Ogwumike scores 24 and Magbegor has 14 rebounds as Storm hold off Mystics 83-77

WASHINGTON — Nneka Ogwumike scored 24 points, Ezi Magbegor had 13 points and 14 rebounds and the Seattle Storm held off the Washington Mystics 83-77 on Tuesday night, capping a day when both teams made news off the court.

The Storm announced the return of free agent Gabby Williams, who starred for France in their near upset of Team USA in the Olympic final in Paris.

Meanwhile, the Mystics made two deals before the games. The picked up Shug Sutton and a third-round draft pick next year from Phoenix for the rights to Klara Lundquist. Earlier they got Sika Kone and Olivia Epoupa and a 2026 second-round pick from Minnesota for Myisha Hines-Allen. Washington then waived Epoupa and DiDi Richards.

Seattle led by as many as 14 points but a 3-pointer by Brittney Sykes had the Mystics within three points with 11 seconds left. Three free throws sealed it for the Storm.

Jewell Loyd had 18 points and Skylar Diggins-Smith 17 for Seattle (18-10), which had lost two coming out of the Olympic break, giving up more than 50 points in the second half of each loss.

Ariel Atkins had 25 points, hitting five 3s, to lead Washington (6-22) and Shakira Austin had 24. Sykes had 12 points. Washington scored 47 points in the second half but had 22 total turnovers that were turned into 29 points.

Ogwumike had 14 points in the first quarter when the Storm opened a 26-17 lead and Diggins-Smith had 11 by the half as the lead stretched to 44-30.

The Mystics were 2 of 15 on 3-pointers with 15 turnovers.

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

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