Paige Bueckers already had 25 points and seven assists on the night. The play that sealed the regular-season finale was still waiting in the fourth quarter, after Seattle had turned a blowout into a six-point game.
The Associated Press reported that Dallas led 90-71 with 6:55 left before the Storm went on a 17-4 run to make it 94-88. Awak Kuier and Bueckers then hit threes on the Wings' next two possessions to pull away in a 103-91 win over Seattle on Wednesday night.
Bueckers' three was the second punch - the one that followed Kuier's answer and restored the cushion Dallas had spent the night building.
Third straight 20-and-5, then the stoppage three
The AP noted Bueckers had 20-plus points and five-plus assists for the third straight game. Wednesday's full line fit that streak. The late three fit a different category: closer work after Seattle finally found a run behind Dominique Malonga (29 points, eight rebounds), Awa Fam (season-high 22), Flau'jae Johnson (21), and Natisha Hiedeman (10 points, 14 assists).
Jessica Shepard posted 20 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists for her WNBA-leading sixth triple-double. Arike Ogunbowale added 23 points and six assists. The Wings had the scoring depth across three starters.
They still needed someone to end the Storm's surge once the lead shrank from 19 to six. Kuier started that answer. Bueckers finished it with the three that made the finale feel settled again.
That sequence also protected a third straight 20-and-5 night from becoming a footnote to a late collapse. Bueckers had already done the full-game work. The pull-away three was the last possession that mattered.