Malonga ties career high with 22 points in Storm's rout of Wings
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Rookie Dominique Malonga had 22 points and nine rebounds, Erica Wheeler added 17 points, and the Seattle Storm routed the Dallas Wings 95-60 on Friday night.
It was Malonga’s fourth game of at least 15 points and five rebounds off the bench, the most by a WNBA reserve this season.
Tiffany Mitchell added 11 points off the bench for Seattle (19-18). Ezi Magbegor grabbed her 1,200th career rebound, the fourth most in franchise history. Nneka Ogwumike made two steals in the first half for her 200th career multi-steal game, the fourth most in WNBA history behind Tamika Catchings, Ticha Penicheiro, and Sue Bird.
Maddy Siegrist led Dallas (9-28) with 12 points. Paige Bueckers scored eight of Dallas’ first 12 points but finished with just 11, all in the first half.
Bueckers was coming off a WNBA rookie record 44 points on Wednesday. She became the first player in league history to score more than 40 points while shooting 80% from the field. But Dallas lost 81-80 on a buzzer-beater by Kelsey Plum and was eliminated from playoff contention.
Malonga made a reverse layup with 2.6 seconds left in the first half to give Seattle a 48-34 lead. The Wings fell to 1-23 when trailing at halftime this season.
Gabby Williams scored the Storm’s first seven points of the third quarter to extend their lead to 55-36. Wheeler capped the quarter on a 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds left to make it 67-45.
Malonga’s third 3-pointer of the season put Seattle ahead 74-48 early in the fourth.
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