Storm edge Valkyries to snag final playoff spot

SEATTLE -- It took until the last buzzer of their past regular-season game, but the Seattle Storm clinched the eighth and last WNBA playoff spot Tuesday nighttime with Erica Wheeler's go-ahead jumper with 19.2 seconds near successful a 64-63 triumph implicit the Golden State Valkyries.

"Think astir erstwhile you're a kid and you're successful the driveway, number down five, four, 3 ... and you deed the shot. I conscionable did it live," said Wheeler, who pulled up successful an isolation against Valkyries antiaircraft stopper Veronica Burton.

"Those are the moments you unrecorded for and successful beforehand of this crowd. This assemblage is amazing. For me, I consciousness good. I'm inactive shaking. My dada keeps hugging maine non-stop. I conscionable consciousness amazing. I'm blessed we're successful the postseason."

The Storm had aggregate opportunities to solidify a playoff spot earlier Tuesday. A triumph Sept. 1 implicit the Los Angeles Sparks would person each but clinched for Seattle, portion beating the New York Liberty past Friday could person made it official. The Storm mislaid some games arsenic portion of a late-season location swoon that had seen the squad spell 1-7 astatine Climate Pledge Arena since the commencement of August entering Tuesday night.

With a magic fig of one, Seattle didn't request to bushed the Valkyries and could person clinched if the Sparks had mislaid astatine Phoenix connected Tuesday (they won 88-83) oregon successful Thursday's play finale against the Las Vegas Aces. But cipher with the Storm was funny successful that scenario.

"You don't ever privation to trust connected different radical to triumph oregon lose," Seattle manager Noelle Quinn said. "That's not a bully feeling. To beryllium capable to prehend the moment, instrumentality attraction of concern connected location tribunal against a squad who is trending precise positively shows a batch of resiliency but besides we tin respire a small bit."

"Quite frankly, that's not however you privation to participate playoffs anyway," Storm All-Star Nneka Ogwumike said. "It's the world of it. It happens astatine times, but that's not truly however you privation to spell into a play wherever it's triumph oregon spell home, truthful I'm gladsome that we were capable to gain that."

Playing a adjacent crippled was fitting for Seattle, which acceptable a league grounds with 29 games successful the extended 44-game docket that qualified arsenic "clutch" by the WNBA Advanced Stats definition -- wrong 5 points successful the last 5 minutes of regulation. Golden State's 24 specified games tied the Washington Mystics for second.

Since the commencement of August, the Storm had gone 3-8 successful those games. Ogwumike is optimistic that acquisition volition acceptable the squad up for occurrence successful the postseason.

"We've been capable to bid that muscle, you know, to beryllium capable to bash it successful what yet was a playoff environment," she said. "I deliberation a batch of the games we played successful August felt similar playoff environments. I can't assistance but judge that it volition hole america for what we're going to beryllium capable to acquisition successful the postseason. Step successful the close direction. Being capable to travel retired connected top, that's truly what we wanted."

That required Wheeler, who scored a team-high 17 points disconnected the bench, to instrumentality and marque the astir important changeable of Seattle's season.

"What happened tonight, that's greatness,...