Storm Chasers WNBA Journal

Depth Issues Doom Sparks on Road Trip

Storm Chasers w/ Jeff Brown — Sun, 19 Jul 2026 23:59:43 GMT

Written By: Molly Tepper
Twitter: mollytepper

The Los Angeles Sparks (10-15) were riding high after back-to-back wins at home. Starters were putting up big stats, and Cameron Brink’s return to the court was only a few games away. Nonetheless, the four-game road trip ahead would be a tricky test. Three of the four teams they were to face were over .500, meaning the road trip would be a measure of whether they could push through the adversity they had faced all season.

The test got the better of them as the Sparks dropped all four games on the trip. Here’s what the skid revealed:

The Sparks have had their fair share of prominent injuries this season. Kelsey Plum, LA’s biggest playmaker and scorer, has been out since the start of June with a return date that remains unknown. Cameron Brink has also continuously dealt with a lingering left ankle injury. Therefore, the Sparks’ lack of bench depth has contributed to their inability to close out games. Without depth, the pressure has been put on the starters who have to stay on the court for long minutes. There is no question that LA has been fighting, but by the end of the fourth quarter, they usually run out of gas, and their attention to detail diminishes.

In the first game against the Atlanta Dream (16-10), the Sparks fell behind early but stayed within striking distance. Multiple turnovers and the inability to finish at the rim by the Dream allowed the Sparks to go on an 8-0 run to open the fourth, culminating with Dearica Hamby giving LA its first lead since the second quarter. However, this game would reveal a theme that would follow the Sparks all week: a lack of bench leading to poor execution in crunch time. Down the stretch, an offensive foul by Ariel Atkins and turnovers by Hamby and Nneka Ogumike allowed Atlanta to capitalize, collecting four unanswered points and cruising to a 101-94 win.

Despite the loss, the Sparks starters all had excellent scoring performances. Erica Wheeler led the way with 20 points, Nneka Ogwumike added 19, and Rae Burrell had 18 for LA. The Sparks shot more efficiently than the Dream from the field and behind the arc, so what went wrong for them?

Ultimately, it comes down to depth. The Dream outscored the Sparks in bench points 21-10, and Atlanta used that edge to their advantage. Without Kelsey Plum, starters are required to play 36+ minutes in a game if they want to stay within reach. However, exhaustion can lead to careless ball handling, allowing the other team to pull away down the stretch.

After the loss, Nneka Ogwumike said:

“We were playing hard, but we could have dialed up on the execution of it all. That’s something that has been a point of emphasis for us, and the beauty of this league is that on Wednesday we can try to get that back.”

The Sparks looked solid through the first two and a half quarters against the Minnesota Lynx (20-6) in game two of their road stretch. With less than four minutes to go in the third, Cameron Brink, in her return game from injury, had the ball stripped from her by rookie standout Olivia Miles. This turnover led to an 8-0 run for the Lynx. Even still, the Sparks were able to crawl back to cut the lead to one by the end of the third period. Once again, it came down to the fourth quarter, and would the Sparks have enough left in them to continue to bank shots and avoid costly turnovers?

Los Angeles’s hustle was no match for Minnesota’s crisp ball movement and accuracy from deep. Midway through the fourth quarter, Miles left the game after rolling her left ankle with 18 points and three steals without a turnover. After Miles left, her teammates were able to pick up where she left off as Kayla McBride would score 10 of her 24 points, including a crucial bucket from long distance to secure their victory 96-87.

Once again, it was not a lack of scoring efficiency. It came down to taking care of the ball. LA had 20 turnovers to the home team’s 12. They were outmatched on points converted off turnovers, 30-14, making the margin for error too narrow to overcome.

After meeting seven days prior, the Sparks buckled up to take on the Sky (9-17), this time in Chicago. With five minutes to go in the first quarter, the Sparks already had eight turnovers. Somehow, they were up by one to end the quarter.

Chicago began to do a better job on the defensive glass, LA’s turnover struggles continued, and the Sky’s bench players, such as Gabriela Jaquez, played a crucial role driving to the rim and creating open shots for her teammates. By the half, Los Angeles was outscored 33-19 and had 12 turnovers. The Sparks’ bench had zero points while the Sky’s already had 23.

The Sparks also struggled to defend the Sky’s pick-and-roll. Poor communication fell between LA’s guards and centers as Kamilla Cardoso set good screens, freeing Natasha Cloud to drive to the rim. The Sky continuously ran this play when they needed buckets to maintain or increase their lead, carrying them to a 96-82 win over the Sparks.

Once again, despite a strong showing by the Sparks’ starters, including 18 points and 12 rebounds by Ogwumike, the away team’s lack of bench depth caught up with them, and costly turnovers only made it worse. They were outscored in bench points 28-14 and had 18 turnovers to the Sky’s nine.

Coach Lynne Roberts spoke on the turnovers after loss to Chicago:

“If you’re not going to have a great shooting night, you’ve got to win it through taking care of the ball and defending. And we didn’t do that.”

Nearing the end of the road trip, the Sparks faced off against the well-rested Dallas Wings (17-8). The Sparks kept the game within a few possessions heading into the fourth quarter. However, guarding Paige Buckers and staying out of foul trouble remained a test for LA. With three minutes left, and the Sparks only down four points, a turnover by Rae Burrell was converted into a layup for Odyssey Sims. Dearica Hamby then missed a layup, and on the other end, an offensive rebound by Azzi Fudd turned into a clutch bucket for Jessica Shepard, sealing the game for the Wings 90-82.

Coach Roberts doesn’t believe it’s time to panic. After the game down in Atlanta, she reflected on the state of her team:

“I’m not buying into the narrative that we’re having some brutal season. We’re not. This is a process. We’ve had adversity. We have new players, new all-stars. They’re fitting in. It takes time, and I know we are not in a patient industry, but I am not going to buy into the ‘oh what’s wrong,’ no, we’re just going to keep plowing through things. We are going to get healthy and keep moving forward. We are only halfway through. So, this will not be the story of the season.”

It has not been all bad for the Sparks this week in spite of the losses. All five starters have shown out every night. Nneka Ogwumike passed Lisa Leslie for the most points in the Sparks franchise history. In two of Cameron Brink’s three games back, she has put up double figures, even on a minutes restriction. Rae Burrell stepped up with a season-high 24 points against the Lynx. Even though Sparks fans may continuously feel discouraged coming up short, the team continues to prove they are capable, setting the groundwork for when Plum returns, hopefully after the All-Star break.

The LA Sparks will head home for one more game before the All-Star break, facing the Phoenix Mercury on Wednesday, July 22nd at noon.

Photography Credits: LA Sparks/WNBA Photography

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Storm Lose to Fever 110-107 Part 2

Storm Chasers w/ Jeff Brown — Sat, 18 Jul 2026 13:02:45 GMT

It was an incredible game between the Seattle Storm (6-21) and the Indiana Fever (15-10) that ultimately resulted in a 110-107 win for the home team. Dominique Malonga finished with 28 points and 14 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough as Caitlin Clark set a new career-high, scoring 45 points. If you missed it, you can read the full game recap here.

For Part 2, I wrote about the showtime performance in front of a national audience, talked about Awa and Dom, and Seattle’s search for a closer. Plus, I’ve included written quotes and the audio interviews from Awa Fam, Dominique Malonga, and Coach Raman.

Showtime!

Clark Dazzles in 110-107 Win Over Storm

Storm Chasers w/ Jeff Brown — Sat, 18 Jul 2026 03:33:55 GMT

(Indianapolis, Indiana) - The Seattle Storm (6-21) and the Indiana Fever (15-10) played one of the most entertaining games in the WNBA this season on Friday night. In front of over 17,000 raucous fans, the two teams went back-and-forth in the 2nd half in a game that went down to the final minute. Seattle overcame a 17-point first-half deficit and built an 8-point lead in the 4th quarter, before a reoccurring theme reared its ugly head once again. With four minutes left in the game and the Storm leading by six, the Indiana Fever closed the game on an 18-9 run. Indiana made just a couple more plays down the stretch, including a clutch three by Clark, to win 110-107.

Seattle did a lot of things well in this game. All five starters scored in double figures. Dominique Malonga led the way with 28 points and 14 rebounds. Awa Fam nearly had a double-double with 16 points on 5-6 FG shooting (4-5 FG 3-PT) and nine rebounds. She also had four assists and two blocks. Fellow rookie, Flau’jae Johnson, finished with 16 points, six rebounds, six assists, three steals, and a block.

Natisha Hiedeman finished with 15 points and eight assists. And Jade Melbourne added 15 points and five assists. The two guards combined to make 13-24 FG (54%). Overall, the Storm outshot the Fever 57% (43-76 FG) to 50% (36-72 FG). In fact, they won the majority of the team stats.

The Storm out-rebounded the Fever 35-26. They outscored them inside the paint (66-44), outscored them in fast break points (11-6), in second-chance points (16-12), and in bench points (17-9). Seattle also had more assists (27-21). But the category that hurt them the most was free throws. Both in that they made just 72% (13-18 FT), but also that the Fever were a +15 points from the foul line (28-31 FT).

Dominique Malonga complained about that after the game. Coach Raman was asked about it after the game as well.

Raman responded, “I mean, it’s hard to win a ball game with a disparity like that. Dom takes 22 shots, 19 of them are 2s, and let’s say most of those are in the paint, right? When she’s taken twos, they’re in the paint. She took two free throws. So, I think there’s a lot of physicality there that was missed.”

She went on to say, “Credit to Clark and to the Fever for their ability to draw fouls. I’m not saying we don’t foul. I’m just saying the no calls are tough because we’re getting into the paint. We’re getting to the rim, and we’re not getting to the line.”

Indiana Fever

Caitlin Clark put forth arguably the best performance of her WNBA career on Friday night. She finished with a career-high 45 points on 11-18 FG, 6-10 FG from beyond the arc, and made 17-19 FT. She also finished with 10 assists, four steals, and two blocks. She became the first player in WNBA history to have a 40-point and 10-assist performance.

Clark said after the game, “I know what I’m capable of, and I know what this team is capable of. It’s my job to help us win and be the best team in the WNBA. And I don’t think we’re there yet, so it’s my responsibility to help us get there, so we’ll keep working.”

While Clark was incredible throughout, Kelsey Mitchell started the game like the human torch. She scored 17 of her 30 points in the first quarter, where the Fever tallied 37 points total.

Indiana rested Aliyah Boston because this game was the first of a back-to-back. They host the New York Liberty tomorrow in Indiana. It was an interesting decision, knowing Seattle has size in the frontcourt, but it worked out for Coach Stephanie White. It’ll be interesting to see if Caitlin Clark plays tomorrow. Coach White has rested Clark or Boston in previous back-to-backs this season.

With Boston out, Monique Billings had to pick up the slack. And she did as the only other Fever player to score in double figures. She finished with 16 points on 5-7 FG, 6-7 from the FT line, and pulled down five rebounds.

Outside of their advantage at the foul line, Indiana was the better three-point shooting team. They edged Seattle 44% (10-23 FG) to 38% (8-21 FG) from beyond the arc. They also forced the Storm into 18 turnovers while committing just 13. They outscored Seattle 22-18 in points off turnovers.

Game Breakdown

Jade Melbourne was fouled to start the game and split the two free throws. Kelsey Mitchell added a layup on the other end. Dominique Malonga scored inside for Seattle. Malonga scored again before Caitlin Clark knocked down a deep two. Indiana used an 8-0 run with points from Clark, Mitchell, Monique Billings, and Lexie Hull as Indiana led 10-5 early in the first period.

After two free throws from Awa Fam, Caitlin Clark found Billings on her way to the rim for two. Flau’jae Johnson made a layup. Clark hit one of her patented step-back three-pointers. Jade got two back, going right at Clark on the other end.

Billings was fouled and made both free throws. Flau’jae converted an And-1 to cut the Fever’s lead to three at 17-14. Clark stole the pass in the backcourt as Hiedeman didn’t come to meet the ball. Clark found Kelsey Mitchell under the rim for two. Mitchell added an And-1 on another cut to the rim. Zia Cooke answered with a three-pointer at the top of the arc.

Mitchell’s red-hot start continued as she lit up the Storm for 17 points in the opening 10 minutes, including a couple of back-breaking three-pointers. That pushed the Fever’s lead to 12 points at 35-23. Katie Lou Samuelson knocked down a triple on the other end. Ty Harris sank a midrange jumper right before the end of the first with Indiana leading 37-26.

Despite a quick score from Melbourne to open up the second quarter, things quickly got out of control. The Fever went on a 12-4 run, including seven straight, that was capped off by a three-pointer by Caitlin Clark. That put Indiana ahead by 17 points, forcing Coach Sonia Raman into a timeout.

Katie Lou Samuelson scored an And-1 off the pick-and-roll. After another Clark three-ball, Natisha Hiedeman and Jade Melbourne made drives inside the paint. Mitchell scored with another assist from Clark. Seattle used a 7-0 run, which included five more from Hiedeman, to reduce the Fever’s lead to 55-48. Stephanie White quickly called a timeout to reset her team.

Out of the break, Indiana was unable to convert. Malonga scored in transition after an Awa Fam block. Monique Billings scored with an assist from Lexie Hull. Dom answered back with a three-pointer on the other end. Flau’jae missed, but Malonga gathered the offensive rebound, scored, and was fouled for the traditional three-point play. At the end of the first half, the Storm had cut the Fever’s lead to three at 59-56. Seattle ended the second quarter on a 21-7 run and scored 30 points total in the period.

Both Kelsey Mitchell and Caitlin Clark scored 19 points each in the opening half. Dominique Malonga led the Storm with 18 points and eight rebounds. Seattle shot 56% (22-39 FG) in the first half, while Indiana shot 49% (19-39 FG). The Fever were a +7 from the free throw line, and made 15-16 FT.

Flau’jae Johnson stole the ball to open the second half and scored. Kelsey Mitchell buried a three-pointer. Clark and Makayla Timpson added four free throws from the foul line. Awa Fam went ballistic from beyond the arc, knocking down four three-pointers in the span of a couple of minutes. After her 4th made three-pointer of the quarter, Coach Stephanie White called a timeout.

The Storm ended the third period on a 13-6 run. Jordan Horston knocked down a turnaround jumper. Flau’jae added an And-1 to give Seattle the lead 80-78. Katie Lou and Johnson scored again. Myisha Hines-Allen finished with a reverse layup. Melbourne beat the clock with another layup as the Storm led 88-82 at the end of the third.

Clark scored for Indiana to open the fourth quarter. She then found Billings for an easy layup to cut Seattle’s lead down to two. The Storm responded with a 6-0 run with two free throws from Zia Cooke, and scores inside by Melbourne and Malonga. That put the Storm ahead 94-86, their largest lead of the game.

Indiana started using some half-court traps that forced Seattle into a turnover. Seattle’s defense also began to falter, giving up some easy scores at the rim by Timpson and Mitchell. Clark hit a difficult off-balanced baseline jumper. Malonga and Hiedeman scored to barely keep the Storm ahead.

Clark cut Seattle’s lead to two with another tough layup. Hiedeman found Fam down low for the layup. Clark hit her 5th three-pointer of the game, to set a new career-high of 38 points, and cut the Fever’s deficit to just one at 100-99. After Flau’jae scored from an offensive rebound. Clark fed the ball to Billings, who scored and was fouled by Fam. She tied the game with her And-1 free throw.

Malonga had a chance to score, but rimmed off her shot. Flau’jae then had a huge steal, and it looked like she’d beat Clark to the rim for the easy layup, but Caitlin managed to swipe the ball off Johnson’s foot, turning the ball back to Indiana. Then Clark buried a deep three-pointer with 39 seconds to go in the game. That would put the Fever ahead for good.

Hiedeman was fouled but missed a crucial free throw. Dom Malonga scored two more inside in the final seconds, but Seattle needed a three-pointer to tie and didn’t get it. Clark was sent to the foul line one last time and buried both to set her new career-high at 45 points. With three seconds left in the game and no timeouts, Hiedeman was forced to throw up a shot from halfcourt, which didn’t go in. The Fever survived 110-107.

Final Box Score

Up Next

The Seattle Storm (6-21) finally return home after their 5-game road trip. Upon their return, they will face the Minnesota Lynx (19-6) in back-to-back games. The first game is on Monday, July 20th, at 7:00 p.m.

Notes:
Photography Credits: Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography
Thanks to Her Hoop Stats and Across the Timeline for being great resources!

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Storm Lose to Sky 95-90 Part 2

Storm Chasers w/ Jeff Brown — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 13:04:21 GMT

The Seattle Storm (6-20) were unable to overcome the Chicago Sky’s double-digit lead despite a strong rally to end the game as they lost their 20th game of the season by a final score of 95-90. If you missed it, you can read the full game recap below.

In Part 2, I wrote more about the young team’s growing pains this season, how they miss Ezi Magbegor, and the pros and cons of the two-year lottery system. I’ve also included some quotes, plus the audio interviews from Coach Raman, Flau’jae Johnson, and Awa Fam.

Growing Pains

Storm Fall Short to Sky 95-90

Storm Chasers w/ Jeff Brown — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 20:08:42 GMT

(Chicago, Illinois) - A slow first half doomed the Seattle Storm (6-20) despite a strong surge to end the game. The Chicago Sky (8-16) shot 60% overall and knocked down six three-pointers in the opening half to build a 12-point lead. They carried a double-digit lead throughout the majority of the game until the Storm used a 9-0 run in the middle of the 4th quarter to cut the deficit to two. Ultimately, Chicago did just enough down the stretch, and Seattle ran out of time, as the Sky held on for the 95-90 victory.

Seattle had five players score in double figures. Flau’jae Johnson had an excellent game, leading the team with 25 points on 11-17 FG. She contributed all over the box score with six rebounds, four assists, three steals, and a block. Dominique Malonga was a monster on the glass again, following up her 15-rebound performance on Sunday, with 12 rebounds in this game. Malonga had a slow start on offense and struggled from the floor (6-16 FG), but finished strong with a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds.

Rookie Awa Fam had some nice moments, finishing with 14 points, seven rebounds, and two blocked shots. She was able to get inside a bit more to score in the paint instead of hovering around the perimeter all game. I spoke with her about that afterwards.

“Yeah, I like that. I have more confidence in my three-point shot, but I like that, like, I’m a center, I was doing this when I was in Valencia, so I come here. I know that I can do that. And I know who is my defender, so today, I know that I have more advantages, maybe in the paint. One thing that I was thinking that, okay, maybe today I need to be more in the paint. That’s one thing that I was thinking, and I know that I need to do it more.” Fam said.

Jade Melbourne added 11 points on 4-7 FG and a team-high five assists. Katie Lou Samuelson had one of her better games of the season, contributing 11 points on 4-4 FG off the bench. Per the TV broadcast, she was the first bench player for Seattle to score in double figures since their June 22nd game against the Dallas Wings.

The Storm out-rebounded the Sky 45-29, including 16-6 on the offensive glass. Malonga had seven offensive rebounds by herself, one more than the Sky had as a team. Seattle had the edge with points in the paint (56-46), fast break points (17-6), and second-chance points (16-11).

Chicago Sky

Despite not having Kamilla Cardoso, Skylar Diggins, or DiJonai Carrington due to injuries, the Chicago Sky had five players score in double figures. They were led by Azurá Stevens, who scored 20 points on 8-16 FG. She also had a team-high eight rebounds. Rookie Sydney Taylor added 17 points and five rebounds. Natasha Cloud contributed 13 points and a team-high six assists and four steals.

Chloe Bibby and Gabriela Jaquez added 14 and 10 points off the bench. They helped Chicago’s reserves outscore Seattle’s 32-18, which was one of the deciding factors in the game.

Chicago narrowly outshot Seattle 47% (35-74 FG) to 46% (36-78 FG), but it was their advantage from beyond the arc (+21 points) that allowed them to carry the lead throughout the game. They outshot the Storm 34% (11-32 FG) to 16% (4-25 FG) from the 3-PT line.

Game Breakdown

Azurá Stevens knocked down a corner three-pointer to open the scoring. Natisha Hiedeman connected on a dribble-drive into the paint. Natasha Cloud responded with a reverse layup down the baseline. Flau’jae Johnson had a beautiful steal fighting over the screen and raced down the court for the open layup. Cloud added a pair from the free throw line.

Awa Fam sealed her defender off and scored easily in the paint, then immediately had a big rejection on the defensive end. Sydney Taylor used an athletic drive up and under defenders and finished at the rim. Stevens knocked down another corner triple to put the Sky ahead 12-10. Flau’jae added a midrange jumper.

Stevens knocked down her third three-pointer of the opening frame. Jacy Sheldon drove past Hiedeman for a layup. After another midrange jumper by Johnson for Seattle, Chloe Bibby drilled a wing triple to extend the Sky’s lead to seven at 21-14, forcing Coach Sonia Raman to call a timeout.

Katie Lou Samuelson connected on a three-pointer at the top of the arc. Gabriela Jaquez scored in the paint through some contact. Bibby added an And-1 at the end of the quarter. Chicago led 26-19 after the first period.

Seattle opened up the second quarter with back-to-back baskets from Dominique Malonga and Katie Lou Samuelson to cut their deficit to three. But then the Sky responded with a 10-0 run that included back-to-back triples from Taylor and Rachel Banham. Both teams turned the ball over, which ultimately led to a wide-open layup for Samuelson. Johnson and Taylor swapped baskets.

Malonga added two free throws, but Chicago countered with scores from Stevens and Taylor. Flau’jae added another finger roll. Fam scored again in the paint over the smaller defender. Stevens answered with an And-1 on the other end. Katie Lou was fouled from beyond the arc and made two of three from the line. Seattle was unable to eat into the Sky’s lead as Taylor added another free throw, and Stevens scored down low. A free throw by Natasha Cloud pushed the score to 49-35.

Fam added five quick points inside the paint and from the arc to cut the deficit to single digits. Stevens, Courtney Vandersloot, and Gabriela Jaquez poured in more points to end the first half as the Sky led the Storm 56-44. Flau’jae led Seattle with 16 points on 8-10 FG in the first half. Azurá Stevens led the Sky with 18 points on 7-10 FG. The Storm had a 25-12 advantage in rebounding, while the Sky shot 60% overall and 40% from beyond the arc.

Jade Melbourne got to the rim and was fouled for the And-1 to open up the 2nd half. Elizabeth Williams scored on the mismatch down low. Hiedeman got to the rim for two. Vandersloot knocked down a corner three and added a pair of free throws a couple of plays later. In between that, Melbourne hit a step-back three-pointer.

Chloe Bibby knocked down a corner three. Malonga scored down low. Fam added a three-pointer. Bibby got another one. Jaquez got to the rim. Flau’jae hit another deep two. Zia Cooke made a dribble pull-up near the foul line. Cooke added two more from the line. The Storm ended the third period on a 10-4 run, with baskets from Katie Lou and Hiedeman. The Sky remained ahead 77-69.

Banham knocked down a triple to open the final period. Dom Malonga drove straight down the lane for the easy two. Flau’jae got to the rim again to cut the deficit to seven. Natasha Cloud drilled a three-ball to push the lead back to double-digits. After a score by Malonga, Sydney Taylor answered with an And-1.

Malonga scored again inside the paint. Seattle used a 9-0 run that was capped off by a Johnson three-pointer that cut Chicago’s lead down to two (86-84). The Storm had multiple chances to tie the game or cut it to one, but they couldn’t convert. Natasha Cloud buried a three-pointer to push the Sky’s lead back up by six with 1:35 to go in the game.

After a couple of empty possessions, Jade Melbourne intercepted a pass and raced down the court for the score, and was fouled by Taylor. Melbourne finished the And-1 opportunity to make it a one-possession game with 46 seconds to go. Courtney Vandersloot found Stevens on the mismatch down low to seal the victory. Malonga scored one last basket with eight seconds to play, but Seattle was forced to foul, and Cloud added two more free throws to end the game. Chicago held the Storm off to win 95-90.

Final Box Score

Up Next

The Seattle Storm (6-20) finish their 5-game road trip as they head to Indiana to take on the Fever (14-9) at 4:30 p.m. Indiana won the first meeting 89-78, a game in which Aliyah Boston did not play. Caitlin Clark is currently listed as a game-time decision with the lower back issue that she’s been dealing with all season long.

Mystics Rally to Beat Storm 84-79

Storm Chasers w/ Jeff Brown — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 13:03:34 GMT

(Washington, D.C.) - The Seattle Storm (6-19) controlled most of the game on Sunday afternoon until the moments that mattered the most. They led by six points at the end of the first quarter, by five at halftime, and by four at the end of the third period. The Washington Mystics (11-10) held the Storm to just 11 points in the fourth quarter and outscored them by nine as they rallied for the 84-79 victory.

Despite a career-high 31 points by Natisha Hiedeman, the Storm didn’t get enough from the rest of the team. Dominique Malonga was the only other player to score in double figures, and she finished with just 10 points on 4-10 FG. Malonga did set a new career-high with 15 rebounds.

Rookies Flau’jae Johnson and Awa Fam struggled with their shots. They combined for 4-18 FG from the floor. Together they totaled 16 rebounds, five assists, four steals, and two blocks.

Seattle had more points in the paint (48-38), rebounds (43-32), and fast break points (15-2), but they were unable to overcome their turnovers.

Washington Mystics

Shakira Austin led the way with 27 points on 10-18 FG. Sonia Citron added 19 points on 7-13 FG with four rebounds and three steals. Kiki Iriafen added a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Rookie Lauren Betts had one of her better games of the season, scoring 11 points on 4-8 FG off the bench. She was also a +9 in plus/minus. Betts helped the Mystics bench outscore Seattle’s reserves 22-15.

Both teams shot nearly identical with the Mystics shooting 43.1% (31-72 FG) compared to the Storm’s 42.9% (30-70 FG). Both of them shot exactly 5-19 FG (26%) from beyond the arc.

Washington forced the Storm into 20 turnovers and outscored Seattle 24-18 in points off turnovers. They also had an 18-12 edge in second-chance points despite being out-rebounded by the Storm. D.C. nearly doubled the road team in assists, 23-12.

Game Breakdown

The Storm opened the game up on a 10-4 run, which included a Natisha Hiedeman three-pointer and an open-court steal and score. Washington’s Sonia Citron scored on back-to-back possessions to cut Seattle’s lead to two. A quick 6-0 run by the Storm doubled their lead at 16-8.

Lauren Betts came in and gave D.C. some good minutes. She scored four points and forced Awa Fam into a couple of fouls. Hiedeman continued to be active on both ends, picking up a couple of steals and getting to the rim. Natisha finished the first period with 11 points. Katie Lou Samuelson added a corner three-pointer. Cotie McMahon had a physical drive to the hoop through contact. She had an And-1 opportunity, but missed the extra free throw. Shakira Austin added a couple of free throws to end the opening period. Seattle led 24-18 through the first 10 minutes.

The second quarter opened the same way the first ended, with two free throws for Shakira Austin. Stefanie Dolson had a deflection that forced a steal and then knocked down a triple on the other end. Washington used a 6-0 run in under 30 seconds to cut the Storm’s lead to just one. Alicia Florez added some free throws, Shakira Austin scored and was fouled, missed the free throw, but then Kiki Iriafen stole the rebound away, and immediately scored again to make it 29-28 Seattle.

Hiedeman added an And-1 on a pull-up jumper to push Seattle’s lead back to four. D.C. used an 8-1 run to take a three-point lead. They collected multiple offensive rebounds that led to points. The run was capped off by a Cassandre Prosper three-pointer. Flau’jae Johnson knocked down a dribble pull-up. Sonia Citron snuck past the defense for the layup. Hiedeman made a nice pass to a cutting Jade Melbourne for the layup.

Mackenzie Holmes came in and gave the Storm some nice minutes with many of her teammates in early foul trouble. She collected a few rebounds and scored with her left hand off the glass. Fam found Flau’jae for a score driving baseline. Seattle finished on a 12-4 run to end the half and carried a five-point lead into the locker rooms. Natisha Hiedeman led the Storm with 18 points in the first half.

Washington exploded out of the gate with a 7-0 run to begin the second half to take a two-point lead at 47-45, and forced Coach Sonia Raman into a timeout. Out of the break, Seattle responded with a 6-0 run with baskets from Hiedeman and Malonga. Dom found Melbourne on the give-and-go. Austin countered with a three-pointer at the top of the arc.

Seattle knocked down back-to-back triples from Fam and Hiedeman to push its lead back to seven at 59-52. Kiki Iriafen had a quick 5-0 run of her own. After another Hiedeman score, a midrange jumper by Lauren Betts cut Seattle’s lead to two. An And-1 drive by Zia Cooke and two free throws extended the Storm’s lead to seven. Betts matched the And-1 on the other end right before the third quarter buzzer expired. The road team led D.C. 68-64 as the two teams prepared for the final 10 minutes of action.

Jordan Horston knocked down a dribble pull-up jumper. Shakira Austin converted the And-1 to cut Seattle’s lead to three. Baskets by Bettts, Citron, and Georgia Amoore gave Washington a one-point lead. After Hiedeman scored her career-high 31st point, Austin knocked down a triple.

Washington used a 16-4 run from the end of the third to the middle of the fourth to take a six-point lead at 80-74. Seattle committed multiple turnovers down the stretch. Fam, Johnson, and Malonga scored five points over the final two minutes to cut the deficit to three, but the Mystics made enough plays to close the game out. An ill-advised pass by Melbourne was picked off by Citron sealed the victory for the Mystics. Seattle was forced to foul and after two made free throws, the game’s final score was 84-79.

Final Box Score

Up Next

The Seattle Storm (6-19) travel next to Chicago to face the Sky (7-16) for an early morning game on Wednesday, July 15th at 9 a.m. It is the first matchup between the two struggling teams this season.

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Valkyries win four straight on the road to start July

Storm Chasers w/ Jeff Brown — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 18:15:29 GMT

Written By: Danny Williams
Twitter: danny_w22

On the back of star forward Gabby Williams earning her first All-Star Starter nod, the Golden State Valkyries (17-7) ripped off four consecutive victories to start July and are now tied for the best record in the league with Las Vegas and Minnesota. In total, they’ve won seven games in a row.

On July 4, Golden State completed the season sweep of the Atlanta Dream, parlaying a late 8-0 run into the 88-83 victory in Atlanta. Williams finished 19 points (7-14 FG) and added three steals while Veronica Burton poured in 21 points (6-9 FG) to lead the team. Janelle Salaün provided a spark off the bench with 14 points. Golden State drilled 13 threes to Atlanta’s eight and held the Dream to just 39.4% shooting from the field (26-66 FG).

Two days later, Golden State headed to the nation’s capital and pulled out a grimy 62-49 victory over the Mystics. Kaitlyn Chen was the only Valkyries player to score in double-figures, scoring 14 points (6-9 FG). Golden State shot just 35% from the field (26-74 FG) and 17.6% from three (6-34 FG), but still managed to out-shoot the Mystics in both categories (30% 18-60 FG) and (12.5% 3-24 FG). The major difference in this one was the turnovers. Golden State forced 14 Washington turnovers and only committed five infractions of its own.

The next stop on the road trip was across the border in Toronto against the Tempo. In the 83-75 win, the Valkyries received major contributions from their bench. Salaün scored a game-high 26 points (7-10 FG), and Chen added 16 points (8-12) as well. Golden State outscored Toronto 52-20 off the bench. Kayla Thornton was the only starter for Golden State who scored in double-figures with 15 points (4-6 FG) and hauled in a team-high nine rebounds. The Valkyries held Tempo’s all-star Marina Mabrey to just 11 points (2-9 FG) and forced her into five turnovers.

Golden State capped off the winning streak with a blowout victory over the Connecticut Sun, 79-64. In the game, Golden State carried a 22-point lead after a 49-point eruption in the second half. Burton led the way for the Valkyries with 17 points (7-12 FG) and a team-high six assists. Salaün provided another stellar performance off the bench with 16 points (5-11 FG) and seven rebounds. Golden State shot tremendously in the victory, 51.7% (31-60 FG) from the field and 44.4% (8-18 FG) from long distance.

The Valkyries cap off the five-game road trip with a test against the Indiana Fever (13-9) on July 15. The game will tip at 5 p.m. and be aired on the USA Network.

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Sparks rise in 102-87 victory over the Sky

Storm Chasers w/ Jeff Brown — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 06:48:24 GMT

Written By: Molly Tepper
Twitter: mollytepper

(Los Angeles, CA) Little by little, the Sparks (10-11) have been gaining momentum. While Kelsey Plum and Cameron Brink remain out, LA’s healthy players had to pick up the slack. Their starters answered the call on Friday night, as the Sparks pulled away from the Chicago Sky (7-15) in the fourth quarter, outscoring them 29-17 down the stretch for a 102-87 triumph.

“Good teams are consistent,” Head Coach Lynne Roberts said. “We have to play the right way. The score takes care of itself, and that’s the challenge to play. Empty the tank as hard as you can and play as connected as you can.”

Was the message that Coach Lynne Roberts said before the game tipped off. Her team took the message to heart.

The Sparks had a season-high 32 assists, and all five starters scored in double figures, led by Nneka Ogwumike’s 25-point and 12-rebound game. During the game, Ogwumike moved into the top five in WNBA history for assists. The Sparks shot 51% from the field and 45% from beyond the arc. Dearica Hamby, Ariel Atkins, and Rae Burrell each had 17 points apiece. Meanwhile, Kamilla Cardoso led the Sky with 15 points and eight rebounds.

Coach Roberts emphasized after the game the importance of playing as a team.

“We need to get the win, not I need to get the bucket. And I think that’s the mentality of great teams, and we’re figuring it out. It’s fun to watch, and I know that’s the style that’s more fun to play, too.”

Defense appeared optional in the first quarter of play as the two teams combined for 57 points in the opening frame. The Sparks relied on their shots from deep as a result of Kamilla Cardoso’s size. By the first timeout, Los Angeles was 3-4 from downtown and 8-10 from the field. Despite the strong offensive start, the Sparks struggled with their transition defense, and Chicago got to the rim throughout the quarter. The Sky’s bench outscored the Sparks’ reserves 24-2 throughout the first half. LA would persist by hitting from deep. By the end of the half, the Sparks led by five, 53-48.

With seven minutes to go in the third, Natasha Cloud subbed out of the game with four fouls, while also leading the team in assists. Soon after, Kamilla Cardoso got her fourth foul as well. Not only was Chicago’s depth tested, but so was Los Angeles’ ability to capitalize with two of the Sky’s starters out of the game. On back-to-back possessions, Rae Burrell made a no-look pass to Ogwumike for an easy layup, and Erica Wheeler made a half-court pass to Dearica Hamby for two in the paint. When the Sparks’ transition defense to offense looked good, the Sparks had great rhythm to their game. Despite those efforts, the Sky’s depth continued to punch back, with Chicago’s bench outscoring the Sparks’ reserves 32-11 throughout the game. They kept the game within one possession going into the fourth quarter.

The Sparks exploded in the final period, and their shots from downtown were the difference, where they hit 80% (4-5 FG). For the entire game, LA outscored Chicago in three-pointers 45% (14-31) to 24% (6-25). Erica Wheeler was a game changer. Wheeler’s penetration for two consecutive threes allowed the Sparks to run away with the lead. With under two minutes remaining, Hamby made a reverse layup and then would go on to block Courtney Vandersloot’s shot at the other end to seal the game and give the Sparks their second win in a row.

“In the fourth quarter coach emphasized on just being able to get stops because we kind of let them get a little run,” Wheeler said. “So just to have that poise, we haven’t shown that in a very long time, so for us to display that tonight, that should be the standard, and it felt good to have that poise.”

The Sparks will head out on a four-game road trip. Next, they take on the Atlanta Dream on Monday, July 13th at 4:00 p.m.

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Dream Snap Skid Against Storm 89-78

Storm Chasers w/ Jeff Brown — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 03:35:38 GMT

(Atlanta, Georgia) - After the two teams played evenly through the first five minutes of the game, the Atlanta Dream (13-9) finished the first quarter on a 14-4 run to push their lead to double-digits. They would never look back as they held the lead for the remainder of the game. The Dream forced the Storm into a season-high 23 turnovers that allowed them to take control of the game. Atlanta snapped their 5-game losing streak with an 89-78 victory over Seattle.

Natisha Hiedeman was asked about the excessive turnovers and what Atlanta’s defense was doing to cause them.

Hiedeman responded, “I would just say their pressure. They had good pressure, but I feel like a lot of the turnovers could have been eliminated. Again, we talked about it at halftime and kind of cleaned it up a little bit in the 2nd half, but just the basics, you know, throwing good passes, meeting the pass. Doing things like that.”

Coach Raman also spoke on the issue, “They were just up and pressuring. It’s what they do. They’re really good at it. They’re very good at applying ball pressure, really trying to blow up actions as you’re coming out of DHOs, pick and rolls. They navigate really well, and I think they present a lot of physicality that presents a challenge every single time down the floor.”

Only three Storm players reached double figures in scoring. Natisha Hiedeman led the way with 20 points on 7-17 FG. Hiedeman was the only Seattle player to make a three-point shot in the game. The rest of the game went 0-11 FG from beyond the arc.

Dominique Malonga added 15 points on 50% shooting and nine rebounds. Flau’jae Johnson added 14 points and a team-high five assists in her return to her home state of Georgia.

Ezi Magbegor played just eight minutes in the game and didn’t play in the 2nd half. She took an elbow to the nose/face area in the second quarter. I asked Coach Raman after the game, and she mentioned she took the hit to her face, but they didn’t have an update beyond that at this time.

Seattle outshot Atlanta 46% (30-66 FG) to 42% (30-72 FG), but they made just 15% (3-20 FG) from the 3-PT line. They outscored the Dream 54-46 inside the paint. They also had a slight advantage in assists at 21-18.

Atlanta Dream

Four players scored in double figures for Atlanta. Allisha Gray led the team in points with 22 points on 7-13 FG, including 7-7 from the FT line. Angel Reese added the game’s only double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Rhyne Howard contributed 19 points, and Jordin Canada had a near triple-double with 14 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists.

The Dream out-rebounded the Storm 37-35. They had a 10-6 advantage in offensive rebounds and a 13-8 edge in second-chance points. They forced the Storm into 23 turnovers and outscored Seattle 28-19 in points off turnovers. Atlanta was a +8 from the free throw line (23-15). Due to several open-court steals, the Dream had a sizeable 18-5 edge in fast break points.

Game Breakdown

Natisha Hiedeman knocked down a wing three-pointer to score the game’s first basket. Dominique Malonga was fouled and made both free throws to put the Storm ahead 5-0. Seattle got another stop, but Angel Reese stole the ball away from Jade Melbourne and raced down the court for the Dream’s first basket. Melbourne found Malonga cutting to the rim for two. Rhyne Howard buried the corner triple. Allisha Gray put the Dream ahead with a transition And-1 score. Awa Fam scored from a dump-off pass from Flau’jae Johnson. After a Reese layup, Fam scored again on a midrange jumper.

Atlanta extended their lead with free throws by Reese and Howard. The action was fast and furious. Jordan Horston found Malonga at the rim for another layup. Gray and Horston exchanged baskets on each end. Gray scored again to put the Dream ahead 17-15.

Madina Okot was fouled by Magbegor and split the two shots from the line. Hiedeman scored on a floater bank shot in the lane. Naz Hillmon added two more points after being fouled. Atlanta continued to take advantage of the whistle, as Gray extended the Dream’s lead. Jordin Canada added an And-1 to give Atlanta an eight-point lead at 25-17. Fam found Dolson cutting to the rim for a layup. Reese scored again with a eurostep. Isobel Borlase scored on a short-corner jumper. The Dream led 29-19 over the Storm at the end of the first period.

Rhyne Howard knocked down a three-pointer to open up the second quarter. Zia Cooke scored on a pull-up in the lane. Canada connected on a lob at the rim. Cooke scored on an open layup with a beautiful leading pass from Fam. Gray knocked down a three-pointer. Katie Lou Samuelson answered with an And-1. The Dream’s hot outside shooting continued as Naz Hillmon added another from beyond the arc. That pushed Atlanta’s lead to 14 at 42-28, forcing Coach Raman to call a timeout.

Malonga added a pair of baskets at the rim. And Hiedeman added a Technical free throw. Okot snagged an offensive rebound and scored with the putback layup. Johnson scored her first basket on a nifty reverse layup. The Dream went on a 7-0 run with another three-ball for Howard, an open-court steal and score by Howard, and a layup by Okot. Hiedeman added two from the foul line to stop the bleeding. Reese added another layup at the end of the first half.

Atlanta ended the second period on a 9-3 run. The Dream led 55-38 at the end of the first half. Three of their players scored in double figures, with Allisha Gray leading the way with 14 points. Dominique Malonga led the Storm with 10 points and five rebounds through the first 20 minutes. The road team was hitting their shots at 47% (15-32 FG), but committed 15 first-half turnovers. The Dream had a 19-5 advantage in points off turnovers, which made the difference.

The Storm got off to a stronger start to open up the third quarter. They cut the 17-point deficit down to 11 after three points from both Malonga and Johnson. Atlanta responded with multiple trips to the foul line. Howard drilled a three-pointer. They pushed their lead to 20 points as Gray found Reese on the cut to the rim.

Seattle was unable to make much more of a dent into Atlanta’s lead. Hiedeman hit a three, and Flau’jae had a nice pull-up jumper. Hillmon and Canada countered with baskets of their own. Dolson added two free throws. At the conclusion of the third period, the Dream led 74-59.

Isobel Borlase got to the rim to extend Atlanta’s lead. Jade countered with a score inside. The two teams went back and forth with baskets from Horston, Reese, Gray, and Melbourne. Seattle was unable to string enough scores and stops together to truly threaten the Dream.

They were finally able to cut the deficit to 10 points after Hiedeman connected on a three-pointer to make it 84-74, and forced Atlanta Coach Karl Smesko into a timeout. Out of the break, Gray turned the ball over to Flau’jae, and Johnson was able to draw a foul. After sinking both, she made it an eight-point game. The road team had a chance to cut it to five as Hiedeman had a look at a corner three, but was unable to convert. The Storm never got any closer. Atlanta snapped their 5-game losing streak with an 89-78 victory over Seattle.

Final Box Score

Player Interviews

Dominique Malonga and Natisha Hiedeman:

Coach’s Quotes

Coach Ramam post-game:

Part 2

Instead of doing a traditional Part 2, I’m going to spend that time answering more of your questions as part of the Q&A Mailbag for paid subscribers. If you have a question and haven’t asked it yet, make sure to submit it to this article below. I’ll be answering more questions throughout the night and potentially into tomorrow.

Up Next

The Seattle Storm (6-18) will continue their road trip as they head to the Nation’s Capital, Washington, D.C. They play the Mystics (10-10) on Sunday, 7/12 at 12:00 PM. Seattle won the first matchup 97-85, but lost the the 2nd game 78-64. Both of those games took place in Seattle. This will be the final matchup between the two teams this season.

Sparks Rebound in Style as Fever Fall 106-92

Storm Chasers w/ Jeff Brown — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 06:15:37 GMT

Written By: Molly Tepper
Twitter: mollytepper

(Los Angeles, CA) - After a three-game losing streak, the Los Angeles Sparks (9-11) had something to prove. Without their star players, Kelsey Plum and Cameron Brink, the Sparks had been unable to find rhythm on both ends of the court, struggling to connect and play with pace. That all changed on Wednesday night, as the Sparks used suffocating defense and strong connectivity on the offensive end to cruise to a 106-92 win over the Indiana Fever (12-9).

With Caitlin Clark on a minutes restriction, no Aliyah Boston, and the Fever on their second game of a four-game road trip, it was a ripe time for the Sparks to capitalize. Three players scored in double figures for Los Angeles, led by Nneka Ogwumike’s 24 points, Dearica Hamby’s 21, and Rae Burrell’s 22. Hamby and Ogwumike combined for 17 rebounds as well.

“Obviously, I didn’t have a very good shooting night last game,” Burrell said. “So I knew I needed to bounce back today…win or lose, we wanted to fight and compete.”

Nneka Ogwumike praised her team’s effort after the game.

“Yeah, we wanted to play hard. We wanted to own each possession and to compete at every level for the full 40 minutes of play. It’s really that simple. I think when you put your heart into playing that hard, the schemes, the plays, the execution, it comes to fruition,” Ogwumike added, “And tonight, it felt good emptying the tank as well, you know, just ensuring that anybody who was on the court was doing everything possible to make sure that we could win the possession.”

The first five minutes of the opening quarter appeared to be a continuation of the Sparks’ Monday night matchup against the Seattle Storm. All of the Fever’s shots were dropping while LA was unable to finish at the rim, and the Sparks’ defense continuously struggled to collect rebounds. By the time the first official timeout occurred, the Sparks already had four turnovers and four missed layups in a row.

Despite the rough start, the home team quickly turned things around. After a 6-0 run to end the first, the second quarter was all Sparks. Indiana’s seemingly simple passes were shifting into turnovers, and LA’s spacing in transition and patience began to flow. At the four-minute mark of the second quarter, among the Fever’s last 20 possessions, they had made just three field goals and had committed seven turnovers.

The Sparks went on a 12-0 run with three minutes remaining in the second as Hamby began to rebound and get easy layups, and Ogwumike began doing what she does best, creating space and making shots in the paint. After yet another turnover by the Fever, Ogwumike grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed shot and found Hamby, who finished with an easy layup, extending the Sparks’ 16-2 run. Capitalizing on turnovers and crashing the offensive glass is exactly what Los Angeles needed to secure the win.

As the game progressed, LA was able to counter every attempted run by Indiana. Despite Kelsey Mitchell dropping a game-high 29 points (9-18 FG), the Sparks never allowed the game to get close. They pushed Clark into four turnovers and forced the Fever into sloppy play with 17 total turnovers.

“I’m happy we won obviously, but I’m more happy with how we played,” head coach Lynne Roberts said. “We talked about playing more connected, having a little more smarts out there, defensively emptying the tank, getting out and running, and playing with pace.”

The Sparks will attempt to get another game in the win column as they face the Chicago Sky (7-14) on Friday, July 10th, at 7 p.m.

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Introducing The Short Corner

Storm Chasers w/ Jeff Brown — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 04:24:21 GMT

The Short Corner is a new sub-section to cover the WNBA and Women's Basketball from a wider lens. More short-form recaps, weekly summaries, and quick hitters beyond the Seattle Storm.

This will be a long-term project that will ideally grow over the years.

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Storm Chasers Paid Subscriber Q&A

Storm Chasers w/ Jeff Brown — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 20:24:46 GMT

We have hit the midway point of the 2026 WNBA season, and I was reminded that it’s time to do another Paid subscriber Q&A. Consider this a mailbag of fan questions, concerns, opinions, etc., so please add your questions below in the comments section. I will do my best to answer every question sent in or try to find the answers if I don’t have them. Feel…

Storm Topple Sparks 82-64 Part 2

Storm Chasers w/ Jeff Brown — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 13:03:51 GMT

It may not have been their most impressive game of the season, but the Seattle Storm (6-17) dominated the LA Sparks (8-11) from bell to bell. The trio of Flau’jae Johnson, Natisha Hiedeman, and Jade Melbourne led the way in this game, combining for 49 of the Storm’s 82 points. On a night when Dominique Malonga shot 1-10 FG and scored just two points, they needed it. But it was the team’s defense that made sure the Sparks didn’t have any shot in this game.

The Storm picked up their first win against a Western Conference opponent this season. They kicked off this current five-game road trip by a final score of 82-64. If you missed it, you can read Molly’s game recap at the link below.

For Part 2, I wanted to write about Seattle’s defensive waves that they can throw at teams, Skylar’s problems in Chicago, LA’s draft decisions, and the old versus the new. Plus, I’ve included the audio interviews of the post-game press conferences for both the Storm and Sparks.

Defensive Waves

Dating back to training camp, one of the biggest things that stood out to me was the size and length of the Seattle Storm’s roster. Obviously, the three-headed monster of Dominique Malonga, Ezi Magbegor, and Awa Fam makes all the headlines, but there is really a lot more to it than that. Jordan Horston at 6’2” is a player who is often considerably taller and longer than other guards in the league, who generally range between 5’8” and 6’0”. But even Seattle’s sub-6’ players have unusually long arms. Jade Melbourne is around 5’10” - 5’11” tall, but her wingspan is listed at 6’3”. Natisha Hiedeman might only be 5’8”, but her wingspan is closer to 5’11”.

It took half the season, but the Storm’s roster is finally healthy. And we’re just starting to get glimpses of potential lineups and rotations. What stood out to me about this game against the LA Sparks was that their defensive pressure was unrelenting. A lot of that had to do with the fact that Coach Raman can consistently rotate length into the lineup as soon as another player goes to the bench. Teams have to deal with Dom and Awa starting the game. And when one of them is subbed out, they are replaced by All-Defensive Team member Ezi Magbegor. Arguably the WNBA’s best defensive post player not named A’ja Wilson. We saw another emphatic block in this game by Ezi. A welcome sight to behold.

Dominique Malonga had a defensive play where she was able to stay in front of Nneka, and Ogwumike was unable to shoot over her. I’m not sure if the ball got tipped or if Malonga’s outstretched arms just made the shot impossible from that angle. Either way, Nneka’s shot fell well short of its mark.

Jordan Horston rejected and ripped a ball right out of Dearica Hamby’s hands in this game. She had two other steals that stopped LA from scoring in transition. Awa Fam was credited with a team-high four steals, and it looked like she got several deflections throughout the game. Per Jade and Flau’jae during the post-game presser, they were giddy talking about their defense and talked about how the team has a leaderboard for most deflections, and they’re all trying to get on the board, hoping their name will be at the top of the list.

I spoke with Melbourne about that and how their length can cause problems for opposing teams.

“Bringing Jordy and also Ezi back into the lineup, that’s our defensive lineup as well. That adds 2 elements to our game, and we can show teams a bunch of different lineups now, which is really exciting. Ezi is still finding her feet. J (Horston) is still finding her feet. Every game, the more minutes and more reps that they play, the better. But yeah, we have a little competition who can get the most deflections. So that’s a big thing.” Jade told me.

“When you see your name at the top of the leaderboard, or you see it at the bottom, you want to keep going and going. So, I think that’s been a really good thing that we’ve added just to create some positivity and fun around the group. And yeah, it’s a shame when you don’t see your name on the leaderboard. So people are active now, people are getting their hands in the lanes. And it’s an exciting little game we play. So we’re looking forward to seeing that hopefully tomorrow, and hopefully I’m at the top of the leaderboard.” She added.

I also talked to Coach Raman about this and the team’s ability to continuously throw size and length defensively against their opponents with wave after wave of long, tall athletes.

“I think that you saw it play out a little bit with the activity, the deflections, at different times, we can switch as well with groups like that. So, I think it's just our multiple activity, the length with which they can kind of cover ground, and be able to be in helps and help like in gaps, but then also be able to close out and have really good contests,” Coach responded, “Today, what I loved was finishing the possession, going from those help positions or maybe being in scramble mode a little bit, to like getting back on the glass and keeping them off the boards. So I thought they did a really good job in that department.”

The stats don’t lie. Seattle limited Los Angeles to 34% (22-65 FG) shooting and forced the Sparks into 19 turnovers.

It’ll be interesting to see the team continue to build defensive chemistry over the remainder of the season with a full complement of players.

Skylar’s Problems in Chi Town

Let’s take a quick detour from Los Angeles and head to the Windy City, Chicago, Illinois, where we check in on an old friend, Skylar Diggins. Surprisingly…unsurprisingly? … The Chicago Sky are having yet another terrible season. The team traded Angel Reese in the offseason for two future first-round picks, but they made several other splashy moves to rebuild the team back into a playoff contender. It looked pretty good for them, at least on paper.

They traded Ariel Atkins for Rickea Jackson. They signed veteran free agents Skylar Diggins, Azurá Stevens, and DiJonai Carrington. Then, a couple of weeks into the season, they signed Natasha Cloud.

Sky General Manager Jeff Pagliocca couldn’t have predicted that Jackson would tear her ACL just four games into the season. But he likely was well aware that Carrington wouldn’t be healthy to start the year. DiJonai hasn’t played at all yet, still recovering from an injury she suffered in the playoffs last year. Stevens was also hit with a small injury and missed the first five games of the season. Needless to say, their season has been a hot mess. Despite multiple trades to mortgage away their future, the Chicago Sky (6-14) sit in the cellar of the WNBA standings alongside the Seattle Storm (6-17) and Connecticut Sun (5-16). And unlike those two teams, the Sky intended to be competitive and a playoff contender this year. They also have zero incentive to lose, as they gave the Washington Mystics the rights to their picks in both the 2027 and 2028 drafts.

Pagliocca said in a viral moment during Skylar Diggins’ introductory press conference that, “I don’t wanna deal with Skylar Diggins every night if she doesn’t have players that she can go to war with.”

Fast forward to the present day. Diggins took to Instagram to let the world know she was being benched in Chicago. That made its way through all the social media channels throughout the day. But there is a lot more that is going on with the Sky than just a coaching decision to bench their starting point guard.

Alissa Hirsh of the Chicago Sun-Times posted a full story on what’s happening and had some great quotes from Diggins.

“Being in this environment, emotionally for me, [we’re] not having everything that we need to be successful,” Diggins said. “I’ve been elite for decades. And it’s not just from showing up. We fight so hard in our [collective bargaining agreement] to have access to a cold tub, a hot tub, a sauna, a steam room, a chiropractor, acupuncturist, massage therapist, IVs and things like that.”

“I was thinking we were going to be in a practice facility, and other things that were told to me. And that’s not been the case. There’s been things outside of people’s control that I understand, too, a lot of moving parts. Lots of places I’ve been were in that process as well, so I get it. But it’s hard to perform at a certain level without those [resources].” Skylar added.

Per the article, Diggins had surgery in October on her knee and has been rehabbing through that.

“I’ve been sacrificing my body for this team,” she said. “Maybe it’s time to take a step back and see what’s going on to see if I need to continue to make those sacrifices without having the proper resources to play at an elite level.”

Skylar Diggins caught off guard by benching

https://chicago.suntimes.com/chicago-sky/2026/07/06/skylar-diggins-caught-off-guard-by-benching-as-tension-builds-with-sky

Colin Salao from Front Office Sports dives deeper into the issues surrounding the Sky’s practice facility. And how that’s causing problems by the day for the Sky and their players.

Chicago Sky Practice Facility Delay Continues

https://frontofficesports.com/chicago-sky-practice-facility-delay-continues/

From an outside perspective, the Sky have looked to be in complete disarray for quite some time. But the practice facility stuff is really disheartening to read about. I know how much the Storm’s practice facility and performance center meant to Skylar as she tries to raise two young kids and play at the highest level of women’s professional basketball. It’s sad to see that the Chicago Sky organization sold her on a fake bill of goods. And it doesn’t look like it’s going to end well in Chicago.

LA’s Draft Decisions

I think it’s imperative that teams really have an understanding and a vision of what they are and what their plan is. They should also be realistic about their chances to compete. While the Storm were one defensive rebound away from beating the Las Vegas Aces in the first round of the playoffs one year ago, I don’t think it meant they were going to win the WNBA Championship if they had only won that playoff game. They would have faced off against the Indiana Fever in the semifinals, and the team did not match up well against them. They were swept 3-0 during the regular season. They might have been more competitive than that, but I don’t think they would have won that series. After all, it was the Storm’s 95-75 lopsided loss to the Fever that convinced me the organization needed to make massive changes.

Fortunately, Seattle decided to go in the direction of a rebuild around their youth. They would build around Dominique Malonga, the 2nd overall pick of the 2025 WNBA Draft, and the 3rd overall pick of the 2026 draft, which would later become Awa Fam. Funny enough, both of those selections came from the LA Sparks.

Los Angeles has lacked direction for several years now. They haven’t made the playoffs since 2020. Things aren’t looking good for them to reach the playoffs in 2026 either. After this latest loss to Seattle, they’ve fallen to 8-11 on the season. Worse yet, it sounds like Kelsey Plum’s leg injury might keep her out of action for quite a while. The franchise chose Plum over the potential of Malonga, as the two were both involved in the Jewell Loyd trade last year, with Loyd heading to Las Vegas, Plum heading to Los Angeles, and the #2 pick (Malonga) headed to Seattle.

Now, I always try to be fair when it comes to these things because it’s easier to make judgments now that we’ve seen Malonga’s potential (37 points, 12 rebounds against Dallas). But you want to judge the process of their decisions at the time they were made. If we look at the Sparks roster, they really needed guard help. They had already drafted Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson, plus they had Dearica Hamby, and (at the time) Azurá Stevens. Plum was 30 years old when the trade went down, and pretty much in the prime of her career. As someone who covered KP at the University of Washington, Plum is a player who has star potential and can sell tickets. I get that there is appeal there, too.

If they had kept the #2 overall pick, would they have drafted Dominique Malonga even though they already had Cameron Brink? Or would they have chosen Kiki Iriafen, who played at the University of Southern California? But they already had Dearica Hamby. Before the draft, I’m not sure if they would have considered Sonia Citron. Citron is an excellent player and well worth the lottery pick that was used to select her. But I think her ceiling isn’t even in the same ballpark as Malonga’s. And I’m not certain if it’s even higher than Plum’s. I can confidently say I didn’t think it was when I watched her at Notre Dame.

I believe there is even less criticism for how they handled their 2026 first-round pick. That was a trade made two years in advance, and they essentially traded for a guaranteed lottery selection in a talented 2024 draft for a future first-round pick that they had hoped would be worse than 4th overall. Ironically, it wasn’t, but the cost of business wasn’t egregious. And even if we look at the selections made from those picks, I feel it was a reasonable trade by both parties. The Storm essentially traded Rickea Jackson for Awa Fam. It’s a little funny because Fam actually reminds me a fair amount of Jackson. Both players share some similarities in that they have a smooth shooting stroke, but they still need to improve their defense and rebounding. I believe Fam will be better on that end than Jackson, and she may end up being better offensively as well, but we’ll see.

I think the larger criticism would go towards the Sparks for trading away Rickea Jackson for Ariel Atkins. But I believe there were also issues between Jackson and the Sparks’ Head Coach, Lynne Roberts. That likely played a factor in her being traded this offseason.

Ultimately, it really just leads me to my last topic.

Old Versus New

It seems to me that the teams investing in older players have really struggled this season. If we check the average age of each WNBA team, 3 out of the top 4 teams are the Phoenix Mercury (oldest), Chicago Sky (second oldest), Las Vegas Aces (third), and Los Angeles Sparks (4th). Of course, the Aces have won 3 out of the last 4 championships, and they’re favored to win their 4th again as long as A’ja Wilson can stay healthy. But the other three teams are having massively disappointing seasons. They were banking on older players like DeWanna Bonner (38 years old), Alyssa Thomas (34), Skylar Diggins (35), Natasha Cloud (34), Courtney Vandersloot (37), Nneka Ogwumike (36), and Erica Wheeler (35).

To be fair, some of the youngest teams are also struggling. The Storm rank 12th oldest (or 4th youngest) overall and feature the youngest starting lineup in the WNBA with Jade (23), Natisha (29), Flau’jae (22), Awa (20), and Dom (20). The Connecticut Sun are 14th (second youngest) and have the worst record in the league. Seattle has the second-worst record. But there is a major difference between these two teams, which purposefully went very young, as they look to rebuild, and the ones listed in the previous paragraph. The Sun franchise is being relocated to Houston, so they had zero incentive to be competitive this season. Especially when losing games means they likely will end up with either JuJu Watkins or Madison Booker.

But we also see a team like the Washington Mystics, Atlanta Dream, and Indiana Fever, who all rank as some of the youngest teams in the league, and all three of them are currently positioned to make the playoffs this year. The Mystics really seem like the most comparable franchise to Seattle right now, but they are probably one year ahead in their development. That makes sense as Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen are both 22 years old, whereas Dominique Malong and Awa Fam are 20. That’s where the Storm should aim to be one year from now. Potentially competing for one of the lower-end playoff seeds (6th-8th), or being one of the first teams just outside the playoffs (9th-10th).

The players entering the WNBA now are extremely talented because there is more investment in women’s basketball than at any other time in history. That’s why the past three drafts have been loaded with talent. That talent is only going to keep coming. The teams that are investing in the draft are most likely going to be the ones that have the most success over the next few years. That’s why it’s important for the franchises to pick a direction, have a plan, and stick to it.

In a lot of ways, this isn’t anything new. The young always take over for the old in due time. When the Storm won in 2018, they had to get through the Phoenix Mercury, which was a much older team with Diana Taurasi, DeWanna Bonner, and Brittney Griner. When the Aces went through the Storm in 2022, they were the young, hungry lionesses. Sure, Stewie and Jewell weren’t old in 2022, but Sue Bird and Tina Charles certainly were. And as good as the Aces have been, their time, too, will come eventually. The team that eventually knocks them off their perch, maybe still a few years from now, is building that roster today with new, young, active, energetic players. Maybe it’s in Dallas, Indiana, Atlanta, or Washington. Hopefully, it’s in Seattle.

LA’s Post-Game:

Player Interviews

Flau’jae Johnson and Jade Melbourne:

Coach’s Quotes

Coach Ramam pre-game:

Coach Raman post-game:

Flau'jae Shines in Storm's 82-64 Victory

Storm Chasers w/ Jeff Brown — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 06:01:48 GMT

Written By: Molly Tepper
Twitter: mollytepper

(Los Angeles, CA) After back-to-back losses, the Seattle Storm (6-17) got back in the win column with a triumphant victory over the Los Angeles Sparks (8-11). While the Sparks were without star players Cameron Brink and Kelsey Plum, Seattle’s ability to capitalize on turnovers and poor transition by Los Angeles aided their 82-64 victory.

Flau’jae Johnson led all scorers with 23 points and five rebounds, after having a season low of one point in the last game against Portland. Natisha Hiedeman added 15 points, and Jade Melbourne had 11 points. Both players led the Storm with four assists. Katie Lou Samuelson had a crucial nine points off the bench, as she was 3-4 from beyond the arc. Dominique Malonga had nine rebounds, which were critical to Seattle’s effort on the defensive end.

Johnson talked about her bounce-back game during the post-game press conference and said that the key to her performance was coming in with confidence and not being too down on herself after her last game.

Coach Raman also added, “I think (Johnson) was just really determined to make an impact. So, yes, there was a scoring, but I thought just her activity flying around, the offensive rebound put back, she had. Just knowing when she’s in the corners and we don’t go to her. There are other ways for her to make an impact on the floor. But that start that she had, I mean, that was huge.”

The Storm shot 43% from the field (32-75 FG) and shot 30% from downtown (10-33 FG), limiting the Sparks to 17% (5-29 FG) from 3-PT range. Seattle made eight of their nine free throws, scoring 89% from the line.

The story of Seattle’s victory came from its dominant rebounding. The road team had 44 rebounds in comparison to LA’s 35. 37 of those rebounds were defensive, contributing to 15 fast break points by the Storm. As a result of their offensive rebounds, Seattle outscored Los Angeles 13-8 in second-chance points. Further, the Storm converted 25 points off the Sparks’ 19 turnovers.

The defense was very aggressive. They had 14 steals and three blocks. Seattle scored 38 points in the paint versus the Sparks’ 30, and outscored them 24-20 in bench points.

Los Angeles Sparks

Dearica Hamby commanded the game for the Sparks with 17 points (6-9 FG). Nneka Ogwumike was another crucial playmaker with 14 points and 11 rebounds. With seven assists, Erica Wheeler led LA in assists. Off the bench, Kate Martin had a quiet eight points and six rebounds, but made just 1-7 FG.

The Sparks were completely outplayed and lost all the major team stats. Their 19 turnovers were a major factor in their disappointing performance.

Game Breakdown

Dearica Hamby got a quick layup to begin the game. Flau’Jae Johnson went deep from beyond the arc back-to-back. Fueled by the Storm’s strong defense, Johnson hit a layup off a rebound, scoring the first eight points for the Storm. Erica Wheeler completed a floater. Johnson completed both of her free throws. Wheeler added two more inside the paint. Hiedeman got her own rebound, then passed to Johnson, who banked in another three-pointer.

Off the jump ball by Awa Fam, Jordan Horston quickly bucketed a two-pointer. Wheeler responded with a rapid shot from downtown. Hamby went two-for-two from the free throw line. Fam responded with a mid-range jumper. Jade Melbourne made a driving floater, and Nneka Ogwumike got the last possession with a shot from long range.

After taking advantage of the Sparks’ seven turnovers, the Storm led the first quarter 20-15. Johnson led all scorers with 13 points, after a season low one point in Saturday’s game.

Katie Lou Samuelson made a corner three to begin the second quarter. Ariel Atkins drove to the rim, hitting the shot and making her free throw for the And-1. Samuelson hit another three from the left corner. Stephanie Dolson collected an offensive rebound and finished with a quick putback layup, forcing the Sparks to take a timeout.

Rae Burrell made a quick driving layup out of the timeout. After Ezi Magbegor rejected Kiana Williams at the rim, Melbourne sank a three-pointer in transition. Off a turnover by the Sparks, Johnson made another layup. Hamby responded with a two-pointer. Natisha Hiedeman collected her first points for the Storm with two points at the free throw line. Hamby hit another layup and got a free throw along the way. Emma Cannon added two more for LA at the rim. In response, Fam connected on a three-pointer from downtown. Hamby added two more inside the paint, going on a seven-point run outside of the timeout. Heideman collected two points, and Fam made a quick running layup, putting the Storm up by 12.

Off a Spain pick and roll, Hamby made a layup. Johnson collected Fam’s rebound and hit an easy jumper. Dominique Malonga finished a flawless opposite-hand layup. Kiana Williams made a step-back jump shot, and in their next possession, Ogwumike scored at the rim. Hiedeman ended the half with a smooth layup right before time expired.

The Storm led 48-37 over the Sparks to end the first half. Johnson led the way with 17 points, and Hamby scored 14 points for the Sparks. Seattle’s impressive defense, forcing turnovers, led to several fast break points, and their consistent offensive possessions kept them in the lead.

After a scoreless first minute for both teams, Hiedeman made a shot from downtown to give the Storm their first points of the half. A half-court pass by Johnson gave Melbourne an easy two points at the rim. Ogwumike made both her free throws after being fouled. Off a Sparks turnover, Fam made a no-look pass to Johnson, putting the Storm up 16 early in the third. Johnson hit a fading jumper. At the shot clock buzzer, Hiedeman made a one-handed jump shot, forcing a timeout.

Johnson hit a floater in the paint. Horston added to the Storm’s lead, scoring at the rim. Rae Burrell finally gave the Sparks some life with a driving layup, but the Storm quickly responded with another bucket from Horston. Cannon scored from beyond the arc. Samuelson hit a shot from her favorite spot of the night, the left corner, ending the third quarter with the Storm up 68-45, holding the Sparks to only eight points in the period.

To begin the fourth quarter, the Sparks went back-to-back as Chance Gray made a three-pointer, and Hamby scored a running layup in transition off a turnover, forcing the Storm to take a quick timeout.

Zia Cooke collected her first points of the night with a driving layup. Kate Martin responded with a shot from deep. Melbourne scored at the rim, making the possession three points with an And-1 free throw. Cooke made a turnaround jump shot. Hiedeman went two-for-two from the foul line. Then she made another driving layup. Ogwumike responded with two inside the paint. Ogwumike added two more points on a driving layup.

Martin made all three of her free throws after being fouled by Horston. Cooke responded with a bucket from long distance. Williams added a driving layup, yet it was not enough for the Sparks, who were beaten by the Storm 82-64, tying the regular season series 1-1.

Final Box Score

Up Next

The Seattle Storm (6-17) travel to Atlanta to rematch with the Dream (12-9) on Thursday, July 9th at 5:00 PM. The Dream have surprisingly lost five games in a row. That included a 105-90 defeat to the Storm on June 27th.

Fire Defeat the Storm 77-72 Part 2

Storm Chasers w/ Jeff Brown — Sun, 05 Jul 2026 13:03:08 GMT

The Seattle Storm (5-17) lost to the Portland Fire (9-12) for the second time this season. Once again, the outcome was decided by five points. While it felt like the Storm let one slip away down in Portland back on June 17th, this time the Fire entered the 4th quarter with a 7-point lead and never relinquished it. If you missed it, you can read my full game recap at this link below.

For Part 2, there were a lot of things to discuss, including Portland’s point guard Carla Leite, Dominique Malonga’s opportunities to learn, the problems figuring out new rotations, and how losing to Portland isn’t all bad.

Carla Leite

It’s honestly pretty surprising that Carla Leite has been left unprotected in the past two WNBA Expansion Drafts. She was drafted 9th overall by the Dallas Wings in the 2024 draft, but did not play for the team. She was a draft and stash player, not unlike what the Storm did with both Ezi Magbegor and Jade Melbourne during their draft seasons. However, during the Valkyries’ expansion draft, the Wings left Leite unprotected, and she was selected by Golden State.

Leite had a solid rookie season in 2025 as a backup point guard to Veronica Burton. Burton, ironically also drafted by the Dallas Wings, went on to win the Most Improved Player of the Year award last season, while setting career-highs in points (11.9 PPG), assists (6.0 APG), and rebounds (4.4 RPG). Leite was also solid as a backup, where she averaged 7.2 PPG and 2.0 APG as a reserve off the bench.

However, after showing some real positive signs during her rookie year, the Golden State Valkyries also left her unprotected during the Portland Fire/Toronto Tempo Expansion Drafts the very next year. The Valkyries’ front office has taken heat for the Flau’jae Johnson trade during the 2026 draft night, but leaving Leite unprotected might be just as bad. At least in the Flau’jae trade, Golden State did acquire two second-round draft picks. They let Leite get drafted away for nothing in return.

Ultimately, I’m sure their staff isn’t too concerned, considering the Valkyries have won 8 out of their last 10 games, and currently hold the third-best record in the WNBA at 14-7. But that doesn’t mean the process can’t be questioned.

The Valkyries’ loss is Portland’s gain. Leite has been the expansion franchise’s best player through their first 19 games. She is averaging 15.4 PPG and 5.6 APG during her sophomore season in the WNBA. Honestly, I would have to believe that she is a serious candidate to potentially win the Most Improved Player of the Year award this season after Burton won it last year.

When looking at the Storm’s roster, the young core of Dominique Malonga, Awa Fam, and Flau’jae Johnson is likely the players the team will build around for the foreseeable future. For Portland, I think they have to build around Carla Leite. She is just 22 years old, has improved significantly this season, and plays one of the most important positions in basketball (the point guard).

It also makes me wonder what they’ll do with their first-round draft pick (7th overall), Iyana Martín. She is a point guard out of Spain who was also a draft and stash player from overseas. Did Portland not expect Carla Leite to be as good as she was, and so they drafted another point guard? Did they believe Martín had a higher ceiling than Leite? If they had known Leite was going to play like this, would they have selected another player? Some of the noteworthy players who were selected after Martín would be Flau’jae Johnson (8th overall), Cotie McMahon (11th overall), and Madina Okot (13th overall). From a roster-building standpoint, it seems like they may have been better off drafting Okot since they lack size. In future seasons, we’ll see if selecting Martín when they already had Leite was the correct decision. For now, they can be reassured that they have a very good player in Carla. And I don’t expect Portland to leave her exposed in the 2028 Expansion Draft for the new Cleveland team.

Opportunities to Learn

One thing that really stood out in this game was how important Dominique Malonga is and why she must avoid getting into early foul trouble. Fortunately, the Storm drafted Awa Fam 3rd overall and signed Ezi Magbegor to a 3-year contract extension. Of all the teams in the WNBA, few have the depth and athleticism that Seattle possesses in the front court. But Malonga’s size and length naturally create so many mismatches that the Storm need her on the floor.

She scored a game-high 22 points and didn’t even play half of the game. Malonga played just five minutes in the first half because she picked up three fouls in five minutes of action. Sadly, I thought her 2nd and 3rd fouls were just careless fouls where she reached. One where she tried to stop Carla Leite from driving up near the three-point line in transition, and another where Leite beat her opponent off the dribble, and Malonga reached in the last-second. Both of them were easy foul calls for the ref to make.

Her first foul was three minutes into the game. The second foul came exactly one minute later and sent the second-year center to the bench with six minutes remaining in the first period. She then returned to start the 2nd quarter and immediately committed another foul 42 seconds into that period. As I mentioned in the last paragraph, the second and third fouls were 100% unnecessary. Dom has to learn that she is far too important to make those mistakes. And that it’s OK to give up a single layup to Leite if that is the difference between playing just five minutes in the first half or being able to play 12-15 minutes over the game’s first 20 minutes. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the Storm only scored 10 points in the second quarter and Malonga had to sit all but 42 seconds of the period.

Mazvita asked Coach Raman in the post-game if this is an area where Malonga has the opportunity to grow (learning to avoid foul trouble).

“Yeah, I mean, that’s just part of it, right? Like, you see that foul trouble with young bigs, like, that’s always a thing that I think young players have to get used to. She’s, what, like a sophomore, junior in college age, right? And you see, you watch games, and you see that that’s a thing. And Dom is just so far along that we might forget that she’s 20 years old, but what she’s able to do out there is really phenomenal. And so we keep encouraging her and keep working with her on just being able to defend without fouling and to be able to keep her on the floor a little bit longer.” Raman stated.

“But, yeah, I think this just kind of takes time to get used to that with the big minutes that she’s playing now, guarding the other teams’ tough starting center, starting power forwards. It’s a little bit different than what she was doing in the previous year.” She added.

New Rotations, New Problems

It’s been a disappointing two-game stretch with losses to Phoenix and Portland after Seattle’s best two games of the season with their impressive home wins against the New York Liberty and the Atlanta Dream. The Storm were finally fully healthy with the return of Ezi Magbegor and Jordan Horston. With the season nearing the midway point, they finally have their full complement of players.

With how impressive Dom and Awa had been lately, it was very exciting to see what adding Ezi Magbegor could do for the team. Plus, getting Jordan Horston back was very important, as Seattle clearly missed her defense and energy in some of their losses before their wins against the Liberty and Dream. So with that in mind, why has the team looked really bad since they were added to the lineup?

Seattle kept its same starting lineup of PG: Jade Melbourne, SG: Natisha Hiedeman, SF: Flau’jae Johnson, PF: Awa Fam, and C: Dominique Malonga, which they had during their recent wins. I thought that was probably the correct decision. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it. And the team looked great before these most recent two games. Adding Ezi and Jordan should only make the team that much better, but it hasn’t. At least not yet.

I think there is a legitimate challenge to finding the right rotations, the right players to play together, and which players have the best chemistry together. It’s also difficult because Awa and Dom are two critical pieces that will be playing a lot of minutes. But they also signed Ezi Magbegor to the richest contract in Seattle Storm history. The team has also missed Magbegor’s rim protection through the first 20 games of the season when they had to play without her. They need her. But they also need her to get back into playing shape and get her rhythm back. Ezi missed a few shots she should have easily made (although so did Dom and Awa).

Where does Jordan fit in? She played the fewest amount of minutes of any player who saw the court on Saturday night. Zia Cooke played 16 minutes, including nine in the 4th quarter, because Flau’jae Johnson wasn’t scoring. Johnson went 0-5 FG from the floor. But then Zia went 0-4 FG on her shots. A big reason the Storm lost was that Flau’jae, Jade, Jordan, and Zia combined to score just 12 points total on 3-14 FG shooting. They needed more from their guard and wing players.

During the post-game press conference, Bella did a good job of asking both the players and Coach Raman whether adding the two players back into the rotation was causing issues with team chemistry, causing stagnation with the offense, and if there were growing pains with that.

Hiedeman responded, “I wouldn’t say growing pains because, you know, we've just been waiting for them to get back. We’ve been super excited. We’ve been seeing Ezi work hard every day, day in and day out, and then obviously we had Jordy back, and then lost her for a couple of games, but just their energy and their effort on the court, especially defensively, like two amazing defensive stoppers. I wouldn’t say there’s anything about working them in. I feel like it’s just, we have so many great players on this team, so it’s just getting everybody the time that they need and getting the flow back.”

Coach Raman spoke on the issue as well. She said, “Yeah, I think that there’s always an adjustment period, and whether that leads to what happens in those particular possessions. I don’t think that it’s necessarily that causal because we’ve had possessions like that this season without them on the floor. So I think they’re two separate things, but it does take time to kind of just get comfortable, get the chemistry, build being on a string together, the connection that they have on the court. That just takes time to develop, and I think that we’re starting to see what that might look like and some of the glimpses of it with Ezi, obviously with Jordan, she’s already been playing, so it’s a little bit smoother to be able to do that. But I think we’re seeing it.”

Raman continued, “And I’m really pleased with how far along Ezi is after all of that time off. And I think we just all have to remember that these things are a process, and you can’t skip steps. You just kind of have to let this group, right? That roster with Ezi on the floor, just continue to play together and continue to gel.”

Is it a Good Thing that Portland Won?

When it comes to draft position and potential lottery picks, the Portland Fire picking up wins against the Seattle Storm is actually a good thing for Seattle. The Storm have played exactly 1/2 of their games this year. Their record is 5-17. I think it’s fair to say that they won’t be a playoff team this year. I’m sure it’s been disappointing for the players, but this is what I realistically expected. This season has always been more about development, improvement, and learning. It’s an opportunity for the players to learn and grow, and for the front office to learn what they have and what they still need.

If we establish that the team is headed to the lottery, then it’s best if they improve their odds at the potential #1 overall pick, and even just a Top 3 selection. With the Storm’s recent two-game win streak over New York and Atlanta, they had actually moved ahead (in the wrong direction) of the Portland Fire. That’s because even though Portland has been the better team this season than Seattle, the Storm won 23 games last year, which is going to hurt them with the lottery odds for 2027. However, it’s still very realistic that Seattle can finish the season with the third-best odds to claim the #1 overall pick.

As I have written before, it’s virtually 100% impossible for Seattle to have better lottery odds than the Connecticut Sun (soon to be the Houston Comets) because the Sun were terrible last year and they’re terrible again this year. The only way Seattle can have better odds than them is if the Sun were to win around 20 more games than the Storm this year. That isn’t going to happen. Unfortunately, for both Seattle and Chicago, it isn’t looking very likely that they can have better odds than Chicago either. The Sky’s combined two-year record is 16-48, and the Storm’s is currently 28-38. The reason it’s unfortunate for Chicago is that even if they end up with the #1 pick, that pick will go to the Washington Mystics, who own the swap rights between the two teams for 2027. The Sky were supposed to be a playoff team after signing multiple veterans in the offseason, but they’ve been anything but.

Seattle’s other major competition for a Top 3 lottery odds is Portland, Washington, Los Angeles, and, to a lesser extent, Toronto. The Mystics will be a fascinating team to watch because they are currently sitting in the 8th and final playoff spot. D.C. also has zero incentive to lose games because it gets to swap picks with Chicago. The Mystics can be a playoff team this year AND land the #1 overall pick. However, Washington will have to fend off multiple suitors for that spot. They are currently ahead of Toronto, Los Angeles, Portland, and Phoenix. I feel all of those teams could still make the playoffs, depending on how the 2nd half of the season goes.

Currently, if the Mystics fall out of the playoffs, they would move back below Seattle. That would give them two opportunities to win the lottery with better odds than the Storm, with either their own pick or Chicago’s.

When the Storm are at their best and beating New York, Atlanta, or their big win against the Mystics earlier this season, it makes me think they are further along in their development than they actually are. But then they drop multiple games against teams I feel they are more talented than. If they are going to lose games this year, they should lose to teams like Portland, Toronto, Dallas, and Washington. Seattle’s five-point loss to the Fire on Saturday night isn’t that bad in the long-term.

Player Interviews

Dominique Malonga and Natisha Hiedeman:

Coach’s Quotes

Coach Ramam post-game:

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Fire Spoil Storm's 4th of July

Storm Chasers w/ Jeff Brown — Sun, 05 Jul 2026 04:38:25 GMT

(Seattle, WA) - The Portland Fire (9-12) played spoiler in Seattle on the 4th of July holiday weekend, as they came into the 206 and defeated the Storm (5-17) by a final score of 77-72. It wasn’t the prettiest game as both teams shot below 40% from the field and the two combined for 34 turnovers. The road team outscored the Storm by 17 points over the middle two periods in the game, which led to their victory.

Seattle had three players score in double figures. They were led by Dominique Malonga, who totaled 22 points in 19 minutes. She didn’t have the most efficient evening, shooting 7-17 FG from the floor. Dom’s minutes were severely limited in the first half due to picking up three fouls within five minutes of action.

Natisha Hiedeman contributed 15 points on 6-13 FG and led the Storm with four assists. Seattle dished out just 16 assists on Saturday night. The rookies really struggled in this one. Awa Fam scored 12 points, but it was her worst shooting performance of the season, as she shot 4-15 FG, including 2-8 FG from beyond the arc. That’s after she had been shooting better than 50% from 3-PT range in recent games. Flau’jae Johnson had the lowest point total of her early WNBA career. Johnson finished with just one point on 0-5 FG from the floor. She did not attempt a shot in the second half of the game. Johnson also took a hard fall in the final minutes of the game as Carla Leite dove on the ground and undercut Flau’jae’s legs. Coach Sonia Raman did not have any medical update on Johnson after the game.

The home team forced Portland into 20 turnovers and had five more steals in the game (14-9). They had a small advantage in points off turnovers (21-19) and fast break points (12-8). The Storm outshot the Fire from beyond the arc, and limited Portland to just 16% from long distance (4-25 FG), but Seattle still shot under 30% themselves (8-29 FG) from 3-PT range.

Portland Fire

Portland was led by second-year point guard Carla Leite. She finished with a team-high 20 points on 4-8 FG. More impressively, she was a perfect 12-12 FT from the foul line. Bridget Carleton added 14 points and seven rebounds, but surprisingly went just 1-6 FG from deep. Megan Gustafson was the only other Fire player to score in double figures, and nearly had a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.

Emily Engstler and Frieda Buhner each added nine points. They combined for 18 points and 15 rebounds. Buhner gave Portland some great minutes off the bench in this game, and helped the Fire outscore Seattle’s reserves 20-17.

While both teams struggled with their offense, PDX was slightly better, shooting 37% (25-68 FG) compared to Seattle’s 34% (24-71 FG). More importantly, Portland dominated the glass, out-rebounding the Storm 47-31. That included a 10-6 advantage in offensive rebounds and a 14-11 edge in second-chance points. The road team also had a larger impact at the foul line, where they were a +7 points and made 23-25 FT compared to Seattle, which hit 16-18 FT.

Game Breakdown

Jade Melbourne knocked down a three-pointer to open up the game’s scoring. Bridget Carleton was fouled on a jumper and made both free throws. Carleton knocked down a midrange jumper to put Portland ahead 4-3. Dominique Malonga collected an offensive rebound and scored with her left hand. Emily Engstler gathered a loose ball and was fouled by Malonga. Natisha Hiedeman got into the lane for a pull-up jumper. Frieda Buhner used a strong drive to the paint for the score. Ezi Magbegor found Awa Fam cutting to the rim for two. Flau’jae Johnson got a steal and fed the ball up to Hiedeman for the transition layup. That put the Storm ahead 11-8 before the first TV timeout.

Both teams went cold for a couple of minutes, but Hiedeman got the Storm going again with an And-1 in the lane. Then Seattle got another steal that resulted in a transition layup for Hiedeman. Jade Melbourne got a deflection and raced through traffic to put two more on the board. Holly Winterburn was fouled at the end of the quarter and added two more from the line. The Storm led 20-10 through the first 10 minutes.

The Portland Fire used an 8-0 run to open up the second quarter. Malonga quickly picked up her third foul of the game by reaching in against a driving Carla Leite. Leite finished the layup and the And-1 opportunity. Engstler knocked down a three-pointer, then scored in transition with a leading pass from Sarah Ashlee Barker. That cut Seattle’s double-digit lead down to two points at 20-18, and forced Storm Coach Raman to call a timeout.

Flau’jae split two free throws for Seattle’s first point in the second quarter, three minutes into the period. Ashlee Barker scored in transition after Johnson turned it over. Carla Leite had another And-1 with a nice pull-up jumper. That gave the Fire the lead at 23-21. Katie Lou Samuelson was fouled and made two from the line. Johnson then used dribble penetration to draw the defense in, where she found Magbegor at the rim for the easy lay. Teja Oblak scored a three for Portland, but Hiedeman immediately answered for Seattle. Oblak gathered an offensive rebound and finished quickly with the putback. That tied the game back up at 28-28 with 2:30 left in the first half.

Engstler and Barker added four quick points to give Portland the lead. Awa Fam was fouled trying to gather the offensive rebound. She added two points from the line. At halftime, Portland led 32-30. The Fire outscored the Storm 22-10 in the second quarter. They out-rebounded Seattle 25-17 through the first 20 minutes. Both teams struggled with their shooting. Seattle made 33% (11-33 FG) compared to Portland’s 30% (11-37 FG).

Carla Leite scored back-to-back And-1 plays for the Fire to start the second half. Dom Malonga scored inside the paint. Awa Fam knocked down a three-pointer, then Malonga added an And-1 after Leite’s second three-point play. Megan Gustafson added a shot from beyond the arc. Ezi got a big block and then led her own fast break, where she scored at the rim. Buhner tacked on two more after grabbing an offensive rebound to put the Fire ahead by three, forcing Coach Raman into another timeout.

Out of the timeout, Fam missed a three-point shot, and Buhner added one more point from the line. Frieda scored again to put Portland ahead 46-40. Katie Lou answered with her first triple of the game. Winterburn scored on a tough drive into the paint. Buhner continued her strong quarter with another basket with the assist from Winterburn. After a missed Dolson three-pointer, Carla Leite was fouled and made both shots from the charity stripe.

Buhner and Leite combined for 15 of the Fire’s 22 points in the third period. As they outscored Seattle 22-17 in the quarter. Portland took a 54-47 lead as the two teams looked to enter the final frame.

Malonga scored at the rim to open up the fourth quarter. Bridget Carleton drilled her first three-pointer of the game after six attempts. Zia Cooke and Carla Leite exchanged a pair of free throws on each end. After two free throws from Malonga, Leite found Gustafson rolling to the rim for two off the pick-and-roll.

Awa knocked down a corner three to cut Seattle’s deficit to three at 61-58. The Fire quickly responded with a Nyadiew Puoch layup and an And-1 by Carleton. Both teams went a couple of minutes without scoring. Hiedeman broke up the scoreless streak with a three-ball that reduced Portland’s lead to five.

Dom was fouled on an offensive rebound and made both. Seattle gave up multiple offensive rebounds, and on Portland’s third try, Carleton scored. Malonga split two free throws, but Seattle was able to get the ball back, and Dom added a triple to cut Portland’s lead to four at 71-67 with 43 seconds left in the game. On the made three-point basket, Zia Cooke was called for a loose-ball foul. That sent Carla Leite back to the line where she added two more.

Seattle had a couple more chances, but they were unable to convert. They were forced to foul, and Leite extended the lead from the line. Malonga knocked down another three-pointer, but it was too late as the Fire led by multiple possessions with under 12 seconds to play. The Storm were unable to overcome their poor middle periods in the second and third quarters as they dropped the game 77-72.

Final Box Score

Up Next

The Seattle Storm (5-17) are headed out on a five-game road trip over the next two weeks. Next up, they travel to Los Angeles, where they will go up against the LA Sparks (8-10) on Monday, July 6th at 7:00 PM. Los Angeles beat Seattle 88-83 in a hard-fought contest back on June 10th in Seattle. That game went down to the wire with the Sparks pulling out the win in the final two minutes. This one will be interesting because the Sparks are expected to be without both Kelsey Plum and Cameron Brink. Both players are dealing with lower leg injuries currently. The two combined for 34 points in LA’s win back in June.

Notes:
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Photography Credits: Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography
Thanks to Her Hoop Stats and Across the Timeline for being great resources!

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Mercury Win Easily Against Storm 90-67

Storm Chasers w/ Jeff Brown — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 05:30:51 GMT

(Phoenix, Arizona) - The Seattle Storm (5-16) had another disappointing performance down in the desert. It looked like a repeat performance of their June 20th game, in which they were never competitive and lost 93-73. On Thursday night, Seattle fell behind by double digits in the first period, trailed by 19 at halftime, and trailed by as many as 26 points before falling to the Phoenix Mercury (8-13) by a final score of 90-67. Phoenix won all three games in the season series and the last two by a combined 43 points.

After the game, I talked to both Natisha Hiedeman and Coach Raman about why the Mercury have given them such problems this season.

Hiedeman answered, “Yeah, I mean, they’re a great team, but I just think we just got to do the little things better, you know? Rebound the basketball. We didn’t shoot well tonight. Turning the ball over. So just cleaning up little things like that, and I think once we do that, it’ll be a better chance at winning the game.”

Coach Raman added, “They’re a really good team. They’re a tough match-up for us for sure. But I think there are things that we could have done a lot better, especially in the 1st half, to kind of set ourselves up a little bit more. Some adjustments, some fixes, some corrections at halftime on our defensive end really proved to help us a lot, I think, in the 2nd half. I don’t know exactly what it was in terms of shots not falling. That’s going to happen. And so being able to lean into our defense more on a night like tonight. But I also think we didn’t share the ball as much as we usually do. And so just kind of getting that ball moving a little bit more. I think it would have helped our offense a little bit more.”

Four players scored in double figures, but none had more than 13 points. Rookie Awa Fam led the way with 13 points, six rebounds, three assists, and two blocks. Natisha Hiedeman added 13 points on 6-11 FG, but was a game-worst -29 in plus/minus. Rookie Flau’jae Johnson contributed with 11 points, but struggled from the floor, making just 4-12 FG attempts. She had a couple of plays that were out of control as she tried to force the issue a bit too much, with the team struggling.

Jade Melbourne scored 11 points and had a team-high five assists. Melbourne also went 2-4 FG from beyond the arc, as she continues to improve her three-point shooting in recent games. Dominique Malonga really struggled, scoring just five points on 2-11 FG, and looking frustrated by a one-sided whistle.

One positive was that Ezi Magbegor and Jordan Horston returned from their injuries and provided solid contributions. Magbegor scored 8 points on 3-4 FG, including her first two from beyond the arc. Horston added six points and was a big part of the Storm’s 8-0 rally late in the third period.

I talked with Magbegor after the game and asked her how it felt to be back out on the court.

Ezi said, “It felt really good. I think I just realized how much I miss playing, and I think we’ve done such a great job of just building what we have with this team. So it was just nice to be on the floor and be healthy again. Obviously, it would have been nice to get the win, but I think it’s just, you know, one step at a time, so just getting used to playing with my teammates again.”

Seattle lost pretty much every single stat battle in this game. Their bench outscored Phoenix’s reserves 14-10 thanks to Magbegor and Horston.

Phoenix Mercury

Kahleah Copper was pretty much unstoppable throughout the game. She scored 23 points on 9-12 FG in the first half and finished with a game-high 30 points. She bullied some of Seattle’s smaller defenders and was very aggressive to the rim.

Phoenix got help in less common places. Valériane Ayayi scored 18 points. Lexi Held added 17 points and made 5-6 FG from 3-PT range. Alyssa Thomas nearly had a triple-double with nine points, 13 rebounds, and nine assists.

The home team had the advantage everywhere. They outshot Seattle 45% (33-73 FG) to 42% (26-62 FG). Phoenix out-rebounded them 40-29, including a 13-5 advantage in offensive rebounds. The Mercury outscored the Storm 20-6 in second-chance points, 40-28 with points in the paint, 16-7 in fast break points, and 20-15 in points off turnovers. They had more assists (23-19), more made 3-PT shots (11-8), more made free throws (13-7), and more steals (9-5).

Game Breakdown

Awa Fam scored the game’s first basket from the midrange. Kahleah Copper got to the rim to tie the game. Flau’jae Johnson found Natisha Hiedeman for the baseline jumper. Valériane Ayayi drilled a three at the top of the key. Then Alyssa Thomas scored in a two-on-one transition drill. Johnson answered with a nifty reverse layup. Kahleah Copper was fouled and added two from the line to put Phoenix ahead 9-6.

Jade Melbourne found Dominique Malonga inside for the easy layup. After that, the Mercury went on a 10-2 run. Lexi Held connected on a corner three, Ayayi scored inside, and was fouled for the And-1. Hiedeman dribbled the ball off her foot that led to an open floor score by DeWanna Bonner. Thomas snagged an offensive rebound and found Copper cutting to the rim for two more to put the Mercury ahead 19-10, forcing Storm Coach Sonia Raman to call a timeout.

Flau’jae picked up a technical foul during the TV break. After the made technical, Ezi Magbegor made her first basket of the season, a shot from beyond the arc. Natisha Hiedeman added another triple to cut the Storm’s deficit down to five at 21-16. Ayayi added another two from the free throw line. Hiedeman answered with a midrange jumper. Marta Suarez scored on back-to-back possessions for Phoenix as they pushed their lead to nine at 27-18.

Melbourne added two free throws, but Alyssa Thomas responded with another strong drive and an And-1 for Phoenix. Thomas sank the Mercury’s 9th free throw of the first quarter. At the end of the opening frame, Seattle trailed 31-20.

Melbourne scored a free throw and a three-pointer to open up the second quarter. Phoenix went on a 10-0 run after that. Kahleah Copper scored the first seven, and then Lexi Held connected on another three-point basket. That put the Mercury ahead 43-24 and forced Coach Raman into another timeout. Immediately out of the timeout, Seattle turned the ball over, and Copper scored an easy layup.

Flau’jae Johnson found Awa Fam down low. Ezi hit a corner three, then the Storm got a steal and a fast break layup by Melbourne. Hiedeman cut the Storm’s deficit down to 13 with a made field goal. Copper scored again in the paint, her 20th and 21st points of the first half. Fam spun right into the defense and turned the ball over. That allowed the Mercury to get out and run as Bonner finished with another transition layup. One more layup by Copper before the end of the period put Phoenix ahead by 19. The Mercury led 55-36 at the end of the first half.

Kahleah Copper led all scorers through the first two periods with 23 points on 9-12 FG. Valériane Ayayi added 12 more. Natisha Hiedeman led Seattle through the opening 20 minutes with 11 points. Jade Melbourne and the returning Ezi Magbegor added eight points each. The Mercury out-rebounded the Storm 23-12, and that included a 10-1 advantage in offensive rebounds. Phoenix outscored Seattle 30-16 with points in the paint and 12-2 in second-chance points.

Dom Malonga scored inside the paint to open up the second half. Phoenix answered with a midrange jumper from Lexi Held and a beautiful pocket pass to Alyssa Thomas for the layup. Malonga got a steal, and Seattle had a fast break opportunity, but Hiedeman tried to force a pass past two defenders and turned it over. That immediately resulted in a transition three for Held, which put the Mercury ahead by 24 points. Fam scored on a deep two and then on a two-on-one fast break to cut it down to 20. Held and Ayayi added back-to-back triples to push the lead to 68-42.

Seattle had a nice 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 18. A lot of that was spurred on by Jordan Horston, who got the run started with a nice midrange jumper. She also had an offensive rebound putback layup and a defensive deflection. Flau’jae knocked down a three-ball with an assist from Horston. Ayayi hit another triple, and Marta Suarez added two more from the line. Awa Fam and Jade Melbourne each added consecutive three-point baskets, and Johnson scored on a drive through traffic to end the period. At the end of the third quarter, the Mercury led 73-58.

Fam scored on a midrange jumper. Copper got to the rim again. Flau’jae made a three-pointer, then Hiedeman with a dribble pull-up to cut the Storm’s deficit to 10. Lexi Held connected on her 5th triple of the game. Another layup by Copper pushed the home team’s lead back up to 15 at 80-65. Copper scored her 30th point on a three-point jumper.

Phoenix outscored Seattle 10-2 over the final few minutes of the game. With the game out of hand, both teams emptied their benches. The Mercury defeated the Seattle Storm 90-67 and swept the season series 3-0.

Final Box Score

Player Interviews

Ezi Magbegor and Natisha Hiedeman:

Coach Raman pre-game:

Coach Raman post-game:

Up Next

The Seattle Storm (5-16) return home to host the Portland Fire (8-12) on Saturday, July 4th at 6:00 PM. The Fire won the first matchup in a thrilling 94-89 contest.

Notes:
I am feeling under the weather, so I’ve focused on just this article and likely won’t write a Part 2. I have a separate piece or two I’m working on that will hopefully be out within the next couple of days.

Photography Credits: Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography
Thanks to Her Hoop Stats and Across the Timeline for being great resources!

Does the Storm Have Everything They Need?

Storm Chasers w/ Jeff Brown — Sun, 28 Jun 2026 13:01:17 GMT

The rest of this 2026 WNBA season is going to be a fascinating one to watch for the Seattle Storm. With a young and inexperienced team, there is going to be a lot of ups and downs. The expectation is that the team will show improvement in Games 25-44 from Games 1-24. I feel we’ve already seen some of that despite the fact that the Storm finished with a 2-9 record in June.

But for those paying attention, we’ve seen growth even amid these losses. Several of their losses in June came down to the 4th quarter. Most of them were in the clutch moments where veterans on other teams just made a couple of additional big plays to close out the game.

Seattle is known for its coffee, and something has been brewing in Lower Queen Anne. You could sense that these types of performances were on the horizon even as the losses piled up in that 11-game losing streak. After I saw this team go toe to toe with the Dallas Wings in a 112-110 OT loss, I knew good things were right around the corner. There were some signs during the team’s 101-91 loss down in Las Vegas against the defending champs, but it was the Dallas game where the light truly went off.

One of the things I’ve been most impressed with over these last three games is the Storm’s ability to respond. They have stopped runs by the other team from getting out of hand. They’ve pushed back and converted points to counter the opposing team’s best players. A list that includes Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd, Jessica Shepard, Jonquel Jones, Sabrina Ionescu, Leonie Fiebich, Rhyne Howard, Allisha Gray, and Angel Reese. I spoke with Coach Sonia Raman about her young team’s ability to fight back.

“Yeah, it’s funny. Actually, that’s exactly what I talked to them about postgame was just the resilience that they’re showing, and the way that they’re able to answer and respond. You know, I think that they’re a little more battle-tested now than they were early on, right? You know, it’s not like it’s been that many games, but even just those reps and going through it. And I think, like, the competitors that they are, made it so that, like, they were not going to let that continue to happen. You know?” Raman told me.

“I think that’s what happens in games. Teams go on a run. The competitiveness kicks in, the pride kicks in, their belief in each other. And the way that they give confidence to each other kicks in, and they’re able to just find another gear. And I think we showed that earlier in the season, too, but probably not as consistently and not as often. So it’s just, it’s really nice to see the way that they continue to play for each other.” Seattle’s coach added.

I was also able to talk with Flau’jae Johnson in the post-game about this.

Johnson said, “I think we just learned. I think we’re a young group, and so you can’t expect... Awa is like 12. So I think we were a young group and we just learned how to play together. It’s just, it’s fun to see everything happen in real time, and in this game, when it got close, we had some real conversations, some real accountability conversations in real time, and we held each other accountable, and at the end, we said, we in this together, and we and we shook back, and we took that lead at the end of the 4th quarter, probably like 4 minutes left. And I just felt like I was so powerful, it kind of brought tears to my eyes. But, you know, I told you, no rain, no flowers. No rain, no flowers.”

The flowers are starting to blossom in the Evergreen State, and it’s going to be a thing of beauty.

This season has always been about growth and development. Seattle is starting the youngest frontcourt duo in WNBA history. Dominique Malonga and Awa Fam are both just 20 years old. Fam literally just turned 20 around 10 days ago. But it isn’t just those two. Look at the team’s current starting lineup. Four of the five players are 20, 20, 22, and 23 years old. Natisha Hiedeman is the “old” vet, and she is 29.

When looking at recent WNBA Championship teams, we have to see what they had and compare that to what the Seattle Storm currently have. While the thought and maybe even “plan” was to rebuild and add another lottery pick to this core, the question might soon become, does the Storm already have everything they need?

What Do Championship Teams Have?

If we look through the recent history of the WNBA Champions, what are the commonalities among them? The Las Vegas Aces have won three out of the last four WNBA titles. They have the best player in the league, A’ja Wilson. Wilson is a four-time WNBA MVP and an elite post player. She is physically strong and can dominate inside against single coverage. Wilson can stretch the floor with an efficient midrange shot, and in recent seasons, she’s developed a three-point shot.

A dominant low-post player has been the key to the Aces’ success. But that’s not the only thing they’ve needed. Las Vegas didn’t start winning championships until they signed Chelsea Gray in free agency. Gray was pivotal in the Aces’ first championship in 2022. She played so well that she won Finals MVP over A’ja Wilson. Gray was the reason the Aces got past the Storm in the semifinals.

The Aces have also had talented wing players in Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum. In their last Championship, they swapped Plum for Jewell Loyd. Those wings could score in bunches and were excellent from beyond the arc. That allowed them to stretch the floor and space things out for A’ja Wilson.

Las Vegas also had a complimentary post player paired with Wilson. First, it was Kiah Stokes who helped pick up the defensive slack so Wilson could focus more on offense. Then NaLyssa Smith joined last season and played a huge role as a strong rebounder and a more offensively talented player.

Five out of the last eight WNBA Championships have been won by either the Las Vegas Aces or the Seattle Storm. Seattle also had a dominant low-post player in Breanna Stewart, but one who was so versatile that she could score anywhere on the court. Seattle also had an excellent veteran point guard to lead the way, in Sue Bird. Bird orchestrated the offense and was the head of the snake.

Jewell Loyd was the talented scoring guard who could create her own shot and help space the floor. Seattle also had the other post player in Natasha Howard, who could take the defensive pressure off of Stewart. They also had 3-and-D veterans Sami Whitcomb and Alysha Clark, who were key role players on those championship teams.

The three other teams that have won the WNBA Championship since 2018 were the Washington Mystics, Chicago Sky, and the New York Liberty. The Mystics were led by Elena Delle Donne and Emma Meeseman in the post. They had Natasha Cloud and Kristi Toliver to run the point, and Ariel Atkins as their scoring wing. Chicago had Candace Parker, another talented, versatile post player and former MVP. Kahleah Copper was their creative scoring wing, while Courtney Vandersloot ran the offense as their veteran point guard. Allie Quigley was their 3-and-D role player.

The New York Liberty built a superteam, but they still followed the same formula. They added Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart. Both former MVPs, who can dominate inside and out with their size, skill, and versatility. Sabrina Ionescu was the Liberty’s scoring guard, and Courtney Vandersloot ran the show as the veteran point guard. Betnijah Laney-Hamilton and Leonie Fiebich were their 3-and-D players.

These are the critical pieces a team needs to win a WNBA Championship in this modern era.

Seattle’s Young Core

The Storm are building around the young core of Dominique Malonga, Awa Fam, and Flau’jae Johnson. Those three players have consistently been Seattle’s best players this season, along with veteran combo guard Natisha Hiedeman. They are the future of the franchise.

Dominique Malonga and Awa Fam are going to be Seattle’s starting frontcourt for the next 5-10 years. They are these hybrid post players that can play inside or out. They also complement one another because of Malonga’s size and strength in the paint, and Fam’s excellent three-point shooting ability. Dating back to the team’s June 10th game against the LA Sparks, Awa Fam is shooting 63% from beyond the 3-PT line. That’s on relatively high volume, too. She’s made 19-30 FG, including 5-6 FG in Saturday’s game against the Atlanta Dream. That is unreal for a post player. Scratch that. That’s unreal for ANY player.

Malonga can absolutely dominate the game, and most of the time, it just looks relatively easy for her. Her 37 points and 12 rebounds against the Dallas Wings made her look like an unstoppable force. In that game, she certainly was. In four of the last five games, Malonga has put up at least 15+ PPG and 10+ RPG. In three of the five, it’s been 20+ PPG and 10+ RPG. As I’ve written numerous times now, Dom has size, length, and skill that very few players can replicate. There are some really tall players out there. There are some very skilled players. There are almost no players with her size and skill.

Well before the WNBA Draft, I wrote that if the team selected Flau’jae Johnson, she could become their Jewell Loyd replacement. And while Loyd’s time in Seattle had a bit of a messy ending, she is the most talented shooting guard the franchise has ever had. Loyd is a six-time WNBA All-Star, three-time WNBA Champion, and a former scoring leader in the league. While they aren’t identical players, Johnson and Loyd share similarities: they can both create off the dribble, create their own shot without needing to come off screens, score at all three levels, and are hyper-athletic.

Both Dom and Awa can replicate a lot of what Breanna Stewart did. They obviously still need a lot more time to grow and develop. Stewie is a better ballhandler, and she probably has more of a killer instinct. Flau’jae can fill the role that Loyd had in Seattle’s championship seasons.

That leads us to the question: Who will be Seattle’s next Sue Bird?

What Do They Need?

I think the most common sentiment is that they need a true point guard. But I think the rest of this season will be a good opportunity for both Natisha Hiedeman and Jade Melbourne to show that maybe that isn’t the case. If Jade can ever develop a consistent three-point shot, she still could be the team’s long-term point guard. She’s 23, just one year older than Flau’jae, and her 18-point and 7-assist performance against New York was an example of her potential. Hiedeman has certainly proved that she’s a scorer, but it was her 11 assists against Dallas that were even more impressive. Both guards will need to continue building chemistry with their teammates, especially with the two posts, as the season progresses.

These remaining 24 games in the 2026 season will give us a much better idea of where Seattle stands with their point guard situation. No one will ever actually, truly replace Sue Bird, but all these other WNBA teams also won championships, and they didn’t specifically have Bird on their teams. The Storm just need a strong leader and a player who can execute the offense and set their teammates up for success. Melbourne has demonstrated some of that this season, especially in how she talks during interviews.

It helps if they can break down defenses with dribble penetration, but that certainly wasn’t Bird’s game. Three-point shooting is also key because it creates space for Seattle’s talented post players to operate without a clogged paint, and punishes teams that may try to double or triple team Malonga or Fam.

Hiedeman has the three-point shooting and the dribble penetration aspects to her game. We just need to see her improve her playmaking ability. For any complaints that Seattle needs a true PG, Hiedeman is having the best season of her WNBA career. She’s averaging 15.6 PPG and 4.7 APG. For reference, Skylar Diggins is averaging 14.3 PPG and 4.9 APG this season in Chicago. Diggins averaged 15.5 PPG and 6.0 APG last year with the Storm, so Hiedeman’s numbers aren’t that far off. But there is certainly room for improvement, especially in the areas where she can get the ball to her teammates in tighter windows.

Meanwhile, Melbourne is a stronger downhill driver. She is a bit faster at beating her opponents off the dribble to the rim. That also opens up more passing opportunities for her. I’ve seen a little more playmaking ability and smoother passing from Melbourne than from Hiedeman, but Natisha is clearly the better shooter and scorer. Jade’s biggest weakness is her outside shooting and not being a serious threat to do damage from 3-PT range. That is probably the main thing she needs to develop, not unlike Jordin Canada, who couldn’t make threes at all in Seattle, but later developed that part of her game in Atlanta. It was a positive sign that Melbourne made 2-2 FG from beyond the arc in Saturday’s contest against the Dream. Melbourne is shooting 26% from long range this season and has only shot above 30% in one of her four WNBA seasons. If she can even push that average to 33-35%, that would be a huge improvement for her game and make her a much more dangerous threat for defenses to worry about. We’ll see if Melbourne can continue to make improvements. She actually doesn’t need to improve as much as Canada did. In Jordin’s first five seasons in the WNBA, she shot below 20% in four of those seasons, including one season below 10%!

Still Missing Pieces

Through nearly half the season, the Storm haven’t had a fully healthy roster for even one game. They have been without Ezi Magbegor all year. Magbegor is an elite rim protector and interior defensive player. She is also the same prototypical mold of players like Dominique Malonga, Awa Fam, Breanna Stewart, etc. It’ll be fascinating to see how Magbegor pairs with Malonga and Fam. Ezi, in her own right, was a WNBA All-Star in 2023 and is just entering her prime now. At an absolute minimum, she can play the role that players like Natasha Howard, Kiah Stokes, and NaLyssa Smith have been for their championship squads.

The team has also been with Jordan Horston for five games. Horston is the team’s best defensive wing. It’s unclear whether Jordan will ever develop a consistent three-point shot to be a true 3-and-D player. But her defense will always give her an important role on any team. And there is still a lot of untapped potential for Jordan on the offensive end.

I would say Zia Cooke is more of a microwave scorer than a traditional 3-and-D player. But that role is also important. Dana Evans has played that role for two championship teams in Chicago and Las Vegas. Sami Whitcomb and Epiphanny Prince played that role in Seattle.

Still Playing the Lottery?

It’s a little ironic because my “concern” is that the Storm might be too good, too soon. The team is not tanking, which implies that they’re purposefully losing games, but they are very young, and they are rebuilding. The way I see it, the best thing for the franchise and the team is to lose a lot of close, hard-fought games. Something they did throughout June. Games like their 112-110 loss to Dallas, the 76-72 loss to Golden State, and the 88-83 loss to the LA Sparks were the best of both worlds. If the team is to take two steps back for several steps forward, you want them to be competitive but still lose more often than not.

The Storm are building an incredible foundation. Dick Fain said on Saturday’s broadcast that the future of the franchise is as bright as a supernova. He is exactly right. The potential these players are showing at such a young age is highly encouraging. Now, just imagine if they were to add another Top 3 pick and draft JuJu Watkins, Madison Booker, or Hannah Hidalgo. That could turn Seattle into the next WNBA Dynasty after the Las Vegas Aces.

However, we might be entering a territory where that is no longer a realistic option. I still believe the Storm are unlikely to reach the playoffs this season, partly because nearly 50% of the league will miss the playoffs this year (8 in, 7 out). Despite the two-game win streak, Seattle still has the second-worst record in the WNBA (5-15). But if they keep winning, it’s likely going to cost them a Top 3 and potentially even a Top 5 pick in the draft. If they are going to miss the playoffs, then ideally I’d like them to stay in the Top 4.

So what does it mean if they start winning a lot of games toward the end of this season? Well, they are currently 4.5 games out of the playoffs as of this writing. That is a fair amount of ground to make up, but the team still has 24 games (more than half the season) left to play. Let’s say that they go .500 the rest of the way and finish 12-12 over those 24 games. Their 17-27 record wouldn’t be good enough to make the playoffs, but it could place them as the first or second team out (9th or 10th place). It might ultimately mean that the team misses the playoffs and also misses out on a Top 5 draft pick. They end up selecting 6th or 7th in the 2027 WNBA Draft. In many ways, that is the worst-case scenario.

If that does happen, it means the team is ahead of schedule. It means that the core foundation of Dominique Malonga, Awa Fam, and Flau’jae Johnson is playing above expectations for two rookies and a second-year player. It might mean that the Storm already have everything they need to compete for another WNBA Championship.

They might not need another star player to join this group. They might just need the experience of building, growing, and playing together. That is something they’re going to get a lot more of this year.

And these wins are important. It gives the young players more confidence. As Flau’jae said earlier, their growth is happening in real time. We are literally watching them get better and better as their confidence continues to swell. That is a dangerous thing for the rest of the league. Maybe not this year, but it’s coming sooner than later.

Storm Surge Past Dream 105-90

Storm Chasers w/ Jeff Brown — Sun, 28 Jun 2026 05:38:42 GMT

Written By: Ana Lise Devery
Twitter: analisedevery

(Seattle, WA) - On a Saturday evening on Pride Night, the Seattle Storm (5-15) comfortably took down the Atlanta Dream (12-7), with a final score of 105-90. The Storm held the lead over the third-place Dream for the whole length of the game, outscoring them in all but the second quarter. This is the Storm’s second consecutive win since they broke their 11-game losing streak on Thursday.

Seattle shot a season high of over 60% from both the floor and behind the arc, with all five starters scoring in double figures. It also marked another 100-point night, the second for the Storm this season after Monday’s overtime thriller against the Dallas Wings.

The real standout from this game, though, was the performances from the Storm’s rookies. Flau’jae Johnson led Seattle in scoring with 24 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double. Awa Fam set a career-high with 21 points, making all but one of her shots (8-9 FG). When the young core of the Storm shines like this against some of the top teams in the league, it becomes a sign of how high their ceiling might be.

The rest of the starters also made valuable contributions. Dominique Malonga also had a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Natisha Hiedeman added 20 points and six assists, and Jade Melbourne had 10 points, five assists, and an impressive plus/minus score of +25 for the time she spent on the court.

After the game, Johnson reflected on where the team is at right now in the context of their season.

“There’s gonna be ups and downs, but I think we’ve had our downs and now we’re trying to grow linearly. But you know, growth is not like [that]. But as long as we keep coming out like this, we’re gonna be okay.” Johnson said.

The three-point shooting percentage was a big difference-maker, with Atlanta only shooting 24% from downtown compared to Seattle’s 61%. They also out-rebounded the Dream, grabbing 34 to their 26, including eight offensive boards when the Dream only had six. On the defensive side, the Storm also had four blocks, while the Dream had none.

Atlanta Dream

The Dream were led by a strong night from Rhyne Howard, who scored a game-high 27 points on 10-17 FG shooting and played all but two minutes of the game. Angel Reese had 17 points, and Jordin Canada almost reached a double-double with 10 assists and eight points. Allisha Gray also made an impact despite a rough shooting night, adding 15 points and making five of her 16 FG attempts.

Naz Hillmon, an expected starter for the Dream, was on rest and did not play, with this being the team’s second consecutive night of games. Atlanta dropped a tightly contested affair 78-75 to the Golden State Valkyries on Friday night.

The Dream forced 18 turnovers from the Storm, including seven steals, and were able to capitalize off them. They scored 16 of their points off these turnovers. Additionally, they were shooting significantly better from the free throw line than the Storm, with 89%.

Game Breakdown

Natisha Hiedeman won the tip for the Storm and immediately drove in towards the basket. Her shot didn’t fall, but Dominique Malonga snatched the rebound and scored. Then Awa Fam hit a corner three, and after another empty Dream possession, did it again, bringing the Storm to an 8-0 run in the first minute and twenty seconds of the ball game, forcing Atlanta to call a timeout.

Malonga blocked a shot from Madina Okot, and the ball made its way back to Fam, who scored yet another three-point shot down at the other end. Flau’jae Johnson was fouled on a shot and made one of her two free throws.

Atlanta’s first points of the night came at the 5:30 mark of the first quarter, with Angel Reese sinking two free throws. Their scoring continued with back-to-back layups from Sika Kone and Rhyne Howard. Jordin Canada got a nice welcome back to the city she began her WNBA career in by sinking two free throws. Johnson hit back with the same, completing two of her own down at the other end. Flau’jae then scored a reverse layup.

Howard got two of her own for the Dream and her first field goal of the game. Stefanie Dolson then scored a three-pointer. Reese hit one of her two free throws, and Jade Melbourne and Canada traded layups to end the quarter. Seattle led 21-13 through the first 10 minutes.

To open the second, Angel Reese scored on a fadeaway shot. Dolson grabbed the rebound from Melbourne’s missed layup and popped it right back out to Jade, who was able to score from three. Reese was fouled by Malonga and scored both of her free throws.

Rhyne Howard connected on a three-pointer, and Malonga muscled in for a layup. Malonga then had a successful three of her own, but Howard was able to answer with two more and bring the Dream to within one possession.

Howard added to her tally by sinking a jumper, and Dolson and Natisha Hiedeman both scored layups. After a Storm timeout, Allisha Gray scored two free throws, as did Madina Okot after her.

Johnson delivered the ball to Fam, who was positioned perfectly for a layup. But down the other end of the court, Okot scored two of her own to bring Atlanta within a point, the smallest differential of the night thus far. Fam sunk a three, maintaining her 100% make rate of the night.

Jordin Canada scored a jumper, and Katie Lou Samuelson was fouled, making both of her shots from the line.

Fam blocked a shot from Reese. On that play, Johnson hit a jumper, then spun in for a layup on the next possession and brought the Storm’s lead back to eight. Fam scored a layup on top of that, and Allisha Gray knocked down a three at the other end to lead into halftime. Seattle led by seven, 46-39, at the break.

Allisha Gray hit on a jump shot to start the third period. Johnson got three points on a jumper with an And-1, bringing her to a double-double at the very start of the second half. Dominique Malonga scored another, then Jade Melbourne hit a three-pointer. Malonga got a steal and looked like she was going for the dunk, but was called for traveling.

Angel Reese sank a layup over Melbourne but was unable to complete the corresponding free throw. Malonga made one of two foul shots at the other end, and Flau’jae Johnson got her first three-point make of the game. Reese banked in a shot, as did Isobel Borlase. Awa Fam landed a layup of her own over three Atlanta defenders.

Rhyne Howard continued leading the way for the Dream, hitting another three-pointer. She had 20 of the team’s 52 points as she carried the offensive load for Atlanta.

Natisha Hiedeman sank a three from the corner. The Dream had Borlase, Okot, and Gray respond by all scoring layups in quick fashion. Johnson returned with her own, and Hiedeman converted two more free throws.

Melbourne spun around into a pretty layup, but immediately had one scored over her by Gray. Malonga sank a jumper. Te-Hina Paopao countered with a quick three, but Hiedeman answered back with her own after two attempts, thanks to an offensive rebound from Katie Lou Samuelson.

Fam had a technical foul called for a defensive three-second violation as Rhyne Howard successfully completed the technical free throw. Sika Kone made a layup, and Johnson responded with a jump shot. The Storm went into the fourth quarter up 78-66.

Zia Cooke delivered on a three-point shot, plus the foul, to start the last quarter of basketball. Gray finished at the rim, and Reese was fouled by Malonga and made both free throws. Reese added a jumper to her total, and Fam attempted a three-pointer for her first miss of the night.

Jordin Canada scored a layup, and Cooke responded with her own. Johnson got a steal and passed to Hiedeman, who converted the jump shot. Reese was fouled by Dolson and made both foul shots. Hiedeman hit another shot and was fouled, also adding the extra free throw. Howard then scored two more from the foul line, as did Kone.

Malonga was subbed out of the game with five fouls, which also used up the Storm’s coach’s challenge after it was unsuccessful. Atlanta then used their challenge to regain possession after an out-of-bounds call, and were able to convert that possession into a jump shot from Rhyne Howard. Flau’jae got a layup before Howard got another.

Johnson then drilled a three-point shot just as the shot clock expired to get the arena on their feet. An offensive foul put the ball back in the Storm’s hands, and Awa Fam added another triple. After a rare missed three from Howard, Melbourne found Malonga for the layup and forced an Atlanta timeout. Hiedeman then made two free throws and had a little dance for the crowd, completing a 10-0 run for the Storm with all their starters on the floor and actively involved.

Dom Malonga fouled Allisha Gray, with the consequences of two made free throws and Dom fouling out of the game with her 6th personal foul. Hiedeman added a layup, and Borlase made a three-point basket. Hiedeman got to shoot a free throw from an off-the-ball foul and made it.

Up by 15 with a minute and twenty seconds remaining, the Storm subbed out Johnson, Fam, and Hiedeman to thunderous applause from the Climate Pledge Arena crowd. The Storm were able to dribble and let the clock run out for a final score of 105-90.

Final Box Score

Editor’s Note:
I’m adding the post-game interviews to the game recap, because I’ll be writing something else instead of the traditional Part 2. Look forward to that on Sunday morning. - Jeff Brown

Atlanta Dream Interviews:

Player Interviews

Flau’jae Johnson and Awa Fam:

Coach’s Quotes

Coach Ramam pre-game:

Coach Raman post-game:

Up Next

The Seattle Storm (5-15) head back down to the desert to face the Phoenix Mercury (6-13). The two teams play on Thursday, July 2nd at 7:00 PM. Phoenix has already beaten Seattle twice this season, first in Seattle by a final score of 72-68 and more recently in Phoenix by the score 93-73.

Storm Win Over Liberty Part 2

Storm Chasers w/ Jeff Brown — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 13:04:03 GMT

The Seattle Storm (4-15) finally got over the hump as they snapped their 11-game losing streak with an impressive 99-88 victory over the New York Liberty. And while the Liberty were without stars Breanna Stewart and Satou Sabally in this game, they still had plenty of talent on the court, including former MVP Jonquel Jones and multiple-time All-Star Sabrina Ionescu. Seattle outplayed and outhustled New York through the 40-minute contest to secure their victory in June. If you missed it, Danny wrote the game recap, which you can read at the link below.

For Part 2, I wrote about the similarities of having twin towers in New York with Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones compared to Seattle with Dominique Malonga and Awa Fam. I also discussed load management and how that may affect the WNBA more often as the league expands to 50 games. I had to give Marina Mabrey some love after her historic performance for Toronto against the LA Sparks. And I finished by talking about Seattle’s improvement and their will to win. I’ve also included the post-game audio interviews for both the Seattle Storm and the New York Liberty.

Stewie, Jonquel, Dom, and Awa

I was really hoping we were going to see Dominique Malonga and Awa Fam match up against Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones on Thursday night, but Stewart sat out of the contest to rest.

Even still, the pairing of Fam and Malonga is an interesting one, and the template that the New York Liberty have created is potentially one the Storm should look to follow. Admittedly, I’m pretty certain I wrote this same thing a year ago after the Storm selected Malonga 2nd overall, while also having 6’4” PF/Center Ezi Magbegor on the roster. We didn’t get a ton of that pairing last season, and we haven’t seen it at all this year.

But the premise remains. The pairing of athletic bigs who can step out and shoot the three and dominate inside the paint has been a recipe for success for the New York Liberty since 2023. That success has led them to two consecutive trips to the WNBA Finals in 2023 and 2024, culminating in the franchise’s first championship in 2024.

Dom is a good comparison to Jonquel Jones. They’re both 6’6” and just physically dominant. Jonquel is a bit bigger and stronger, but Malonga is certainly quicker. Dom really has the potential to be one of the most physical post players in the WNBA alongside Jones, A’ja Wilson, and Aliyah Boston.

I’m not quite ready to say Awa is like Stewie, but she can certainly stretch the floor as Breanna Stewart did in her prime. Fam is averaging 40% from 3-PT range this season, and in recent games, she’s shooting closer to 50% from long range.

It’s exciting to see what the duo of Fam and Malonga is going to become over the next handful of years. Against the Dallas Wings, the two combined for 55 points and 18 rebounds. On Thursday night against the Liberty, they combined for 35 points and 16 rebounds. Oh, and they shot 15-21 FG (71%).

The great thing about this season will be continuing to watch those two grow, develop, and get better as the season progresses.

Coach Raman talked about her young team after the game.

“It’s a young group, and every day that they step on the floor, they’re learning, they’re growing. They’re really committed to that and committed to that process. So nothing really beats game reps, and I’ve been saying that kind of throughout. And so there are things that happen in the game today that have happened in previous games that they’ve learned from and have been able to apply, and you can see the growth if you’re watching these games. And yeah, two 20-year-olds starting for us in our front line and just figuring it out as they go, it’s really impressive. They’re elite learners, and that’s something that is a skill.” Raman stated.

Load Management

Since Stewie missed the game due to rest, that leads me to my next thoughts. Be prepared to start seeing more “Load Management” in the WNBA in the upcoming years. This first started happening in the NBA as Tim Duncan got older. I still remember to this day the hilarious designation he received in a game from Coach Popovich, which read, “DNP - Old”.

Load management became a more common occurrence in the late 2010’s and into the 2020’s. Now it is fairly common in the NBA. It started to be abused by teams, so the NBA had to create a new policy. The Player Participation Policy, which requires players to play at least 65 out of the 82 regular-season games to qualify for end of the season awards like MVP, All-NBA 1st team, Rookie of the Year, etc.

The league and TV networks were not happy when healthy star players would sit out of games just to rest. And this particularly sucked for fans of people in cities like Portland, who only got to see LeBron James play once a year in their city, and then he would sit out and rest for that one game.

The WNBA is expanding to a 50-game regular season in 2027. These athletes are still playing in other leagues, overseas, Unrivaled, etc. And star players often play 32 MPG or more. A regular-season game against a non-playoff team (Seattle) is not that important, especially for the Liberty, who have the Commissioner’s Cup Championship game coming up against the Las Vegas Aces on June 30th. And so that’s why they decided to rest Breanna Stewart even though she was fully healthy.

We’ll have to wait and see, but I expect this to start happening more frequently as the league continues to expand with more teams and more games.

$MoneyMabrey$

In other WNBA news, Marina Mabrey had a historic performance against the LA Sparks on Thursday night. She tied A’ja Wilson and Liz Cambage with the most points scored in a single WNBA game. Mabrey finished the game with 53 points on 17-28 FG and 9-18 FG from beyond the arc. She also went 10-12 FT from the line. The Toronto Tempo defeated the LA Sparks 125-97.

The 125 points were just behind the most points scored in WNBA history (127). The 127 points were scored by the Phoenix Mercury in a double-OT victory against the Minnesota Lynx back in 2010.

No player has ever made 10 three-pointers in a single game. Mabrey had a couple of difficult looks from beyond the arc in the game’s final two minutes, but wasn’t able to convert. Her nine made threes ties the record that has been reached by several other WNBA players, including Jewell Loyd, Rhyne Howard, Chelsea Gray, Arike Ogunbowale, and Kelsey Mitchell.

Mabrey became the first WNBA player to officially sign a million-dollar contract in league history after she signed a two-year deal worth $2.4 million in the offseason. Marina has a chance to earn her first WNBA All-Star appearance this year. She’ll try to help the Tempo (9-9) reach the playoffs in their inaugural season. I would say she’s definitely been worth the money for them.

Will to Win

The young Seattle Storm team would not be denied on Thursday night. They overcame every challenge the New York Liberty threw at them. That included some aggressive full-court and half-court traps in the 4th quarter. They finally snapped their 11-game losing streak. This moment felt like a long-time coming. Outside of their stinker down in Phoenix against the Mercury on June 20th, they’ve been very competitive in their last six games, dating back to their 10-point loss on the road to the Las Vegas Aces on June 8th.

You could really sense the tide was turning during their game against the Dallas Wings this past Monday. They answered and countered several of the Wings’ best plays and their runs. They did a great job executing during most of their trips on the offensive end. That is the type of growth you’re hoping to see this season. They’ve had bad moments where they let games get away from them. Where their inexperience cost them some games they had a legitimate chance to win. And now we’re seeing that they’ve learned from those mistakes. They are learning and improving.

If it wasn’t for Paige Bueckers going absolutely ballistic in the final minute of regulation and overtime, Seattle would have won that game. They really made several clutch plays down the stretch. Then it happened again in this game. While the Storm had outplayed the Liberty throughout the game, the veteran squad from Brooklyn did cut their double-digit deficit down to single digits on multiple occasions throughout the 4th quarter. However, Seattle would never relent. After Jonquel Jones made a couple of three-pointers, Awa Fam countered with an And-1. A 5-0 run by the Liberty was quickly answered with baskets from Jade Melbourne and Flau’jae Johnson. The Storm would not be denied their victory on this night.

Jonquel Jones talked after the game about being outhustled and outplayed by Seattle. When asked if the different lineups had an impact on the team, Jones downplayed that.

“At this point, we’ve had practice reps. We’ve had shootaround. I’m not going to come in here and make an excuse for us. We just have to be better. It’s not about the reps. It’s not about playing time. What it’s about is having some heart and playing with some fucking heart.” Jonquel stated.

One play that really stood out to me during the 4th quarter was when Flau’jae shot a corner three, missed the shot, but raced to collect the offensive rebound, and immediately scored on a putback layup. That’s the type of hustle that wins ball games. Johnson talked about making winning plays during the post-game press conference. I spoke to Flau’jae directly about that play and the team’s will to win.

“Well, I knew I was going to miss the shot, so I was like, ‘go get the rebound.’ At LSU, Coach Mulkey says rebound the ball. Sometimes when you don’t make it, sometimes the basketball gods will give you something. If you go get it, if I would have stayed in the corner, I wouldn’t have gotten the rebound, but I crashed and took advantage of the opportunity. I think being hungry. Coach Sonia, she wants us to rebound; she wants us to be aggressive.” Johnson told me.

“I had … (checks the box score sheet) … four offensive rebounds, which is great! I’m happy about that. But I try to do anything to win. Anything. I think just winning plays. I was telling Dom, let’s just make winning plays. I think we did that tonight.” Flau’jae added.

The young team certainly did that on Thursday night, and it resulted in an impressive double-digit victory over the New York Liberty.