malonga makes free throw flagrant 1 of 3

91. 4th Quarter · 5:32

    Dominique Malonga makes free throw flagrant 3 of 3

92. 4th Quarter · 4:49

    Natisha Hiedeman makes free throw 2 of 2

93. 4th Quarter · 4:19

    Jade Melbourne makes 26-foot running jump shot (Natisha Hiedeman assists)

94. 4th Quarter · 4:00

    Jessica Shepard makes driving layup

95. 4th Quarter · 3:39

    Dominique Malonga makes 7-foot two point shot (Natisha Hiedeman assists)

96. 4th Quarter · 3:22

    Paige Bueckers makes 6-foot driving floating jump shot (Jessica Shepard assists)

97. 4th Quarter · 2:57

    Awa Fam makes two point shot

98. 4th Quarter · 2:01

    Natisha Hiedeman makes running layup

99. 4th Quarter · 1:36

    Awak Kuier makes 24-foot three point jumper (Arike Ogunbowale assists)

100. 4th Quarter · 1:14

     Natisha Hiedeman makes 8-foot driving floating jump shot

101. 4th Quarter · 1:14

     Natisha Hiedeman makes free throw 1 of 1

102. 4th Quarter · 57.8

     Paige Bueckers makes 25-foot three point jumper (Jessica Shepard assists)

103. 4th Quarter · 27.9

     Maddy Siegrist makes 3-foot layup (Awak Kuier assists)

104. 4th Quarter · 27.9

     Maddy Siegrist makes free throw 1 of 1