The Seattle Storm (3-8) narrowly lost at home to the Phoenix Mercury (3-8) on Wednesday night. There were a lot of bright spots in this game despite Seattle losing their 4th game in a row. If you missed it, you can read the full game recap at the link below.

In Part 2, I wrote about how Seattle and Phoenix have similar records but much different long-term outcomes. I discussed the comparisons between Flau’jae Johnson and Kahleah Copper. And questioned whether or not Awa Fam is already Seattle’s best player after just five games in a Storm uniform. I’ve included the post-game audio interviews with players and Coach Raman.

Similar Records But a Major Difference

Both the Seattle Storm and the Phoenix Mercury find themselves near the bottom of the WNBA standings. However, how they’ve gotten there is with two very different paths.

After failing to get out of the first round with an older veteran core, Seattle’s front office decided it was time to go in a new direction. They let Coach Noelle Quinn go and didn’t try to bring back their veteran stars. Nneka Ogwumike and Erica Wheeler signed with the LA Sparks. Skylar Diggins joined the Chicago Sky. Brittney Sykes headed north of the border to the Toronto Tempo. And Gabby Williams went a little further south to the Bay Area to join the Valkyries. Seattle was left with a very young roster. A rebuilding roster. They embraced building around much younger players that included 20-year-old Dominique Malonga, 19-year-old Awa Fam, 22-year-old Flau’jae Johnson, 23-year-old Jade Melbourne, 25-year-olds Jordan Horston and Zia Cooke, and 26-year-old Ezi Magbegor. The vast majority of Seattle’s new core is 25 or younger.

The Phoenix Mercury made some major moves in the 2025 offseason. They swung a major trade for Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally, added veterans Sami Whitcomb and then DeWanna Bonner mid-season. They also had surprise additions in Kathryn Westbeld and Monique Akoa Makani. They finished last year with a 27-17 record, which was good for fourth-best in the WNBA. That gave them home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs against the New York Liberty. Something they needed as they outlasted New York 79-73 in the winner-take-all Game 3 of the opening round. They surprisingly took down the #1 overall seed, the Minnesota Lynx, in four games (3-1) in the semi-finals before ultimately being swept by the Las Vegas Aces (0-4) in the WNBA Finals one year ago.

Fast forward to this season, and the Mercury are off to a very rocky start. It started before the season even got underway. They lost Satou Sabally in free agency to the Liberty. Kathryn Westbeld tore her ACL in the final game overseas in Hungary in late April. Sami Whitcomb injured her knee in training camp and has missed the first month of the season. Similar to Awa Fam, Monique Akoa Makani didn’t join the Mercury until late May due to her overseas commitments. DeWanna Bonner is turning 39 later this season, and Father Time remains undefeated. Her production has dropped over the past couple of years, and she can no longer be counted on to produce 20+ point performances regularly. All of this has resulted in the Mercury starting the season (3-8).

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(Seattle, WA) - The Seattle Storm (3-8) played a hard-fought game against the Phoenix Mercury (3-8) on Wednesday night, but ultimately came up just a little bit short. The veteran Mercury squad outscored Seattle 20-13 over the final 10 minutes to win 72-68. It was Seattle’s fourth loss in a row, but the first one by single digits during this losing streak. The young Storm team is showing growth despite not finding themselves in the win column.

The best part of Wednesday’s game was that rookie Awa Fam looked every bit the potential #1 overall pick she was heralded to be before the 2026 WNBA Draft took place. Fam looked extremely comfortable out there, scoring a career-high 18 points on 9-17 FG (53%). She also had six rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and a steal.

Outside of Fam, Natisha Hiedeman was the only other Storm player to score in double figures. She finished with 15 points, with three made triples, and four assists. Flau’jae Johnson added nine points and a team-high five assists. Zia Cooke also added nine points off the bench.

Both teams shot roughly 38%. Seattle went 28-73 FG, and Phoenix shot 24-64 FG. The Storm were better from beyond the arc, connecting on 27% (9-33 FG) compared to 14% (3-22 FG) for the Mercury. Both teams had the same number of assists (17) and turnovers (14). Seattle’s best period was the third quarter, where they outscored their opponent 22-16. The home team’s bench outscored the Mercury’s reserves 21-15.

Phoenix Mercury

The Mercury were led by Natasha Mack, who finished the game with 16 points on a perfect 7-7 FG shooting. She had a double-double and added 10 rebounds. Mack was one of four players to score in double figures for Phoenix. Seattle’s defense held Phoenix’s stars in check. Kahleah Copper finished with 16 points on 4-14 FG. Monique Akoa Makani added 12 points and six rebounds.

DeWanna Bonner added 10 points off the bench, but shot an inefficient 3-12 FG, which included 0-7 FG from 3-PT range. Alyssa Thomas finished with a near double-double of nine points and nine rebounds. She also had a team-high five assists.

Phoenix’s two biggest advantages were their rebounding and their ability to get to the free throw line. They out-rebounded Seattle 44-34, which included a 10-4 advantage in offensive rebounds. They shot 22 more free throws and scored 18 more points from the line. They had narrow advantages with points in the paint (34-28), second-chance points (12-10), and fast break points (17-11).

Game Breakdown

Flau’jae Johnson knocked down a three-pointer for the game’s first basket. Natasha Mack scored in the short corner. Alyssa Thomas scored on a shot-put jumper. Kahleah Copper knocked down a triple to give the Mercury a quick 7-3 lead early in the first. Mack added another baseline jumper and a layup, forcing Coach Sonia Raman to call a timeout.

Out of the timeout, Flau’jae Johnson found Awa Fam rolling to the rim for the layup. Natisha Hiedeman threw an outlet pass to Fam for the transition score. Zia Cooke drove through the defense for the scoop layup. Jade Melboure tied the game with an open three-pointer. The Mercury immediately responded with a 7-0 run, which included points from Jovana Nogic, Alyssa Thomas, and an And-1 by DeWanna Bonner.

Zia Cooke connected with a three-pointer. Kahleah Copper added two free throws to end the first period. Through the first 10 minutes, the Mercury led 21-15.

Cooke knocked down a pull-up jumper shortly before the shot clock expired. The Mercury added points from the line and a couple of layups by Mack. Jade Melbourne used a no-look pass to find Awa Fam for two more. Jovana Nogic put Phoenix up by double-digits, 29-19. Kahleah Copper knocked down a corner three to extend their lead. Flau’jae Johnson found Mackenzie Holmes down low for two. Natisha Hiedeman made a deep two to cut the deficit down to single digits. That prompted Coach Nate Tibbetts to call a timeout.

Rookies Awa Fam and Flau’jae Johnson scored on back-to-back possessions to cut Seattle’s deficit to seven. After a lucky bounce resulted in an open layup for Monique Akoa Makani, Hiedeman drilled a three-pointer. That was followed up by one from Flau’jae. Seattle used a 10-2 run to cut the Mercury’s lead to three. Phoenix led 36-33 at the midway point of the game. Seattle outshot the Mercury 37% (14-38 FG) to 35% (12-34 FG). The home team was much better from beyond the arc (31% to 15%). Phoenix out-rebounded Seattle 25-15, which included a 7-0 advantage in offensive rebounds.

Hiedeman started the 2nd half with a physical drive, but the Mercury responded with a quick 6-0 spurt. Seattle responded with baskets from Awa Fam and Jordan Horston. Natasha Mack added two more points from the foul line. Fam made a beautiful spin move down low. Hiedeman crossed up the Mercury defender, who fell to the floor, then Natisha buried the triple. After Noemie Brochant scored on a reverse layup, Hiedeman connected on another three-pointer to give the Storm a one-point lead at 47-46, forcing Coach Tibbetts to call a timeout.

Out of the timeout, Akoa Makani got to the rim for two. Flau’jae found Fam on the pick-and-roll for another score. Fam then hit a stepback jumper and had an assist to Holmes for an easy score. Brochant and Hiedeman exchanged baskets. Thomas used her strength to power through contact for two at the rim. At the end of the third period, the Storm led 55-52.

Mackenzie Holmes snagged an offensive rebound, which immediately resulted in a three-pointer by Jordan Horston. That briefly gave Seattle its largest lead of the game, ahead by six. Monique Akoa Makani had her own personal 7-0 run to regain the lead for the Mercury.

Copper and Mack scored four inside the paint after Flau’jae split two free throws, putting Phoenix ahead 63-59. After the timeout, Seattle ran a play to get Fam in the paint, where she immediately scored. DeWanna Bonner took over late, knocking down a midrange jumper, getting an open-court steal and score, and splitting two free throws. That gave the Mercury a seven-point lead with just a few minutes remaining in the game.

Jade Melbourne added two points from the line with around 90 seconds remaining. Seattle had two good looks at a three, one by Flau’jae and the other by Zia Cooke, that would have cut the Storm’s deficit to two with roughly 45 seconds to go in the game. Seattle got a steal that led to a Cooke fast break layup, but with under 24 seconds to go, Seattle was forced to foul. Kahleah Copper calmly sank both free throws.

Katie Lou Samuelson knocked down a three-pointer with less than 10 seconds to play, but Copper added two more from the line to put the game out of reach. At the final buzzer, Phoenix escaped Seattle with a narrow 72-68 victory.

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Final Box Score

Part 2

Part 2 will include additional commentary, analysis, and interviews. It will be sent to paid subscribers tomorrow.

Up Next

The Seattle Storm (3-8) will go back on the road for two more games. Next up will be this Saturday, 6/6, at 10:00 AM against the Minnesota Lynx (7-2).

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Seattle’s offense couldn’t get going, and that resulted in another tough loss for the Storm (3-7). This time to the Dallas Wings by a final score of 79-56. Despite some positive plays from rookies Flau’jae Johnson and Awa Fam, Seattle didn’t have enough to overcome a good Wings team. If you missed it, you can read the full game recap at the link below for Part 1.

In Part 2, I wrote more about Seattle’s offensive struggles, talked about how Dallas Wings wins benefit Seattle, and praised both Awa Fam and Azzi Fudd. I’ve included quotes and the audio interviews from the post-game press conferences. And as a bonus, I was able to record the Wings post-game interviews and have included those as well.

Offensive Struggles

Without presumed starters Ezi Magbegor and Dominique Malonga, the Seattle Storm (3-7) continue to struggle on offense. It was Seattle’s third game in a row where they failed to score even 75 points. In their last three games, Seattle has tallied 56, 72, and 64 points. You won’t win any WNBA games with those point totals. Especially in this era, where more teams are scoring 100 points on any given night.

Three WNBA teams currently average more than 90 points per game, which includes the Indiana Fever (91.8), the Las Vegas Aces (91.0), and the Los Angeles Sparks (90.3). There are five additional teams (8 total) that score at least 85.0 PPG. The Seattle Storm are second-to-last and one of only two WNBA teams that average fewer than 80.0 PPG. They are currently around 76.5 PPG, which is only ahead of the Connecticut Sun (75.6).

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(Arlington, Texas) - The Seattle Storm (3-7) couldn’t get anything going on the offensive side of the court for the entire 40 minutes of action in Dallas on Monday evening. Seattle scored just 25 points in the first half and was held under 50 points until less than two minutes were remaining in the game. Despite a solid defensive effort, the offense was so bad that the Dallas Wings (6-3) were able to rest their starters in the 4th quarter. Ultimately, Seattle fell 79-56.

The bright side for Seattle was that their two rookies had good games. Flau’jae Johnson had her first career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Awa Fam finished with eight points, seven rebounds, and a game-high four steals. Even in the losing effort, it’s important for them to get this WNBA experience.

I spoke to Awa Fam after the game about that.

“I think this is the basketball. We are rookies, we are improving our basketball (skills). But this is step by step. We know that we have a game on Wednesday, so one loss is okay, one loss, but we need to go with a new mentality for Wednesday’s game. So it is what it is. Basketball is a lot of games, so a new mentality is a good mentality.” Fam said.

Outside of them, Natisha Hiedeman was the only other player to score in double figures with 11 points. Hiedeman scored all 11 of her points in the first half. She was tied with Katie Lou Samuelson and Mackenzie Holmes for a team-high in assists with two each. The Storm had just 11 assists total, which was a major problem.

Both teams shot horribly, but Dallas was technically better. They outshot Seattle 36% (29-81 FG) to 33% (20-61 FG). The Storm turned the ball over 17 times and were outscored 16-10 in points off turnovers.

Dallas Wings

The Wings were led by Aziaha James, who scored 18 points off the bench on 50% FG shooting (7-14 FG). She scored 14 of her 18 points in the 2nd half.

The only other Dallas player to reach double figures was Paige Bueckers, who tallied 10 points but was inefficient from the floor (4-12 FG). If Bueckers had played the entire game, she likely would have finished with a triple-double as she ended up with 10 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists in just 24 minutes of action.

Maddy Siegrist and Jessica Shepard both came close to having a double-double. Siegrist finished with nine points and nine rebounds, while Shepard added nine points and eight rebounds.

Dallas out-rebounded the Storm 48-36, but it was their offensive rebounding that killed Seattle. They had an 18-6 advantage in O-Boards and outscored the Storm 25 to 6 in second-chance points. They nearly doubled Seattle in assists (19-11), and outscored them 36-24 inside the paint. Their reserves outscored Seattle’s bench 33-20.

Game Breakdown

Azzi Fudd knocked down a three-pointer after Stefanie Dolson missed one on the other end. Seattle’s first three shot attempts were from beyond the arc. Paige Bueckers avoided the double-team and found Jessica Shepard under the rim for two. Shepard scored again, as the Storm missed their first eight shots and were held scoreless for the first four minutes of the game. It was a sign of things to come.

Flau’jae Johnson finally got Seattle on the board as no one stopped the ball, and Johnson dribbled straight to the rim for two. The Storm’s defense was solid as they limited the Wings to just seven points over the first five minutes. Natisha Hiedeman drew the foul and sank both free throws, cutting Dallas’s lead to three at 7-4. At the first TV timeout, the Storm had made just 1-10 FG (10%) and the Wings weren’t much better at 3-12 FG (25%).

Out of the timeout, Shepard scored again on a set play to the rim. Hiedeman found Dolson slipping to the rim for the easy lay. Arike Ogunbowale was fouled and hit both free throws. Awa Fam knocked down a short corner jumper. Zia Cooke checked in and connected on a jumper near the foul line. Paige Bueckers converted an And-1 to make it a 14-10 lead for Dallas.

Aziaha James scored on a floater down the lane. Both teams struggled mightily with their field goal efficiency. Seattle shot 4-18 FG, and Dallas wasn’t much better, shooting 6-20 FG. At the end of the first, the Wings led 16-10.

Jessica Shepard scored on a spin move down the lane. Flau’jae was fouled but missed both free throws. James scored again at the rim, capping off a 9-0 run and pushing the Wings’ lead to double-digits. Katie Lou Samuelson was fouled, but also missed both free throws, continuing Seattle’s early-game struggles. Johnson was fouled again and this time made both foul shots.

Fudd and Fam exchanged baskets on each end. Dallas regained their double-digit lead after scoring from multiple offensive rebounds. Hiedeman scored in the lane, Lexie Brown got a steal, which led to an easy open layup for Jordan Horston. Arike Ogunbowale scored again from another offensive rebound, forcing Coach Sonia Raman to call a timeout.

Hiedeman did her best to keep Seattle in the game, knocking down another shot and then scoring three from the foul line. That cut the Storm’s deficit back down to six at 29-23. Seattle continued to give up offensive rebounds to Dallas, and it came back to bite them. Maddy Siegrist scored after an initial stop. After that and a midrange pull-up by Bueckers, the Storm were down 10 points again.

Paige extended the Wings’ lead to 11 on a three-pointer. The Storm trailed 36-25 at the end of the first half. Seattle shot an abysmal 9-29 FG, including 0-10 FG from beyond the arc. The game remained reasonably close because Seattle’s defense limited the Wings to 15-44 FG (34%). The home team out-rebounded the Storm 25-17 through the first two quarters. That included a 9-1 discrepancy on the offensive boards. Dallas outscored Seattle 16-0 in second-chance points.

The 2nd half continued where the first half left off. Even when Seattle got defensive stops, it wasn’t enough. The Storm got blocks from Horston and Flau’jae, but the ball went right back to Ogunbowale, who scored. Fudd added a midrange jumper, and Shepard added a free throw. Dallas ballooned their lead to nearly 20 points with points from Fudd and Ogunbowale. Awa Fam was the only Storm player to score for the first six minutes of the third, adding four more points.

Only three players for the Storm scored in the quarter. Fam had the four points, Jade Melbourne tallied five, and Katie Lou Samuelson knocked down a triple. Dallas outscored Seattle 21-12 in the third quarter. Aziaha James led the Wings with seven points in the period. Arike Ogunbowale added five more. The home team led 57-37.

Mackenzie Holmes made a nice drive to the rim early to start the fourth quarter. Alanna Smith made one of two free throws. Odyssey Sims connected on a jumper. Alysha Clark knocked down an open three-pointer for the Wings. And added a few more free throws, scoring all six of her points in the fourth period.

Flau’jae snagged her own offensive rebound and drove to the rim for two. Johnson added 12 points and four rebounds in the final period, which gave her a double-double for the first time in her WNBA career.

Aziaha James finished through contact a couple of times for some tough scores late in the game. Dallas outscored Seattle 22-19 in the 4th quarter, with 18 of those 22 points coming from the reserves. Maddy Siegrist was the only starter to play in the game’s final 10 minutes for the Wings.

As the clock wound down to zero, mostly the reserves played for both sides. Flau’jae scored 12 of the team’s 19 points. Katie Lou added another three-pointer, but it was all academic at that point. At the final horn, the Dallas Wings won the game in convincing fashion, 79-56.

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Final Box Score

Part 2

Part 2 will include additional commentary, analysis, and interviews. It will be sent to paid subscribers tomorrow morning.

Up Next

The Seattle Storm (3-7) return home for one game to face the Phoenix Mercury (2-8). They play on Wednesday, 6/3 at 7:00 PM.

Notes:
Thanks to my readers for the great support! Please tell other WNBA fans about my coverage. Please share, retweet, repost, etc., if you enjoy my articles.
Photography Credits: Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography
Thanks to Her Hoop Stats and Across the Timeline for being great resources!

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The Seattle Storm (3-6) lost again to the Toronto Tempo (5-4) for the second time this season. They kept the game close through the first 27 minutes. With the game tied 51-51 late in the third, the Tempo outscored the Storm 42-21 the rest of the way. If you missed it, you can read the full game recap at the link below.

In Part 2, I wrote about Kiki Rice’s impressive rookie campaign, Jordan Horston getting back to feeling comfortable on the court, and Seattle’s blown opportunities. I’ve also included several quotes and the audio versions of the post-game interviews.

Kiki Rice’s Impressive Start

I feel like my priors about Kiki Rice entering the WNBA Draft are coming to fruition. I legitimately believed Rice could be a consideration for the Seattle Storm with the third overall pick. I still believe the Storm were smart to draft Awa Fam, as many believed she had the highest upside of any of the draftable players. But Rice is showing why I and some others were very high on her.

Since entering the starting lineup for the Toronto Tempo, Rice is averaging 15.8 PPG, 6.2 RPG, and 3.3 APG. Rice has scored in double figures in eight games in a row. The only game in which she didn’t score double figures was her WNBA debut.

I previously wrote before the draft took place, “Sometimes you just have a gut feeling, and Kiki Rice is someone I have been zeroing in on lately. I consider the Storm’s ‘worst-case scenario’ to be if the Dallas Wings take Azzi Fudd and the Minnesota Lynx draft Olivia Miles. That would leave the Storm with either of the top post prospects (Awa Fam or Lauren Betts) or one of the top remaining guards/wings (Kiki Rice or Flau’jae Johnson)… Kiki reminds me a lot of Veronica Burton. She might not be the flashiest player out there, but there is a lot of good you can see. After her impressive season in Golden State, I look at Burton as one of the league’s best young point guards. I think Kiki has that potential too.”

It’s funny because Seattle ended up with one of each (Fam and Johnson). My top six prospects in no particular order were Olivia Miles, Awa Fam, Azzi Fudd, Flau’jae Johnson, Kiki Rice, and Lauren Betts. It’s still pretty incredible that the Storm were able to add two of them in the draft.

If Rice continues her stellar play, not only will she be a lock for the All-Rookie team, but she’ll also be in the conversation for Rookie of the Year.

Coach Sandy Brondello said after the game, “(Kiki) is even better than I thought she would be. She’s a winner. We are very thankful she’s on this team.”

There is a reason why the Toronto Tempo opted to select first in the WNBA college/amateur draft when they won the coin toss for the Expansion Draft. The winner could either get the 6th overall pick in the WNBA Draft or the first selection in the Expansion Draft. Brondello and the Tempo opted for the better college pick, and now they might have a core piece at a premium position that they can build around for years to come.

I wanted to get the Storm’s perspective on Rice after this game, so I spoke with Jade Melbourne, Jordan Horston, and Coach Raman about Rice during the post-game press conference.

Melbourne told me, “Oh, I think Kiki Rice is a great player. I watched her at UCLA and, you know, she was the head of the snake on that run where they won the championship. But no, just her ability to get in lanes, and then she just complements that team. She understands her role. She knows that, you know, Mabrey and Sykes are going to be the 1st ones to get their looks, and then she just kind of fills in the gaps. But I think she’s doing an excellent job. I wish we could have slowed her down a bit more tonight, but her ability to finish, come off 2 feet. Yeah, a highly skillful guard. She's gonna be a problem for a very long time.”

Horston added, “Just to piggyback off of what Jade said. She was just like, in the right spots at the right time. Like everything was just kind of flowing for her today, and then she also was able to draw a lot of fouls from (us), and that’s a skill.”

Coach Raman chimed in, “I think she’s been doing a really good job as she’s been elevated into the starting lineup. She typically takes care of the ball. She’s a good defender. You know, she just seems to kind of make the right play, whatever the situation falls for, a really solid point guard.”

The one thing I’d like to see Rice improve on is her assist numbers. She’s only had one game this season where she’s had five assists or more. That will likely come in time as she builds chemistry with all of her new teammates. That’s a small complaint for a rookie that’s averaging 13.1 PPG on 55% FG shooting, with nearly 5.0 RPG, and 3.0 APG.

Blown Opportunities

Seattle can lament the fact that the free throw disparity was completely one-sided, but ultimately the Storm missed far too many shots around the rim and turned the ball over way too many times to win the game on Saturday. Below you can view the heat map and shot chart from the game against Toronto.

Red is obviously very bad. Making less than 60% of their layups is not good. Shooting 30% from inside the paint, but outside the restricted circle is definitely not ideal. Connecting on just 3-19 FG from beyond the arc on all 3-PT attempts that weren’t corner threes is sub-optimal.

In total, the Storm barely shot above 40% for the game. Combined with turning the ball over 18 times, giving up more open three-point shots, and having 24 fewer points from the free throw line was the recipe for disaster, and another Seattle Storm loss.

Jordan Horston’s Strong Performance + Future

It was great to see Jordan Horston play so well in this game. In a season where the Storm are expected to have more losses than wins, I think it’s important to recognize the positives. There is a reason why I would often include Jordan Horston as one of the main pieces for the Seattle Storm to build the team around if they were going to enter a rebuild without Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins. A’ja Wilson needed Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young. Breanna Stewart needed Sue Bird, Jewell Loyd, and Natasha Howard. Every great team needs multiple key pieces. Even if Dominique Malonga becomes a legitimate #1 option and the Storm’s next true franchise player, she is going to need standout teammates.

At 6’2” with guard skills, forward size, and elite athleticism, Jordan Horston has all the physical tools in the world to be an All-Star-level player in the WNBA. She has been an excellent defender since Day 1. Her offensive game improved significantly from Year 1 to Year 2, where she improved her field goal percentage from 37% to 49%. A torn ACL, one of the most significant injuries a professional athlete can suffer, derailed her third season.

It had been around 18 months since Horston had last played in the WNBA prior to the 2026 tip-off. It wasn’t shocking to me to see her get off to a slower start. But that’s a nice thing about these “newer” extended seasons. It gives players plenty of time and opportunity to grow and get better as the season progresses. Jordan had her first double-digit performance in her 9th game back. But you could start to see the signs in Game 6, where she had eight points, four rebounds, and three steals. I believe this game against Toronto and that game against Connecticut are more of Jordan Horston's potential that we will start to see more of as more games are played.

I spoke with Jordan after the game about her good game.

“I mean, I was able to put the ball in the basket a little bit today, a little better. But I gotta watch the game. I’m very, very hard on myself, so I got to just like really sit down and really watch the game. Right after the game, I’m just always thinking about how I could have been better.” Horston replied.

Naturally, like a lot of athletes, she didn’t want to sing her own praises too much; still thinking about what she could have done better. But Jade Melbourne was happy to talk her up.

“I thought Jordy was excellent today. Just her ability to get in the lanes and stuff, and for someone who’s… It’s her ninth game of the season, and she hasn’t played basketball in 18 months. This is huge, and it’s back to the Jordy that we all know and love, and we knew it was going to take time. I’m surprised it’s honestly happened this quickly, but it’s a credit to the work she put in. So, she’s going to be in the lanes. We’re going to give her the toughest matchup, regardless if it’s the three, if it’s a post, if it’s the point guard, you know, Jordy’s a lockdown defender. So the fact that she was able to turn defense into offense tonight and do her thing, that’s what she does, and we expect that from her every night. So it’s just great to see her getting back into a groove, and I love playing with Jordy. She’s hard on herself, but I’m going to give her her flowers because I thought she was awesome tonight.” Melbourne added.

Horston’s potential is another reason why I feel the Storm will be alright even after losing Gabby Williams. For all of the players who left this past offseason, Gabby was the one I thought the team might aggressively try to retain. They didn’t, but that now gives Jordan a larger opportunity to grow into the player that she can become. That is something worth watching as the season continues.

Player Interviews

Jade Melbourne and Jordan Horston:

Coach’s Quotes

Notes:
Thanks to my readers for the great support! Please tell other WNBA fans about my coverage. Please share, retweet, repost, etc., if you enjoy my articles.
Photography Credits: Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography
Thanks to Her Hoop Stats and Across the Timeline for being great resources!

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(Toronto, Ontario, Canada) - The Toronto Tempo (5-4) turned a tight game into a blowout after a dominating second-half performance where they outscored the Seattle Storm (3-6) 56-36 over the final 20 minutes. This game was decided by turnovers and free throws. The Storm committed 18 turnovers, and the Tempo outscored Seattle 23-6 in points off turnovers. Until the final 41 seconds of the contest, Toronto had a 33-4 advantage in free throw attempts. They finished the game outscoring Seattle by 24 points (31-7 FT) with 25 more attempts from the charity stripe.

Coach Raman spoke about the free throw discrepancy after the game.

“33 to 8 is a really tough disparity to overcome. We took 38 shots in the paint compared to 27 threes; they took 23 shots in the paint compared to 29 threes. I think there are definitely opportunities there. I thought we were being pretty aggressive.” Raman stated.

“Remember, there are different ways that you’re going to get to the line, and it’s not always just a drive. Sometimes it’s a post-up, sometimes it’s a screen. You know, so there’s a lot of different ways that the physicality kind of presents itself, and overcoming 33 to 8 was definitely a challenge.” She added.

Similar to the last game in Toronto, the Storm kept the game close through 2 1/2 quarters. With around three minutes to play in the third period, the game was tied 51-51. The Tempo outscored Seattle 19-5 to end the quarter. They outscored the Storm 42-21 over the rest of the game.

Seattle had just two players score in double figures in this one. Natisha Hiedeman continued her strong play, leading the team in scoring and assists. She finished with 18 points on 7-12 FG. She also had a game-high seven assists and did a great job finding her teammates in the first half. Jordan Horston had her best game of the season, scoring a season-high 15 points on 6-11 FG. She also had four rebounds and four steals.

Toronto won most of the stats battle. The Storm outscored the Tempo 36-26 with points in the paint. They had more offensive rebounds (9-6) and outscored Toronto 8-6 in second-chance points. Seattle had the edge in assists (21-14) and blocked more shots (4-1).

Toronto Tempo

The home team had five players score in double figures. Dick Fain said on the broadcast that the Tempo win anytime they have at least four players in double figures, and that trend continued on Saturday morning. Marina Mabrey led the way with 18 points on 6-13 FG, including three triples.

Kiki Rice continued her impressive rookie campaign, finishing the game with 17 points on 50% FG shooting, six rebounds, and four steals. I will write more about her in Part 2.

Brittney Sykes did not have the most efficient game. Seattle’s defense limited her to 4-12 FG and 0-4 FG from beyond the arc. However, she still finished with 15 points thanks to going 7-7 FT from the foul line.

Older International Rookie, Laura Juškaitė (28) was impressive with 14 points on 5-8 FG, including 4-5 FG from 3-PT range. She had five rebounds and two steals. She was also a game-best +25 in plus/minus. Lastly, Maria Conde added 13 points off the bench and went 3-4 FG from beyond the arc. She was also tied with Kiki Rice for a team-high six rebounds.

Toronto outshot the Storm 44% (26-59 FG) to 41% (29-71 FG). They were +9 from the three-point range, outshooting Seattle 35% (10-29 FG) to 26% (7-27 FG). They out-rebounded Seattle 34-32. The home team’s bench outscored the Storm’s reserves 21-17, and they had a large discrepancy in fast break points at 17-4.

Game Breakdown

Natisha Hiedeman found Stefanie Dolson down low for the game’s first score. Marina Mabrey answered with back-to-back three-pointers. Jordan Horston collected an offensive rebound and scored. From there, it was all Toronto as the Tempo went on a 10-2 run. They got points from Brittney Sykes, Kiki Rice, and Laura Juškaitė.

After several empty possessions, Hiedeman forced her way to the rim for two. Maria Conde was left wide open on a three and drilled it. Hiedeman responded with a corner three. At the end of the first period, the Storm trailed 21-13. Both teams struggled with their offense. Seattle made just 6-20 FG and Toronto wasn’t much better (7-18 FG).

Hiedeman found Flau’jae Johnson in the corner for a three-pointer. Seattle cut the deficit to three on another assist from Hiedeman to a cutting Jordan Horston. The Tempo added scores in the paint by Nyara Sabally and Mabrey. Mabrey had an And-1. Hiedeman knocked down a three at the top of the arch. Sykes added a pair from the line. Jade Melbourne beat Sykes off the dribble to the rim. Seattle had a chance to take the lead, but Flau’jae missed the bunny. Mabrey connected on her third three-pointer of the first half to push the Tempo’s lead to four at 33-29.

Out of the timeout, Johnson scored on the baseline out-of-bounds play. Melbourne completed an And-1. Jordan found Awa Fam under the rim for the layup. At the end of the first half, the Tempo clung to a one-point lead at 37-36. As the score indicated, both teams were competitive through the first 20 minutes. Seattle outshot Toronto slightly, 41% (16-39 FG) to 37% (11-30 FG).

Seattle forced consecutive turnovers on the defensive end to open up the 2nd half. Stefanie Dolson knocked down a three-pointer to give the Storm their first lead since it was 2-0. Laura Juškaitė responded with a triple on the other end. Hiedeman knocked down a floater in the lane. After two free throws by Sykes, Hiedeman drilled a three-pointer. Mabrey and Sykes got more points from the foul line. Sykes tied the game at 47-47 with an And-1 after an Awa Fam jumper.

Both teams continued to battle back and forth. Flau’jae hit a smooth dribble stepback near the short corner. Mabrey found Rice for two. Katie Lou scored and was fouled, but missed the free throw. Seattle had opportunities to take the lead, but turned the ball over three possessions in a row. That allowed the Tempo to extend their lead back to six at 57-51. Julie Allemand got an open-court steal and score. Zia Cooke blew a fast break layup, and that led to two free throws for Rice. Awa Fam had a nice spin layup and was fouled for the And-1. The Tempo continued to score from the free throw line. Toronto added back-to-back triples by Conde and Juškaitė to end the period. With the game tied at 51, the home team finished the quarter on a 19-5 run. Toronto led 70-56 with both teams entering the final frame.

Jordan Horston knocked down a corner three, but Juškaitė answered with one of her own. The Storm turned it over again, and that allowed Kiki Rice to score again in transition, forcing Coach Sonia Raman to call a timeout with the Storm trailing by 16. That lead ballooned to more than 20 as Seattle continued to turn the ball over and the Tempo made them pay.

Melbourne made a three-pointer, but Sykes added two from the line, and Conde hit a triple. Tima Pouye hit two free throws to give Toronto its largest lead of the game, up 25 with 1:32 left. The Tempo had a chance to set the All-Time WNBA record for most free throws without a miss. Entering the final minute, they had knocked down 31-31 FT, which would have surpassed the previous record of 27-27 FT. Unfortunately, rookie Teonni Key missed two free throws in the final minute of the game. Horston and Melbourne added four free throws in the final 45 seconds, which doubled Seattle’s free throw attempts for the game. At the final buzzer, the Storm lost in blowout fashion, 93-72.

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Final Box Score

Part 2

Part 2 will include additional commentary, analysis, and interviews. It will be sent to paid subscribers later tonight or tomorrow morning.

Up Next

The Seattle Storm (3-6) travel to Dallas to face the Wings (5-3) on Monday, June 1st at 5:00 PM PT. It is the first game between these two teams this season and should feature the #1 overall pick, Azzi Fudd, versus the #3 overall pick, Awa Fam. It is also the first of seven consecutive Commissioner’s Cup games the Storm will play through the first half of June. Seattle’s schedule gets more difficult moving forward as they have games against Dallas, Minnesota, Las Vegas, LA, and Golden State over the next two weeks.

Notes:
Thanks to my readers for the great support! Please tell other WNBA fans about my coverage. Please share, retweet, repost, etc., if you enjoy my articles.
Photography Credits: Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography
Thanks to Her Hoop Stats and Across the Timeline for being great resources!

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The Seattle Storm (3-5) struggled to find a rhythm on Wednesday night against the Washington Mystics (3-3). D.C. led wire-to-wire and by as many as 25 points in the 2nd half as the Storm fell 78-64. If you missed it, you can read the full game recap below.

In Part 2, I wrote about the adjustments the Mystics made, how the Storm missed Dominique Malonga a lot, and how Coach Sonia Raman has the right mindset to move forward. I’m including additional quotes, plus the full post-game press conference audio interviews.

Tough Adjustments

It is always easier to make the tough adjustments for the team that ended up on the losing end of the first game in a series. That’s what Coach Sydney Johnson and the Washington Mystics achieved on Wednesday night after they were embarrassed by the Storm on Sunday. They had an answer for everything Seattle tried to do in this game. Defensively, they shut everything down. With just a few days in between the two games, the Mystics made significant adjustments on the defensive end, limiting the Storm to a season-low 64 points, 33 points fewer than they gave up on Sunday.

Georgia Amoore got abused on the defensive end by Natisha Hiedeman on Sunday afternoon. In this game, Coach Johnson made sure to put longer defenders against Hiedeman. Sonia Citron, at 6’1”, shadowed Natisha a lot, never allowing her to get comfortable.

It’s easy to say the Storm just missed more shots on Wednesday night, but I think the Mystics were significantly better with their defensive rotations in this game. When Seattle made the extra pass, they were ready for it. There were times a Storm player would kick it out for a corner three, but instead of having that shot open, the Mystics defenders were there with a hand up to prevent a good look at the basket.

Offensively, Washington put more of an emphasis on getting their post players involved. Shakira Austin dominated the opening minutes on Sunday, but was held to just three points over the game’s final 36 minutes. She didn’t allow that to happen on Wednesday. While Kiki Iriafen scored 13 points in both games, she was a much larger factor on the glass in this game, more than doubling her rebounds from Game 1 to Game 2.

I also wouldn’t underestimate Alicia Florez Getino’s impact on this game from both ends of the court. Not only did she have a game-high nine points off the bench, but she was very disruptive on the defensive end. She would pressure Natisha or Jade consistently when they would bring the ball up the court. That caused Seattle to get into their actions a little later than normal. She also had more size and physicality to her game, even at just 5’9”, compared to the 5’7” Georgia Amoore or the 5’6” Rori Harmon. Harmon didn’t play at all on Wednesday.

Florez is currently on a development contract with the Mystics. If she continues to play as she did in Seattle, I wouldn’t be surprised if they transitioned her into a full-time roster spot.

During the post-game press conference, Jade Melbourne talked about the differences between the two games.

“Well, we shot really well the other night. I think we show almost 50% from three. So that’s a big difference when the shots aren’t falling. We need to do a better job as a group to generate better looks. I think we got some good looks tonight. Our shots weren’t falling, but I think the ball movement got a little bit stagnant. We depended on maybe going a little bit, like one-on-one stuff that we’d gotten away with maybe in the past when the shots had fallen, but when the shots aren’t falling, we need to find ways to move the ball through hands.”

Jade went on to say, “I can take responsibility for that as a point guard calling particular plays, you know, to get the ball moving a bit more. It got a little bit sticky tonight. So just that. And I also think, too, we didn’t get a lot of stops like we did the other night. So when you’re not getting stops, you can’t get out in transition and have that free-flowing, you know, play 4 on three, 3 on 2 kind of basketball. So there were a lot of factors for that, but I think overall tonight we did generate some good looks, we could have gotten better ones, but ultimately they weren’t falling.”

Coach Raman also spoke about the differences between games.

“Their physicality disrupted us a little bit, and I think there were a few really good shots that we got as well that didn’t go down. Our shooting percentage was 21.7 from 3, and obviously, it was a lot higher in that last game. If a few of those fall, I think we feel a bit better about it. That 1st quarter was probably the biggest culprit right there, just the urgency that we came out with. And our focus on both ends of the ball, I think, was what set the stage. And then from there, we were just kind of trying to climb. But I think we got a lot of good looks as well, and there’s a lot to build on, and we just have to keep doing that.” Raman responded.

Need to get Dom Back

Stefanie Dolson and Mackenzie Holmes have stepped up in a big, big way early on this season. They’ve had some impressive games this year, whether that was Holmes’ 18-point performance against the Connecticut Sun or her near double-double on Wednesday night. Dolson has already had a couple of 16-point performances this season. A year ago, she didn’t score that many points in any of her 43 games.

I have been really impressed by both of their performances this year. In fact, I’m working on a feature piece about Stefanie Dolson that will hopefully come out over the next few days to discuss that.

With that said, the team definitely needs Dominique Malonga back as soon as she is healthy. Malonga was the Storm’s leading scorer when she went out with her concussion, averaging 16.0 PPG. She also has more gravity, drawing defenders to her more than Seattle’s other post players. Malonga can get easy baskets due to her size and athleticism. The Storm needed that on a night like Wednesday night, when many of Seattle’s guards struggled mightily with their efficiency.

The team isn’t going to win any games when only one player scores in double figures (Melbourne). Not only is Malonga one of the most likely players to score in double figures, but she’ll open up more looks for Seattle to find ways to exploit the defenses. If defenses collapse on Dom, that’s going to free up several outside shooters like Natisha Hiedeman, Katie Lou Samuelson, Zia Cooke, and Lexie Brown. If teams leave Malonga with single coverage to defend the perimeter, Dom is going to be able to score against most players trying to defend her one-on-one.

Seattle isn’t quite ready to try and run the offense through Awa Fam, nor should she be expected to carry that burden right now. Fam’s been with the team for only one week and has only had the opportunity to practice with the team once or twice. But the Storm can run their interior offense through Malonga. If Dom is on the court, that’s also going to make things easier on Awa because Fam likely won’t see the top post defender guarding her if they have to worry about Malonga.

It’s truly unfortunate that the Storm had to go up against one of the league’s most intimidating front courts in Shakira Austin, Kiki Iriafen, and Lauren Betts without having either Dominique Malonga or Ezi Magbegor on the floor for Seattle. Injuries, unfortunately, took away an Ezi, Dom, and Awa versus Shakira, Kiki, and Lauren battle this year. Maybe, we’ll still be able to watch it happen on TV when the Storm travel to D.C. to face the Mystics on July 12th, but it’s not one we’ll get to witness in person this season.

Don’t Turn the Page

I really liked Niko Tamurian’s (KOMO Sports) question to Coach Sonia Raman after the game. It was a pretty typical question that is used when the local sports team has a terrible performance. After the players told him that the post-game locker room talk was kept relatively short, he asked Coach Raman how much of that was just flushing this (bad performance), turning the page, and getting ready for Saturday’s game?

I thought she had an appropriate response.

“No, we won’t turn the page, you know? We’re never gonna turn the page on any game. We want to make sure that, win or lose, we learn and we grow. So we’ll go back, we’ll watch film, and we’ll process it, and then make the adjustments that we need to make because some of the things that happened today are things that we want to be better at going forward, no matter who we play. So that’ll be about our process, but after games, there’s not that much to say at the end of the day, right? It’s like they know they played really hard. We’ll go back, we’ll watch film, and then we’ll get with them the next time we meet and just highlight a few things in particular that we want to focus on.” Raman stated.

I loved this answer because, as a coach, your job is to teach. And Seattle has a very young roster. It would be easy to say, “Yeah, just throw this game out the window and move forward.” But it’s better for the team’s long-term outcome if they don't just ignore these types of performances. It’s OK to have these types of games if the team can learn from their mistakes. Make the necessary corrections and get better. Coach Raman seems determined to do so. That’s what this season should be all about!

Player Interviews

Jade Melbourne and Mack Holmes:

Coach’s Quotes

Pre-Game:

Post-Game:

Notes:
Thanks to my readers for the great support! Please tell other WNBA fans about my coverage. Please share, retweet, repost, etc., if you enjoy my articles.
Photography Credits: Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography
Thanks to Her Hoop Stats and Across the Timeline for being great resources!

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(Seattle, WA) - The Washington Mystics (3-3) got their revenge on Wednesday night after an embarrassing loss on Sunday. They dominated Seattle in all facets. They completely shut down Seattle’s offense, limiting them to just 29 points in the first half and a season-low 64 points for the game. The teams split this early series that featured two of the youngest teams in the WNBA. The Mystics beat the Seattle Storm (3-5) by a final score of 78-64.

Jade Melbourne led the Storm with 15 points on 6-8 FG shooting. Unfortunately, she was the only Storm player to score in double figures. Four other members scored eight points each. That included Flau’jae Johnson, Natisha Hiedeman, Katie Lou Samuelson, and Mackenzie Holmes. Holmes was close to earning her first career double-double as she finished with eight points and 10 rebounds. That included four offensive rebounds. She was a team-best +6 in plus/minus.

I spoke with Coach Raman about Holmes’ effort after the game.

“Mack cares so much and really wants to do whatever it takes to help this team win. She was one of the ones who obviously heard that (halftime) message and, you know, 4 offensive rebounds to finish the game, 10 total. Talking on the floor, talking from the bench, just really being a presence as she always is, so really proud of her effort tonight.” Raman told me.

Jade Melbourne spoke in the post-game press conference about Holmes as well.

“Mack is the teammate that everyone dreams of having. She’s the ultimate team player. She’s the one to hype you up. She’s going to be there on your good day, your bad day. Anything that you don’t want to do as an individual, Mack wants to do. She’s the one percent. If you think it’s a 30% chance of getting a loose ball, Mack’s going to find a way to go get it. She’s on the floor. She’s getting the loose ball. Even if there’s not even a chance to get it, Mack’s going to still try and get it, but that’s Mack. She knows exactly what her role is on this team.” Melbourne said.

Flau’jae, Natisha, Jordan Horston, and Zia Cooke combined to shoot 8-37 FG (22%). It felt like nobody could buy a basket on Seattle’s side all game long.

Seattle lost the majority of team stats. They had a small advantage in steals (7-4) and blocked shots (3-2). They also had a 6-2 edge in fast break points. Their reserves outscored the Mystics’ bench 29-19. The Storm trailed for the entire 40 minutes as Washington dominated, leading by as many as 25 points.

Washington Mystics

Shakira Austin led the way for the Washington Mystics with 18 points, 13 rebounds, and five assists. She led her team in all three categories. Michaela Onyenwere contributed with 14 points on 5-10 FG, including three big three-pointers in the first quarter to set the tone. Kiki Iriafen added 13 points and nine rebounds, just missing out on a double-double.

Surprise player, Alicia Florez, added nine points, five rebounds, three assists, and two steals off the bench. This was Florez’s first WNBA game, as she was elevated from the development squad. I spoke with Coach Raman after the game about her surprising impact.

“I thought she gave a really solid performance all around, just a very strong player, physically. I thought she did a good job of facilitating out there and taking her spots when they were there, offensively. And, just like kind of being solid and helping the ball move. Yeah, she had a good game.” Raman stated.

The Mystics outshot the Storm 42% (28-66 FG) to 35% (22-63 FG). They were better from beyond the arc as well, 33% (7-21 FG) to 22% (5-23 FG). They out-rebounded Seattle 40-31. They had a slight edge in second-chance points (13-11) and points in the paint (36-34). D.C. had an 18-14 edge in assists and outscored Seattle 15-8 in points off turnovers.

Game Breakdown

Shakira Austin scored off the offensive rebound for the game’s first basket. Michaela Onyenwere drilled a corner three. Jade Melbourne went one for two from the foul line. Onyenwere used a Euro-step for two, putting the Mystics ahead 7-1. Onyenwere knocked down another three in the opposite corner from her first, then taunted Seattle’s bench, resulting in a Technical Foul. Natisha Hiedeman knocked down the Technical free throw. Kiki Iriafen added two more from the foul line to put the Mystics ahead by double digits.

Stefanie Dolson tracked down an offensive rebound, which led to a Natisha Hiedeman three-pointer, but Onyenwere answered back with her third corner three. Seattle got four straight points on drives from Melbourne and Jordan Horston. Shakira Austin knocked down another triple, the Mystics’ fourth of the first period. That put Washington ahead 18-9, forcing Coach Sonia Raman to call a timeout.

Out of the timeout, Seattle got a good look at the three, but missed. Austin scored an AND1 on the other end. Austin scored again on a take to the rim. Mackenzie Holmes responded with a corner three. Melbourne then made a nice pass to Awa Fam, who cut to the rim for two. Katie Lou Samuelson connected on a three-pointer. Lou was then fouled on a defensive rebound, which sent her to the line. She split the pair to cut the Storm’s deficit to five at 23-18.

The Mystics responded with a quick 5-0 run with a Georgia Amoore three, and an assist to Alicia Florez. Zia Cooke scored in the lane. At the end of the first quarter, Washington led 28-20.

Jordan Horston passed to Hiedeman, cutting to the rim for two right before the shot clock buzzer. Onyenwere and Kiki Iriafen scored on back-to-back possessions in the paint. Lexie Brown knocked down a three-pointer. The Mystics continued to add pressure with baskets from Iriafen and Florez. Florez knocked down a midrange jumper, and Austin scored a couple more inside the paint. The Mystics used a 12-0 run to balloon their lead to 19. Seattle was held scoreless for six minutes and tallied just nine points in the quarter.

The Storm got baskets from Zia Cooke and Katie Lou Samuelson late in the period, but they weren’t able to get stops on either end. Iriafen and Amoore pushed D.C.’s lead back to 19 right before the halftime buzzer. At the midway point, the Mystics led the Storm 48-29. Washington outshot Seattle 49% (18-37 FG) to 39% (11-28 FG). They also killed Seattle on the glass, out-rebounding them 22-10 through the first 20 minutes.

Natisha Hiedeman got an open-court steal that resulted in a transition two-on-one layup for Melbourne. Melbourne and Flau’jae Johnson scored four more points in the paint to spur Seattle onto a 6-0 run to begin the 2nd half. That forced Mystics’ Coach Sydney Johnson to call a quick timeout. Out of the timeout, Jordan Horston was fouled near the rim and made both free throws. Baskets by the Mystics’ dynamic sophomores, Iriafen and Citron, pushed D.C.’s lead back up to 15.

After two free throws from Melbourne, Washington went back to their star player. Citron had a strong drive to the rim and got open for a three-pointer to push the Mystics’ lead back to 18, forcing Coach Sonia Raman to call a timeout.

Seattle gave up multiple offensive rebounds, leading to a layup by Cassandre Prosper. Awa Fam made a nice jumper over Austin. Fam added two more free throws a few plays later. But Seattle wasn’t able to cut into Washington’s lead. Lauren Betts added four free throws to make it 66-45 at the end of the third quarter.

Lauren Betts drilled a midrange jumper to open up the final period. Hiedeman added two points from the line. Kiki Iriafen with an AND1 through multiple Storm defenders. Flau’jae used a strong drive to the rim. Florez knocked down a triple. Mack Holmes answered right back with one of her own. Holmes made a nifty spin hook layup that swirled around the cup and in.

Johnson and Samuelson added more points from the free throw line. Angela Dugalić used a strong drive down the baseline for two. Seattle continued to hustle late into the game, collecting multiple offensive rebounds, despite the shots refusing to drop. Flau’jae scored another second-chance basket.

The Storm were never able to put a sizeable run together to get the game within striking distance. They cut the Mystics’ lead to 11 in the third quarter, but never cut it any closer throughout the 2nd half. Flau’jae and Jade scored the final six points of the game, but it wasn’t enough. At the final buzzer, the Storm had lost 78-64.

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Final Box Score

Part 2

Part 2 will include additional commentary, analysis, and interviews. It will be sent to paid subscribers tomorrow morning.

Up Next

The Seattle Storm (3-5) head back to Canada to face the Toronto Tempo (4-4). The game is Saturday, 5/30 at 10:00 AM PT.

Notes:
Thanks to my readers for the great support! Please tell other WNBA fans about my coverage. Please share, retweet, repost, etc., if you enjoy my articles.
Photography Credits: Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography
Thanks to Her Hoop Stats and Across the Timeline for being great resources!

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The Seattle Storm (3-4) defeated the Washington Mystics (2-3) by a final score of 97-85 on Sunday afternoon. Natisha Hiedeman, Flau’jae Johnson, and Stefanie Dolson combined for 57 points in the victory. It was Seattle’s 2nd win in a row during this four-game homestand. If you missed it, you can read the full game recap below.

In Part 2, I wrote about Seattle’s impressive defense and how they limited Sonia Citron and Shakira Austin. I talked about the Mystics' blueprint and how the Storm can follow in their footsteps. I debated whether Seattle’s development is ahead of schedule. I’ve included the post-game press conference interviews and the link to my exclusive pregame interviews that I did with Awa Fam and Katie Lou Samuelson.

Impressive Defense

Even though the Storm gave up 85 points to the Washington Mystics compared to just 59 points to the Connecticut Sun on Friday, I was actually more impressed with Seattle’s defense on Sunday afternoon. Shakira Austin scored nine points in the first three minutes of the game, forcing Coach Sonia Raman to call a timeout. Seattle made adjustments, and Austin only scored three more points in the entire game.

It wasn’t just Seattle’s interior defense that I was impressed by. The Storm held Sonia Citron in check for the majority of the game. Citron scored just two points and took only one shot in the first half of the game. She had just six points through the first three quarters. While Citron finished the game with a team-high 16 points, ten of those game in “garbage time” in the 4th quarter when the Mystics were trailing by 20+ points. She also benefited from the whistle-happy referees who called 54 personal fouls in the game.

I spoke with Coach Sonia Raman about the team’s defense against Austin and Citron after the game.

“Those are 2 really, really high-level players. Paying attention to them, you know, Natalie Achonwa was the scout tonight. (She) did a really great job with that in our prep. And there are moments where they got free, and Citron was able to get a little bit going down the stretch from the free throw line. So a little bit to clean up there, but again, it’s our team, right? And we have to do that as a unit. And I think, you know, that was the message on that very 1st time out when Shakira had 9 of their 1st 14 points was we need to be able to lock in a little bit more as a team on her.” Raman told me.

I also spoke with Natisha Hiedeman after the game about how they were able to keep Citron in check.

Hiedeman said, “I mean, she’s an elite scorer, 3-level scorer. Shoots the three crazy. She can get downhill, mid-range, everything. So, you know, we gotta put a lot of attention on her, and I think that was our strategy. We had a lot of good defenders on her. But Sonia, again, she finished with 16. She’s another one of those players that just doesn’t give up and is going to keep battling until the end. So, yeah, I’m glad we made it hard in the 1st quarter and the 2nd quarter, you know, that can kind of do something to you, but again, she finished with 16. So maybe we gotta do a little better.”

Something that stood out to me when they built this Storm roster was the length, size, and wingspan. Obviously, the bigs with 6’6” Dominique Malonga, 6’5” Stefanie Dolson, 6’4” Ezi Magbegor, and 6’4” Awa Fam. But then they also have 6’3” Katie Lou Samuelson, 6’3” Mackenzie Holmes, and 6’2” Jordan Horston. Even players like Jade Melbourne and Flau’jae Johnson, who are sub-6’, have good length/wingspan.

From what I can find, the Internet says Melbourne’s wingspan is 6’3”. That may be why Seattle was comfortable putting her on the 6’1” Sonia Citron for large portions of the game. But Melbourne wasn’t the only one to take her turn guarding the talented All-Star guard. Zia Cooke did an excellent job denying Citron the ball on the final possession of the first period, where the Mystics were trying to set up a play to get Citron the ball, and Cooke was almost face-guarding her to keep Sonia from getting an opportunity.

The other thing Seattle did exceptionally well, especially in the first half, was fronting the post. Mackenzie Holmes got a couple of deflection steals when they tried to get the ball to Lauren Betts by getting in front of her. They were able to deny easy entry passes to the interior. And while the Mystics doubled the Storm with points in the paint (36-18), Seattle held them well below their season average (47 PPG inside the paint).

Seattle did a great job with help defense, sending double-teams or shading to one side to limit the damage done inside. One of Washington’s biggest weaknesses is their three-point shooting, and the Storm forced them to shoot just 20% (4-20 FG) from beyond the arc.

Even though the Storm scored nearly 100 points and tallied a season-high in points with 97, I was more impressed with their defense in this game. The fact that they were able to keep several Mystics players in check was a credit to defensive coordinator Michael Joiner and Coach Natalie Achonwa, who had the scout.

I was concerned that Seattle would face the Mystics’ intimidating front court of Austin, Iriafen, and Betts without its two best post defenders in Malonga and Magbegor. To my surprise, the Storm did just fine without them.

The Mystics Blueprint

When I look at the Washington Mystics, I feel like there is a blueprint for the Storm to follow. To me, it feels like the Mystics are maybe a year ahead of Seattle in the rebuild process. It’s obviously helped that they’ve had three first-round picks in back-to-back seasons. In an era where more and more talent is entering the WNBA every single year, it’s not a bad thing to be building through the draft.

A year ago, the Mystics selected Sonia Citron, Kiki Iriafen, and Georgia Amoore in the first round. They also added Lucy Olsen in the second round. In 2026, they added Lauren Betts, Angela Dugalić, and Cotie McMahon in the first round, plus Cassandre Prosper and Rori Harmon in Rounds 2 and 3.

Time will tell how all of these players ultimately turn out. But we already know they’ve hit home runs with Citron and Iriafen, as both players were named WNBA All-Stars in their rookie seasons. And they’ve continued to grow and get better in their second year. Amoore lost all of last year with a torn ACL, but she’s looked solid so far in her first year on the court. She’s averaging around 6 PPG and 4 APG. On Sunday, she had 13 points and a team-high six assists.

It’s still too early to tell about Betts, Dugalić, and McMahon. Dugalić should be a solid role player, and showed positive signs in this game with a career-high 13 points. McMahon missed the first two games of the season, but had a strong debut with 13 points against the Indiana Fever. She was limited to just two points against the Storm and was in foul trouble with four fouls in 16 minutes. Betts’ best game came against the Dallas Wings, where she scored 11 points on 5-7 FG in 15 minutes.

The problem for Lauren is that her time may be limited playing behind Shakira Austin and Kiki Iriafen. It’s the same reason why the team ended up trading Aaliyah Edwards after her promising rookie season in 2024. I understand why the Mystics drafted Betts 4th overall because she was arguably the best player available. But it feels like they may have been better off selecting someone like Kiki Rice or Flau’jae Johnson. Maybe that’s why Flau’jae stared down Mystics’ Coach Sydney Johnson after burying a three this game.

Once Dominique Malonga and Ezi Magbegor are healthy and back in the lineup for Seattle, it’ll be interesting to see how Coach Sonia Raman balances their playing time and the lineups alongside rookie Awa Fam. Coach Noelle Quinn refused to play Ezi, Nneka, and Dom together on the court at the same time. Will Coach Raman do the same with Ezi, Dom, and Awa? If so, are the Storm at least able to balance the playing time better than the Mystics have done with Shakira, Kiki, Aaliyah, and now Shakira, Kiki, and Lauren?

Ahead of Schedule…?

With back-to-back dominating wins by the Storm, I’m starting to wonder if Seattle might actually be ahead of schedule. I’ve said multiple times that it’s in the Storm’s best interest if they don’t make the playoffs this year. Adding any lottery pick, especially a Top 5 pick, could do wonders to allow the Storm to build another championship contender. Even more so, if they had major lottery luck and ended up with a player like JuJu Watkins or Madison Booker.

And while I believe that, in the grand scheme of things, that would be the best thing for the franchise. It’s hard to deny the excitement that this young, scrappy team has displayed in the past two games. If the Storm make the playoffs this season, or even if they’re close (finish in the Top 10), it’ll be because either A) The young core played above expectations, or B) Coach Sonia Raman was an incredible coach, raising the level of all of her players.

I have to wonder if the shrewd moves by General Manager Talisa Rhea on draft night accelerated the team’s timeline by a year. I have been open about how much I was hoping to see the Storm draft Olivia Miles in the 2026 WNBA Draft because I knew she was an incredible floor general with an elite passing ability. The thought of pairing that with Dominique Malonga could eventually lead to a dynamic duo in Seattle similar to the one they had with Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson, or even Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart. Even across the league over the years, Brittney Griner and Diana Taurasi, Chelsea Gray and A’ja Wilson, etc. Those types of dynamic post/guard relationships have been key to finding major success in the WNBA. Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston could be next on that list.

Even though there was initial disappointment about the Storm not having the chance to draft Miles, the fact that Rhea was able to land both Awa Fam and Flau’jae Johnson was a draft-day scenario far greater than I could have predicted.

It’s still far too early to make any declarative statements with full certainty, but it’s possible the team just added a star guard and forward in one draft. That’s after adding the French phenom, Dominique Malonga, whom Seattle drafted in 2025. That young core is extended further with Jordan Horston and Ezi Magbegor. And with their improved play, you can potentially add Jade Melbourne and Zia Cooke to this list.

Side note, it’s crazy that a good portion of the Storm’s young core all came from the LA Sparks. Seattle selected Dominique Malonga and Awa Fam with the Sparks’ picks. Los Angeles also drafted Zia Cooke 10th overall (one selection after Jordan Horston) in the 2023 WNBA Draft, but cut her during the 2024 season. Then Seattle picked her up.

When healthy, the front court of Malonga, Magbegor, and Fam could end up being one of the best in the league. If not this season, certainly in the not-too-distant future. Seattle has an elite wing defender in Jordan Horston. Once Flau’jae improves her efficiency, they could have an All-Star level Shooting guard. Is it crazy to think the Storm could be just one more piece away from turning into a contender?

We’ll learn a lot as this season plays out. The team is still below .500 currently, and two of their three victories have come against the 1-6 Connecticut Sun. The Storm’s May schedule was by far the easiest month for the team. Things might look a lot different once they’re having to face Las Vegas, Indiana, and Atlanta. But on Sunday, the Storm were the closest they’ve been to full strength this season, and they throttled the Washington Mystics. A Mystics team that beat the 4-2 Indiana Fever in OT just a few days ago. That same Mystics team that narrowly lost to the New York Liberty in OT. I thought that D.C.’s team was a year ahead of Seattle. But if the Storm win again on Wednesday, I’ll have to reconsider those thoughts.

On Friday, after the Storm blew out the Connecticut Sun, Zia Cooke talked about how the team wasn’t even at full strength and that when they get everyone back, it’ll be scary for the rest of the league. I asked Natisha Hiedeman about that after this game, and she echoed those sentiments.

“It feels good when everybody goes out there and does what we know they can do. One step closer with Awa and Lou. Just waiting on a couple more, but I think that’s a scary thing. We’re still not even at full strength. So, definitely gonna be scary hours once we get there.” Hiedeman stated.

Awa Fam and Katie Lou Pregame Interviews

If you missed it earlier, before Sunday’s game, I was able to speak with both Awa Fam and Katie Lou Samuelson for a couple of quick, exclusive interviews. This was sent out to subscribers before the game. You can listen to them if you didn’t get a chance to earlier at the link below.

Player Interviews

Natisha Hiedeman and Awa Fam:

Coach’s Quotes

Pre-Game:

Post-Game:

Notes:
Thanks to my readers for the great support! Please tell other WNBA fans about my coverage. Please share, retweet, repost, etc., if you enjoy my articles.
Photography Credits: Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography
Thanks to Her Hoop Stats and Across the Timeline for being great resources!

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(Seattle, WA) - The Seattle Storm (3-4) earned their second impressive win in a row after defeating the Washington Mystics (2-3) by a final score of 97-85. After a close back-and-forth first quarter, the Storm outscored the Mystics by 20 points over the second and third periods. That allowed them to take full control of the game and never look back. Seattle led by as many as 26 points in the 2nd half of the game. The Mystics had a strong 4th quarter where they outscored Seattle 31-21, but it was too little, too late for the team from D.C. The 97 points scored by Seattle were a season-high and the first time the team topped 90 points this season.

The Storm had five players score in double figures. They were led by Natisha Hiedeman, who tied her career-high with 24 points. Hiedeman scored 18 of her 24 in the first half. Hiedeman shot 7-12 FG, 4-6 FG from 3-PT range, and a perfect 6-6 FT from the foul line. She also had five assists.

Flau’jae Johnson tied her career high that she set against Connecticut on Friday with 17 points. Johnson collected six rebounds and had another block in this game. Stefanie Dolson added 16 points and was perfect from the floor. She knocked down 3-3 FG, 2-2 FG from beyond the arc, and was perfect 8-8 FT from the line.

Awa Fam made her season debut and immediately produced. She finished with 10 points on 4-7 FG. She also had a couple of rebounds. Zia Cooke also added 10 points off the bench and knocked down 2-4 FG from the three-point line.

Seattle outshot D.C. 44% (26-59 FG) to 40% (23-57 FG). They were also significantly better from beyond the arc, knocking down 46% (13-28 FG) compared to just 20% (4-20 FG) for the Mystics. Both teams combined for 75 free throws, which was egregious. The Storm knocked down 94% (32-34 FT). They had more assists (20-14) and bench points (32-25).

Washington Mystics

The Mystics also had five players score in double figures in this game. Sonia Citron led them with 16 points. She scored 10 of those points in the final period and went 10-11 FT from the foul line. Kiki Iriafen added 13 points on 4-8 FG and had four rebounds.

Georgia Amoore led the team in assists with six and had 13 points. She was a perfect 8-8 FT from the line, but made just 1-7 FG from 3-PT range. Amoore also fouled out of the game with six fouls.

Shakira Austin added 12 points, four rebounds, and a couple of emphatic blocks. Rookie Angela Dugalić had a career-high 13 points off the bench on 5-6 FG.

D.C. out-rebounded the Storm 26-24. They also doubled Seattle’s offensive rebounds, 6-3. They outscored the Storm 12-10 in second-chance points and 12-5 in fast-break points. The Mystics took 41 free throws and made 35 of them (85%).

Game Breakdown

Georgia Amoore knocked down a corner three-pointer to begin the game. Flau’jae Johnson was fouled on a take to the rim and made both free throws. Shakira Austin was fouled on the other end and added two from the line. Natisha Hiedeman buried a three to tie the game at 5-5. Amoore was fouled on a jumper and hit both free throws. Hiedeman tied the game again with a strong drive past Amoore. Shakira Austin knocked down a three and then a runner in the paint to continue the Mystics’ hot start. After Johnson narrowly missed a triple, Austin scored again to double up the Storm at 14-7. That forced Coach Sonia Raman into a timeout.

Out of the timeout, Flau’jae got fouled attacking the rim and knocked down both free throws. The fouls continued for both sides. Lauren Betts was fouled by Stefanie Dolson and added two more from the line. Jade Melbourne found Dolson off the pick-and-roll for the layup. Betts knocked down a midrange jumper. Zia Cooke responded by knocking down a triple. Jordan Horston added a three-pointer to cut the Mystics’ lead to one.

Awa Fam and Katie Lou Samuelson checked into the game at the same time with around four minutes to play in the first quarter. Fam received a massive ovation from the home crowd. Cotie McMahon scored in the lane. Cooke used a dribble hesitation to get two at the rim. Kiki Iriafen got ahead of the defense for the easy transition layup. Hiedeman added two from the free throw line. After a Cassandre Prosper layup, Cooke added two more from the line. Hiedeman knocked down a three-ball right before the quarter ended to put Seattle ahead 26-24 at the end of the first.

Flau’jae Johnson knocked down an outside shot with her toe on the line to open up the second quarter. Angela Dugalić picked up a steal off an errant pass and raced down the court for the easy two. Dugalić scored again inside the paint to tie the game. Hiedeman hit another three right before the shot clock buzzer expired. Amoore added two more from the line. Flau’jae was fouled on a three-point attempt and sank all three free throws to put Seattle ahead 34-30.

Cooke got the ball back to Jordan Horston for the midrange jumper. Rori Harmon forced her way to the rim for two. Mackenzie Holmes scored in the paint. Georgia Amoore knocked down a pull-up jumper. Stef Dolson drilled a three at the top of the arch to push Seattle’s lead to eight at 42-34.

Out of the timeout, Sonia Citron made a strong drive to the rim for two. Flau’jae Johnson assisted Awa on a roll to the rim for Fam’s first WNBA basket. Hiedeman hit a three and scored on a step-through midrange jumper to end the first half. The Storm led 49-37 at the midway point.

Hiedeman drew a foul on back-to-back possessions to open up the 2nd half and made all four free throws. Michaela Onyenwere scored two at the rim. Kiki Iriafen knocked down a three-pointer. Flau’jae knocked down a nifty reverse layup. Johnson then knocked down another triple for the Storm to put them ahead by 18 points, forcing Mystics’ Coach Sydney Johnson to call a timeout.

Flau’jae knocked down another three. Iriafen made a fast drive to the rim for two. Dolson sank two more free throws to put the Storm up 65-44. The free throws continued as Sonia Citron made four straight. Zia Cooke used dribble penetration to find the cutting Awa Fam for two. Lauren Betts scored from an offensive rebound, forcing Coach Sonia Raman to call a timeout.

Out of the timeout, Zia Cooke knocked down a three-pointer. Dolson added two more from the line. Lexie Brown got an open-court steal that led to another Mystics foul and two free throws for the Storm. Both teams added four more free throws apiece to end the third period. Entering the fourth quarter, the Storm led the Mystics 76-54.

The Storm got a steal that led to a transition three-pointer by Lexie Brown. Sonia Citron was fouled and made both. Brown was fouled on a three-point shot and made two of three. Shakira Austin scored an AND1 on a turnaround jumper in the paint. Austin then had a massive rejection on Hiedeman on the other end. Angela Dugalić knocked down a three. The Mystics went on a 10-0 run to cut the Storm’s lead from 25 down to 15.

Awa Fam knocked down a midrange jumper. Citron added two more free throws. Dugalić had an AND1 opportunity, but missed the free throw. Katie Lou Samuelson knocked down a critical three-pointer as the Mystics had cut the Storm’s 25-point lead in half. After a Sonia Citron basket, Awa Fam was fouled and made both free throws. Hiedeman then found a cutting Fam at the rim for two more, sending the crowd into a frenzy.

Free throws by Melbourne and Dolson pushed the Storm’s lead back up to 19 at 94-75. The Mystics got baskets from Iriafen and Dugalić. Washington outscored the Storm 31-21 in the final period. They went to the free throw line 19 times, knocking down 16 free throws over the game’s final 10 minutes. That allowed them to cut into Seattle’s lead to make the game respectable, but the Storm were never threatened after going ahead by 26 points. At the final horn, Seattle won the game 97-85.

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Final Box Score

Part 2

Part 2 will include more interviews, quotes, and discussions on the Storm’s impressive defense, building through youth, and more. That’ll be sent exclusively to paid subscribers tomorrow morning.

Up Next

A rematch with these same two teams. The Storm (3-4) will host the Washington Mystics (2-3) again on Wednesday, 5/27 at 7:00 PM PT at Climate Pledge Arena.

Notes:
Thanks to my readers for the great support! Please tell other WNBA fans about my coverage. Please share, retweet, repost, etc., if you enjoy my articles.
Photography Credits: Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography
Thanks to Her Hoop Stats and Across the Timeline for being great resources!

Social Media:
Facebook (NEW): https://www.facebook.com/StormChasersBasketball
Bluesky (@wnbastormchasers.bsky.social)
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X/Twitter (@WNBAStormChaser)

Ahead of Sunday’s game against the Washington Mystics, I had the chance to interview both Seattle Storm rookie Awa Fam and Katie Lou Samuelson. Both players are expected to make their 2026 season debut today against the Mystics. I’ve included Coach Sonia Raman’s pregame press conference, available to all, and the players’ interviews are a bonus exclusive to my paid subscribers. Enjoy!

Coach Raman Pregame Mystics

Awa Fam Pregame Mystics

Read more

The Seattle Storm (2-4) picked up their first home win of the season as they took down the Connecticut Sun (1-6) by a final score of 77-59. Zia Cooke and Flau’jae Johnson had career performances to lead Seattle to the win. If you missed it, you can read the full game recap below.

In Part 2, I’ve included the entire introductory press conference for Awa Fam. I discussed Joyner Holmes playing on short notice, but not Fam. I had some thoughts on Charlisse Leger-Walker, whom Seattle could have drafted. And wrote about how Friday night’s performance was just the beginning for this young Storm team.

Awa Fam Press Conference

Joyner In But Not Awa

One thing I was really curious about was whether they would play Joyner Holmes during this game. They did. She played 15 minutes off the bench. I thought Holmes gave Seattle solid minutes. She finished with two points, five rebounds, and three blocks.

On the one hand, I was a little surprised she played as much as she did (or even at all) since they only announced that they had signed her to a Hardship contract earlier in the day. But because she was signing a hardship contract, I understood why they needed to play her. I figured they were playing her because Awa wasn’t ready yet. And because Dom Malonga is still out with her concussion.

I think the fact that they needed to sign Joyner Holmes does not bode well for the imminent return of Malonga to the court. Not terribly surprising, but this likely also means Ezi Magbegor is still multiple weeks away from a return. The same can be said about Katie Lou Samuelson.

What I do find interesting is that Joyner just joined, but played right away. Awa arrived on Thursday, but still needs rest. Obviously, she’s flying over from Spain; she was just playing in the Spanish league playoffs a few days ago. That makes sense. But if you watched Fam’s press conference above, you saw her talk about how she’s ready to play and that she’s not tired. When asked about it, she said.

“I feel good, you know, for me. It’s okay, I’m 19 years old, so I’m ready to play with the International team, I’m ready to play with Valencia. I’m going to play right now in the W. I don’t feel tired. It’s like more excited, and this is what I love. I love basketball. I love to keep it moving. I love to practice, to know more about this league and about this sport. So it’s more, okay, I know this mostly. I know it’s a lot of games. I know it’s a lot of practice. I need to rest. I know those things, but it’s more like I’m ready, and it’s like new challenges that I really want.”

From what Fam is saying, it sounds like if it were up to her, she would have played on Friday, or at least by Sunday. And that it’s more the coach’s or team’s decision to keep her out for a little while longer. From my perspective, I can make the argument for both sides.

On the one hand, as Awa said, she’s 19. She’s ready to play. She has the energy. The Storm also desperately need big bodies; otherwise, they wouldn’t have signed Joyner Holmes to a Hardship contract. They’re really going to need more post players when the team faces the Washington Mystics, who feature 6’5” Shakira Austin, 6’3” Kiki Iriafen, and 6’7” Lauren Betts.

I also look at it from the perspective of, what do the Storm have to lose? Seattle is in a rebuilding year. There isn’t any internal or external pressure to be a playoff team this season. The most important thing the team can do this year is to develop its younger players. To develop Dominique Malonga, Awa Fam, Flau’jae Johnson, Jade Melbourne, Zia Cooke, Jordan Horston, etc. Throw Fam into the deep end of the pool and see if she can swim.

If they’re going to throw Joyner out there the same day she signs with the Storm, why not let Awa get out there and get some experience? I suppose if I’m making the argument for Coach Raman or the decision makers, it would be that Joyner Holmes is a six-year veteran of the WNBA. And it’s easier for her to transition to the new team without going through practices because of her previous experience. And I would agree with that. But I’m not sure how much her previous Storm experience helps her since that was with a completely different coaching staff (Coach Quinn), and most of her teammates are brand new as well. Holmes would have played with Jordan Horston, Jade Melbourne, and Ezi Magbegor, but I believe that’s it.

I think the other argument would be that the expectations are so much higher for Fam that the team wants to put her in the best position to succeed. With respect to J. Holmes, if she went out there and stunk up the joint, no one is going to be too upset about it. But if Awa goes out there without being prepared and struggles, she’s going to take a lot more heat and online backlash. The critics on social media will say this is why she wasn’t drafted #1 overall. That she was never as good as some people made her out to be. If she were to struggle, that could damage her confidence and harm her development.

The hope is that Awa can be a franchise player for the Storm. They should put her in the best position to succeed. That means they make sure she’s rested and adjusted from any jet lag coming from Spain. It means that she understands the team’s offensive and defensive schemes. And that they prepare her as best as possible to make a positive impact right out of the gate.

Charlisse Leger-Walker

I wanted to wait until Connecticut played Seattle again to really get a better look at Charlisse Leger-Walker. After she burned the Storm for 16 points on Wednesday night, I thought about the fact that Seattle could have drafted Leger-Walker with their 14th overall pick.

When I wrote my big draft primer for the Storm, I said this about Leger-Walker.

“If the Storm don’t draft Olivia Miles or Kiki Rice, I could certainly see them considering Charisse Leger-Walker with either the 14th or 16th overall picks. Leger-Walker could come in and compete for a backup point guard position.

It may depend on how they view her compared to the other prospects around the 14-16 range. Do they think she is athletic enough to play at the WNBA level? Do they like her more than potential other point guards they could take around that portion of the draft?”

As it turns out, Seattle’s front office liked Taina Mair more than Charlisse Leger-Walker since they could have selected CLW with the 14th overall pick, but they opted for Mair instead.

I think the team still has high hopes for Mair, even though she was the only first-round pick to be cut coming out of training camp. The only other first-round pick that isn’t currently playing for her team is Iyana Martín Carrión. She was a draft and stash player for the Portland Fire. The other 13 first-round picks are all currently on the main roster for their respective teams.

I thought it was risky for Seattle to waive Mair and re-sign her back to a development contract, but so far, that has worked out. I think ideally, if they can even develop Mair into a solid backup point guard, she will be worthy of the late first-round selection. Especially with the fact that Seattle may end up with two stars earlier in the first round with Awa Fam and Flau’jae Johnson.

For Leger-Walker, she had that extremely impressive performance of 16 points on Wednesday, but a much more modest game on Friday night. She had five points, five assists, three rebounds, and two steals. Overall, she’s had a good start to her WNBA career. She’s averaging 7.6 PPG, 2.7 APG, and 1.9 RPG. Charlisse quickly impressed Coach Rachid Meziane, as he has inserted her into the starting lineup for the past two games.

I think there were legit concerns on whether or not CLW was athletic enough to have success at the WNBA level, but so far, she’s proving that isn’t a major issue. It’ll be interesting to see how her career plays out compared to Taina Mair, not just this season, but over the next couple of seasons. Only then will we know if the Storm made the right or wrong choice.

Just Getting Started

While the opponent was the 1-6 Connecticut Sun, this game showed some strong potential for this young Seattle Storm group. As written about already, Flau’jae Johnson and Zia Cooke had career nights. Cooke has been a great offensive spark off the bench and should continue to get opportunities throughout this season to really carve out an important role. Not everyone has to be the top-named star of the team, but that doesn’t lessen their overall value. With the Storm’s most recent championship teams, Sami Whitcomb was always that scrappy fireplug off the bench who could light it up or play pesky defense. Cooke could end up finding herself in a similar role.

Jordan Horston started showing signs of what we know she is capable of. Moving without the basketball and cutting to the rim for scores. Plus, remaining an elite defender and strong rebounder. Flau’jae had three blocks on Friday and became the fastest guard in WNBA history to record 10 blocks (in just six games). The two of them create havoc on the defensive end for their opponents, and they were a big reason why Seattle held Connecticut to under 60 points in this game.

Seattle has the chance to be extremely good defensively with the size and length they have on their roster. And right now, they don’t even have their premier shot blocker, Ezi Magbegor. When they add Magbegor and Malonga back into the fold, their interior defense should improve significantly.

This team has a lot of potential if all the younger players continue to grow, develop, and improve as the season goes on. And while I still believe it’s in the best interest of the franchise if that growth comes with more losses than wins. They are better off if they miss the playoffs and add another lottery selection to this young core. But don’t tell these players that.

After the game, Zia reflected on the team’s impressive near-20-point victory despite missing Ezi, Dom, Awa, and Katie Lou.

“We’re so deep. Yeah. Man, like I said, we don’t want to make no excuses because you know, we got to come out every night and do what we got to do, but when they get back, it’s going to be a whole nother story. So we just got to keep it going, keep the bus rolling, but when they get back, like I said, it’s going to be scary.”

They have a right to be that confident after Friday night’s performance.

Player Interviews

Coach’s Quotes

Pre-Game:

Post-Game:

Notes:
Thanks to my readers for the great support! Please tell other WNBA fans about my coverage. Please share, retweet, repost, etc., if you enjoy my articles.
Photography Credits: Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography
Thanks to Her Hoop Stats and Across the Timeline for being great resources!

Social Media:
Facebook (NEW): https://www.facebook.com/StormChasersBasketball
Bluesky (@wnbastormchasers.bsky.social)
Threads/Instagram (@WNBAStormChasers)
X/Twitter (@WNBAStormChaser)

(Seattle, WA) - The Seattle Storm (2-4) responded to Wednesday’s defeat by cruising to a 77-59 victory over the Connecticut Sun (1-6). The Storm used an 18-7 second quarter to take control of the game. Both Zia Cooke and Flau’jae Johnson had career performances in the win. This was Seattle’s first home win of the 2026 season and their second win over the Sun. This was the Sun’s final appearance in Seattle as the franchise will be relocated to Houston to become the Comets in 2027.

Zia Cooke scored a career-high 25 points on 7-14 FG shooting. She also made 9-10 FT from the line. Cooke’s offensive production continues her hot start as she’s scored in double figures in four of the Storm’s first six games. She’s averaging a career-high 12.3 PPG this season.

Flau’jae Johnson also had a career night. After having her worst performance of the season on Wednesday, where she scored just five points and didn’t play at all in the 4th quarter, Johnson responded with a career-best in points, rebounds, and assists. She finished with 17 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. She also tied Joyner Holmes with a team-high three blocked shots.

I spoke with both Cooke and Johnson after the game and asked them to talk about the other’s performance.

Cooke told me, “I think (Flau) brings a lot of energy for us. I’ve been watching her really dial in on knowing when to score, when to pass the ball. I just told somebody today in an interview that she’s our franchise player. So she got to step up every single night and kind of play like a vet. And it’s a lot of pressure, but I’m just super proud of her to see just her resilience and how she’s just been coming out every single night and doing what she needs to do. So super proud of her.”

Flau’jae Johnson chimed in with, “I feel like Zia was very aggressive. And she could score on anybody. I feel like if she could get downhill, that’s what she did. 10 free throws, that’s big. And I just feel like her coming off the bench, like just giving us that spark, like, she’s that girl. And she’s very confident, and I learned that from her, just to be confident, shots fall no matter what. She plays hard on defense. She really, she’s a pros pro. So that is a testament to the work she put in. You know what I’m saying? I’m just proud to be next to her. I played against her in college. She was like that. To see her translate that, it’s just beautiful.”

Natisha Hiedeman was the only other Storm player to score in double figures with 11 points and a team-high six assists. Jordan Horston also had her best performance of the year with eight points, four rebounds, and two steals. She was active on both ends of the court and started to look more comfortable out there.

Seattle outshot Connecticut 47% ( 28-69 FG) to 37% (23-62 FG). They were also better from beyond the arc, knocking down 38% (8-21 FG) compared to just 24% (4-17 FG) for the Sun. On Wednesday, the Storm were out-rebounded 38-26, but on Friday night, Seattle held a 38-33 rebounding advantage. The Storm’s bench outscored Connecticut’s reserves 32-20. The home team had a season-high 22 assists. They also outscored the Sun 38-32 inside the paint.

Connecticut Sun

Connecticut struggled to generate offense in this game, scoring just 38 points over the final three quarters. Seattle held them to a season-low 59 points. Diamond Miller led the way with 13 points on 3-6 FG shooting. She also made 7-8 FT. Aaliyah Edwards added 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Aneesah Morrow led the bench with seven points and six rebounds in just under 18 minutes of action. After leading the team on Wednesday with 16 points, rookie Charlisse Leger-Walker was limited to five points on 2-9 FG shooting. She did have a team-high five assists.

Seattle dominated most of the stats in this game, but the Sun had a 9-6 edge in steals. They also outscored the Storm 16-12 with points off turnovers, and had a 12-7 advantage in fast break points.

Game Breakdown

Aaliyah Edwards scored in transition and nearly took out the cameraman to score the game’s first basket. Diamond Miller scored in the lane. Miller scored again as the Sun quickly went ahead 6-0. The Storm started 0-4 FG with two turnovers. Gianna Kneepkens got another score in transition, putting the Sun up by eight, and forcing Coach Sonia Raman to call a timeout.

Jordan Horston finally got the Storm on the board nearly four minutes into the game. Kennedy Burke scored a layup and was fouled, but missed the free throw. Flau’jae Johnson answered back with a three-pointer on the other end. Kneepkens made a strong drive to the rim. Mackenzie Holmes was fouled and made both free throws to cut Seattle’s deficit down to five at 12-7.

Aaliyah Edwards scored in the lane. Jade Melbourne scored through contact. Burke knocked down a three-pointer. Melbourne cut through the defense for another basket. Nell Angloma was fouled by Melbourne and sank both free throws. Natisha Hiedeman found Zia Cooke running down the court for two. Joyner Holmes then led Cooke ahead for another layup in transition. This time Cooke was fouled and completed the free throw for the AND1. The quick 5-0 run cut the Sun’s lead to three at 19-16, forcing Coach Rachid Meziane to call a timeout.

Raegan Beers checked in and immediately scored down low. Jordan Horston found Cooke open in the corner for the open three. At the end of the first period, the Connecticut Sun led 21-19. Seattle ended the first period on an 8-2 run.

Hailey Van Lith knocked down a midrange jumper to open the second quarter. Cooke was fouled and made both foul shots. Hiedeman found a cutting Jordan Horston for two to tie the game at 23-23. Miller was fouled right before the shot clock buzzer and made both free throws. Hiedeman got past the defense. Seattle took the lead on a chaotic play where Flau’jae nearly threw the ball away, Hiedeman threw it behind her head to keep it in bounds, Johnson somehow recovered the ball, and sank the jumper.

Joyner Holmes, who was just added to the team on Friday, made a positive impact off the bench. She scored on a turnaround jumper inside the paint to put Seattle ahead 29-27. Diamond Miller was fouled but split the two free throws. Cooke made an acrobatic shot in the lane and was fouled for the three-point lead. That gave the Storm their largest lead of the game by four (32-28). Jordan Horston added to it with a strong drive to the rim. Horston got a steal, which led to a transition three for Cooke.

At the midway point, the Seattle Storm led 37-28 after outscoring the Connecticut Sun 18-7 in the 2nd quarter. Seattle outshot Connecticut 40% (14-35 FG) to 37% (11-30 FG). The Storm’s bench outscored the Sun’s reserves 20-6. They also held a 9-2 advantage in points off turnovers through the first 20 minutes.

Flau’jae Johnson scored on back-to-back possessions to open up the third period. Seattle opened up a double-digit lead that continued to grow over the next few minutes. Hiedeman made two free throws. Johnson scored again inside the lane. Charlisse Leger-Walker knocked down a three-pointer. Aaliyah Edwards scored a couple of times to keep the game from getting completely out of hand. Stefanie Dolson added a quick five points with a three-ball and a nice give-and-go. That put the Storm ahead 50-35 and forced Connecticut’s coach to call another timeout.

Out of the timeout, Raegan Beers scored in the low post. Lexie Brown knocked down a triple. Saniya Rivers got to the rim for two. Aneesah Morrow scored on back-to-back possessions to add to Connecticut’s 6-0 run. That’s how the period ended with the Storm leading 53-43.

Hailey Van Lith drilled a three-pointer from an offensive rebound to begin the 4th quarter. That cut Connecticut’s deficit down to seven points. They never got closer than that. Zia Cooke added a point at the foul line. Flau’jae Johnson answered back with a three-pointer to put the Storm back up by double-digits. Natisha Hiedeman faked the defense from three and banked in a shot at the rim. Morrow knocked down a three, but Seattle’s offense continued to pour it on. The Storm used a 7-0 run with five points from Hiedeman and two more from Cooke to extend their lead to 17, at 66-49.

Cooke and Horston added four more points to extend the Storm’s lead to over 20. Diamond Miller ended Seattle’s run with two free throws. Miller got a steal in the open court that led to a transition score. Flau’jae Johnson answered back with another three. After an Edwards basket, Zia scored again on a turnaround inside the paint. Seattle outscored Connecticut 24-16 over the game’s final 10 minutes. The Storm secured a 77-59 victory.

Final Box Score

Up Next

The Seattle Storm (2-4) host the Washington Mystics (2-2) on Sunday, 5/24 at 3:00 PM PT.

Notes:
Thanks to my readers for the great support! Please tell other WNBA fans about my coverage. Please share, retweet, repost, etc., if you enjoy my articles.
Photography Credits: Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography
Thanks to Her Hoop Stats and Across the Timeline for being great resources!

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(Seattle, WA) - The Connecticut Sun (1-5) survived a late-quarter rally by the Seattle Storm (1-4) to win their first game of the season 80-78. The Sun were the last remaining winless team in the WNBA. Despite this being a contest between the league’s bottom two teams, it was a thrilling game that went down to the wire. Seattle had their chances. They took the lead inside the final minute on a reverse layup by Jade Melbourne. They pushed their lead to three on a pair of Mackenzie Holmes free throws. But the Sun fought back and scored the game’s final five points to secure the win. Natisha Hiedeman had two chances to win the game in the final 10 seconds, but wasn’t able to convert either shot.

Hiedeman led the team in scoring with 20 points on 8-18 FG shooting. She also had a team-high five assists. Mackenzie Holmes added a career-high 18 points off the bench. She made 6-8 FG, 5-5 FT, finished with a team-high six rebounds, and two blocked shots. Jade Melbourne (11 points) and Zia Cooke (10 points) rounded out the other scorers in double figures.

Coach Raman spoke about Holmes after the game.

“Mack is huge for us. Came up with a lot of really big plays. It felt like she was just battling down low constantly, and then just kind of keeping the offense moving a little bit, you know, rolling, slipping to the basket, finding, just like having a knack for finding the ball and really giving us a boost. I’m really proud of her.”

The team lacked offensive firepower without Dominique Malonga (out with a concussion) and a season-low five points from Flau’jae Johnson, who only played three minutes in the second half. Coach Raman said after the game that Johnson’s playing time was just based on the flow of the game. Hiedeman and Lexie Brown played all 10 minutes in the 4th period. Jade Melbourne and Zia Cooke got the remaining guard minutes in the quarter.

Seattle was outshot and out-rebounded in this game. They also coughed up more turnovers (17-13). While the Storm kept it close, the Connecticut Sun outplayed them for most of the game and deserved to pick up their first win.

I spoke to Holmes about the team’s moments of struggles, where they might have some effective plays, but then the offense just got really stagnant, or turnovers would happen.

Mack told me, “I think that’s just basketball. Not every possession on offense is going to be perfect. But just not make the same mistake twice or compound mistakes, so we have a bad offensive set. Don’t let it translate into defense. So I think, you know, that’s just the ebbs and flows of games. We’re not going to be perfect. But I think it’s just a matter of not repeating the same mistakes over and over.”

Connecticut Sun

The Sun were led by a pair of rookies. Their first-round pick (12th overall) Nell Angloma, who finished with 15 points. And second-round pick Charlisse Leger-Walker led Connecticut with 16 points. Raegan Beers, an undrafted rookie, added 10 points and a game-high eight rebounds off the bench.

Interestingly, the Sun’s starters barely played in this game. Gianna Kneepkens played just four minutes. Aneesah Morrow only played seven minutes. Hailey Van Lith played 12 minutes total. Kneepkens and Morrow didn’t play a single minute in the second half. With Flau’jae not playing at all in the 4th quarter and just three minutes in the third quarter, the whole thing was a bit odd from both teams.

The Sun’s bench outscored Seattle’s reserves 62-39. This was a rare game where both teams’ reserve units matched or outscored their starters.

Connecticut dominated the glass, out-rebounding the Storm 38-26. They also had a 12-8 advantage in second-chance points. The Sun outshot Seattle 44% (32-72 FG) to 40% (25-63 FG). They had a 20-11 edge in points off turnovers. They also dominated inside the paint (50-36) and in fast break points (14-4).

Game Breakdown

Aneesah Morrow collected an offensive rebound and scored the game’s first basket. Natisha Hiedeman answered back with a midrange jumper. Gianna Kneepkens was fouled and made both free throws. Hiedeman quickly got to the rim for the AND1. Flau’jae Johnson picked off a pass in the open court and raced down the court for two. Johnson grabbed a defensive rebound and went coast to coast and finished with another nice layup. With the Storm leading 9-4, Coach Rachid Meziane called a timeout.

Nell Angloma checked in and immediately scored on back-to-back possessions to cut the Sun’s deficit down to one. Raegan Beers was fouled and split the pair to tie the game. Charlisse Leger-Walker stole the inbounds pass and was fouled on the other end. She sank both as the Sun completed an 8-0 run. Jade Melbourne stopped the bleeding by getting to the line for two free throws. More points from Angloma and Beers extended the Sun’s lead to five. And an AND1 from Leger-Walker put Connecticut ahead 22-14.

The Storm were able to rally a bit, with a three-pointer from Hiedeman and four points from Mackenzie Holmes. Zia grabbed an offensive rebound and completed a three-point play. Connecticut responded with a quick 7-0 run in under a minute. Hiedeman scored near the quarter buzzer to cut into Connecticut’s lead. Through the first period, the Sun led the Storm 29-23.

To begin the second quarter, Zia Cooke scored, but that was answered by Angloma on the other end. Cooke scored again with an assist from Hiedeman. Cooke scored another with an open-court steal and drive to the rim. The Storm regained the lead on a Mackenzie Holmes turnaround jumper. Beers and Holmes swapped baskets after that.

Kennedy Burke and Nell Angloma scored inside the paint. Holmes knocked down a three-pointer and scored another basket on a roll to the rim. SaNiya Rivers converted a layup to regain the lead. Burke knocked down a corner three to end the first half, extending the Sun’s lead to five (46-41). Connecticut outshot the Storm 47% (17-36 FG) to 41% (15-37 FG). The Sun out-rebounded the Storm 21-14, and their reserves outscored Seattle’s bench 40-23 through the first 20 minutes.

Natisha Hiedeman scored right before the shot clock buzzer to begin the third quarter. Aaliyah Edwards scored on the other end. Hiedeman buried a three-pointer. Diamond Miller scored at the rim. Raegan Beers was called for a Flagrant-1 foul. Stefanie Dolson made both free throws. After multiple bad possessions by the Storm, Leger-Walker drilled a three-pointer to extend the Sun’s lead to seven. Taylor Thierry knocked down two three-pointers in the quarter to help keep the Storm within striking distance.

Melbourne was fouled and made both free throws. Edwards got to the rim for two. Holmes made a nice move where she faked the screen up top and slipped to the rim for the layup. Edwards scored again in the paint. At the end of the third period, the Connecticut Sun remained on top by a score of 63-59.

Lexie Brown made a nice drive to the rim, made the layup, and was fouled to begin the final period. Kennedy Burker scored two from the line and three more from the top of the arch. Brown had a beautiful cut to the rim for a layup. Stef Dolson was fouled and split the pair to cut the Storm’s deficit down to two. Melbourne tied the game briefly at 67-67. Leger-Walker hit a dribble pull-up, and Edwards added another to put the Sun ahead by four. Ashlon Jackson got a steal and scored as Connecticut extended its lead to 73-67.

The Storm had one last rally in them. Hiedeman knocked down a three-pointer. That started an 11-2 run by Seattle. Jade Melbourne put the Storm ahead 76-75 with a nifty reverse layup with one minute left in the game. Seattle got a defensive stop, and Mackenzie Holmes was fouled on the defensive rebound. They were in the bonus, and Holmes sank both free throws, putting Seattle ahead 78-75.

Unfortunately, the Sun ended the game on a 5-0 run over the game’s final 40 seconds. Aaliyah Edwards scored in the paint, and then Kennedy Burke had an AND1 in transition with less than three seconds left in the game. Natisha Hiedeman had two good looks to win the game in Seattle’s final two possessions, but wasn’t able to convert on either. The Sun held on for their first victory of the season, 80-78 over the Storm.

Final Box Score

No Part 2

With the Storm and Connecticut Sun playing again in a couple of days, I felt I would have more to talk about after that game is played. Since I’m not doing a full additional article, I’ve included the post-game audio below.

Also, if you missed it, I wrote a long article on the entire WNBA through the first two weeks, which you can read here.

Player Interviews

Coach’s Quotes

Up Next

The Seattle Storm (1-4) will rematch with the Connecticut Sun (1-5) again on Friday, 5/22 at 7:00 PM PT.

Notes:
Thanks to my readers for the great support! Please tell other WNBA fans about my coverage. Please share, retweet, repost, etc., if you enjoy my articles.
Photography Credits: Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography
Thanks to Her Hoop Stats and Across the Timeline for being great resources!

Social Media:
Facebook (NEW): https://www.facebook.com/StormChasersBasketball
Bluesky (@wnbastormchasers.bsky.social)
Threads/Instagram (@WNBAStormChasers)
X/Twitter (@WNBAStormChaser)

After a few games, here are the main takeaways I have from the start of the WNBA season.

Early Season Parity

The 2026 WNBA season hasn’t even been going for two full weeks yet, and one trend has stood out to me immediately. At least to start the season, we have had excellent parity throughout the league. Not a single team out of the 15 franchises managed to go more than two games without suffering a loss. Not one team made it to 3-0. Compare that to last season, when the Minnesota Lynx started the year 9-0 and didn’t suffer their first loss until June 11th at Seattle (94-84). The New York Liberty also went 9-0 a year ago to begin their season, and didn’t take their first L until June 14th at Indiana (102-88).

The Atlanta Dream (2-1) were the last remaining unbeaten team in the WNBA this year, and they lost their first game on May 17th against the Las Vegas Aces (85-84).

I’m not sure what’s more surprising to begin this season, the fact that no team got to 3-0, or the fact that both expansion franchises - the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire - have already won two games each. Also, 14 out of the 15 WNBA teams have already recorded at least one win. The last remaining winless team is the Connecticut Sun, who have started the year out 0-5. They will have a good chance to end their winless streak this week as they face the Seattle Storm (1-3) on Wednesday and again on Friday. Seattle will be without its leading scorer, Dominique Malonga, as she suffered a concussion on May 13th against the Toronto Tempo.

Right now, 12 out of the league’s 15 teams have a record of .500 or better. That’s a great thing for the WNBA. Parity and competition are often what make the NFL such a popular sport. It’s a positive sign when most fans can attend a game and believe their team has a legitimate shot at winning.

Over the next month, I don’t expect the WNBA to remain this balanced. The better teams will start to separate themselves, and we will start to get a clearer picture of the true contenders versus the pretenders. Health will also play a major factor. The Storm have been marred by injuries to start their season. The Chicago Sky have been one of the league’s biggest surprises through four games, but Rickea Jackson sadly suffered a torn ACL against Minnesota. Speaking of the Lynx, Napheesa Collier remains out after having double ankle surgery in the offseason. The team with the best record in the WNBA last season needs to stay afloat until she returns. Their overall success will likely come down to whether Phee misses just a month of the season or multiple months.

As the league continues to expand, it’s great to see the competition throughout the WNBA. The WNBA has always been a good product, but with the additional media exposure and TV time this year, the league has an opportunity to bring even more fans to the game. Especially, when we’re getting excellent battles like the Wings’ 107-104 victory over the Indiana Fever, or the Aces desperately hanging on to beat Atlanta 85-84 despite a furious rally by the Dream.

Unstoppable Aces

Speaking of those Aces, I think the rest of the league could be in trouble. Las Vegas has already won three out of the last four WNBA Championships (2022, 2023, 2025). They still have the best player in the league, four-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson. They still have the heart of their championship core between Wilson, Chelsea Gray, and Jackie Young. They swapped Kelsey Plum for Jewell Loyd last year. And they’ve only gotten better.

Late last season, they made a trade before the deadline to acquire NaLyssa Smith, the former #2 overall pick of the 2022 WNBA Draft. That trade benefited A’ja Wilson significantly because opposing defenses could no longer double-team Wilson as much as they used to when Kiah Stokes was playing alongside A’ja in the front court. Smith is much more of a threat on the offensive end, which requires defensive attention. She’s also a solid rebounder. Once teams were limited to how much they could double and trap Wilson, she became unstoppable. She averaged 27 PPG in the playoffs, including a 38-point performance against Seattle, a 35-point performance against Indiana, and a 34-point performance in the WNBA Finals against the Phoenix Mercury.

Las Vegas re-signed Smith, and now she’ll play a full season with the Aces instead of arriving late for the stretch run, a year ago. Smith’s stats are up a little this year, and it’s not unreasonable to think they will continue to improve. But Smith isn’t the only player ready to contribute more for the Aces. Last season, they signed former All-Star Cheyenne Parker-Tyus, but her play was limited as she was going through her pregnancy. This season, she is ready to help Las Vegas from the get-go. She will provide more front-court depth for the Aces to help spell Wilson and Smith.

They improved their depth even further by adding veterans Stephanie Talbot and Brianna Turner. Turner is another post player who is a strong defender and more of a direct replacement for Kiah Stokes. Talbot is the traditional 3 and D wing. She’s an above-average defender and helps space the floor for the Aces’ best players to create on the offensive side of the ball. This doesn’t even include Dana Evans and rookie Janiah Barker, both of whom have been out with injuries.

I haven’t even gotten to the Aces’ latest trump card. They brought in the extremely talented scorer Chennedy Carter. Carter’s on-court talent has never been questioned. It’s always been things either inside the locker rooms or off the court that have stirred up trouble for her in the past. She is now playing with a veteran-laden team with the best player in the world, with one of the best coaches in the world. The early returns have been very positive.

Carter is averaging 19.4 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 2.0 APG, and 1.6 SPG off the bench. If she keeps this up, she’ll almost certainly win the 6th Player of the Year award. The damage she does off the bench for Las Vegas is terrifying for other teams. After the opposing team has to deal with A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young, and Chelsea Gray doing everything they do, there is no let-up for the reserves as Carter comes in and provides an immediate punch on the offensive end. There is no major dip in the Aces’ production.

With Las Vegas, their only real “weakness” in recent seasons has been their lack of bench production. And that hasn’t stopped them from winning multiple WNBA titles because the top end of their roster is so talented. Now they have the deepest roster this championship core has ever had, making the 2026 Las Vegas Aces the most dangerous team in the league.

They aren’t infallible. They lost by 33 points on opening night to the Phoenix Mercury. But we’ve seen that story before, and it didn’t matter. A year ago, they lost to the Minnesota Lynx by 53 points midway through the season. Then proceeded to win 16 games in a row to finish as the #2 overall seed. Then they went 9-3 in the playoffs to win their third championship.

I think the New York Liberty can challenge them. I think a fully healthy Atlanta Dream can give them a challenge. And maybe even the Indiana Fever if Aliyah Boston gets healthy. But outside of a major injury to A’ja Wilson, I have a hard time seeing any other WNBA team beat the Aces in a playoff series.

SoCal So Many Problems

On the opposite end of the spectrum are the Los Angeles Sparks (1-3). If the Aces look like the most impressive team to start the year, the LA Sparks have been the most disappointing. I thought the return of Nneka Ogwumike would be huge for them. Nneka hasn’t been bad, far from it. She’s averaging 16.5 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 2.0 APG, and 1.3 SPG to begin the year. Ogwumike is still her impressive, efficient self, shooting 59% FG from the floor. And yet, the team seems like a mess.

The Sparks had a horrible start to their season last year, but finished strong. They went 6-14 through their first 20 games, but then won 15 of their final 24 games to end the year. They missed the playoffs as the first team out (9th seed). Based on their improved play in the 2nd half, plus the addition of Ogwumike, I thought for sure Los Angeles would be a playoff team and projected them to finish 6th overall in the standings.

They proved a year ago that a bad start doesn’t have to carry throughout the entire season. But they need to right the ship sooner if they want to be a playoff team. They can’t wait 20 games into the season before they turn things around. What’s most concerning to me is that they’re tied with the Storm for the second-worst record in the league, and they’ve played all four of their games at home in Los Angeles. Unlike the Storm, this isn’t a young team that should grow, develop, and get significantly better as the season goes on. They should be good right now, and they aren’t.

Their problems from a year ago still exist. They ranked 10th (fourth-worst) in DEF Rating (RTG) a year ago at 108.5. That means they gave up nearly 109 points per 100 possessions. To start the 2026 season, LA ranks dead last with a DEF RTG of 121.3. In 2025, they ranked 6th in OFF RTG at 105.2. They rank 9th to begin this season at 107.7.

Overall NET Rating is generally a very strong indicator of how well a team performed in any given season. NET RTG is calculated by taking OFF RTG - DEF RTG. If you go back 10-15 years, usually the WNBA team that finished 1st or 2nd in NET RTG goes on to win the championship (almost) every year. The Sparks finished last season with a NET RTG of -3.3 (negative). That made them 9th overall out of 13 teams. That’s exactly where they finished in the WNBA standings (9th). To start this year, the Sparks rank 14th at -13.6. Only the 0-5 Connecticut Sun have a worse NET RTG at -18.5.

Obviously, it’s still very early. A four-game sample for a 44-game season is a very small sample size. But it’s not great for the Sparks to be in this position.

To make matters worse for LA, they are currently built to win now. Like right now! This is not a roster that is building for the future. Their main additions this offseason were Nneka Ogwumike (35 years old), Erica Wheeler (35), and Ariel Atkins (29). They traded away the #2 overall pick from the 2025 draft because they wanted to win-now with Kelsey Plum instead of building around Dominique Malonga (or Kiki Iriafen or Sonia Citron). They traded away the #3 overall pick in the 2026 draft, which became Awa Fam, as part of the deal where they acquired the #4 overall pick from Seattle in the 2024 draft. They turned that selection into Rickea Jackson, but instead of building around Jackson, they traded her away to Chicago this offseason for Atkins in an attempt to win now.

With the moves they’ve made to be competitive right now, they should be expected to reach the second round of the playoffs. If they miss the playoffs outright or even fall short in the first round, this will be considered a catastrophic failure.

Overseas Scouting is a Big Advantage

One thing that’s been made abundantly clear to me in the early going is that International scouting is going to make a big difference for WNBA teams moving forward.

Last season, I wrote that the next major investment the Storm’s ownership group should make is to expand their scouting department. The article talked about how the New York Liberty and the Phoenix Mercury were putting a heavy emphasis on building out their scouting departments and investing more in International scouting. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that two of the best rookies to begin the year are Pauline Astier for the Liberty and Jovana Nogić for the Mercury. Astier leads all rookies in scoring, averaging 16.8 PPG, and Nogić is right behind her at 16.0 PPG. What makes the Liberty and Mercury more impressive is that they landed these players without having strong draft capital. It’s one thing to be the Storm and take top International prospects Dominique Malonga and Awa Fam, each with Top 3 draft selections. It’s an entirely different thing to bring on impactful rookies that are averaging more than 15 PPG with overseas players that went completely undrafted.

Jovana Nogić is a “rookie” more as a technicality because she’s 28 and has been playing in Europe. She is more similar to how Sami Whitcomb was a rookie with the Seattle Storm in 2017, despite being 28 years old. However, Pauline Astier is still just 24 years old, one year older than the 2026 #1 overall pick, Azzi Fudd.

The work that the Liberty and Mercury’s front offices have done is highly impressive. They’ve managed to add two of the best rookies in the league this season, despite neither of them having a first-round pick. In fact, the Mercury had just two selections - 27th and 42nd overall. The Liberty had only a third-round pick, 41st overall. This shows the type of impact scouting can have on WNBA teams.

As the league continues to grow, and with players from all over the world having more incentive to play in the WNBA now with higher salaries, there will be a lot more options for General Managers to sift through. The teams that will find the most long-term success are the ones whose owners are investing heavily into the scouting departments here in the USA and abroad.

R-E-L-A-X

There was a whole lot of negative talk surrounding #1 overall pick Azzi Fudd after she had played just one game in the WNBA. In Fudd’s debut, she finished with 3 points in 18 minutes off the bench and only took two shots. That first game between the Dallas Wings and Indiana Fever featured the last four #1 overall picks with Fudd (2026), Paige Bueckers (2025), Caitlin Clark (2024), and Aliyah Boston (2023). The other three all scored 20+ points in their season debuts. Social media accounts took cheap shots at Fudd. Some radio shows did the same.

Things got worse when it was announced that Fudd would miss the Wings’ next game with a knee issue. Fudd suffered multiple knee injuries during her five years at UConn. That was a legitimate concern for her coming out of college, but in her final two seasons at UConn, she was healthy. She played and started in all 39 games during the 2025-26 season.

The negativity didn’t only fall on Fudd. There was also the subset of Azzi fans who were vocally upset by the fact that Fudd wasn’t starting for Dallas. Actually, it wasn’t just the fans. Even Chiney Ogwumike was complaining about that on ESPN. Fudd became the first #1 overall draft pick to not start since Kelsey Plum back in 2017. That side was frustrated with Wings Head Coach Jose Fernandez for how he was handling the rookie.

Since then, Azzi returned to game action but remains a bench player for now. Over the next two games, Fudd already looked much more comfortable on the court. In her second game, she finished with eight points on 57% (4-7 FG) shooting. In her third game, Fudd scored 12 points on 67% (6-9 FG) shooting. There were legitimate basketball reasons why Azzi Fudd wasn’t the clear-cut consensus #1 overall pick. But she was always going to be one of the top prospects, and for good reason.

She may not win rookie of the year. She might not even start the majority of the games during her rookie season. But that’s OK. Azzi will have games where she struggles, and she’ll have more games like her last one, where she scores in double figures and helps the Dallas Wings earn a victory. People don’t need to call her a bust after one bad game. People don’t need to call for the firing of the Wings’ head coach because he’s bringing Fudd off the bench. Everyone out there, take a deep breath and RELAX.

Notes:
Thanks to my readers for the great support! Please tell other WNBA fans about my coverage. Please share, retweet, repost, etc., if you enjoy my articles.
Photography Credits: Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography
Thanks to Her Hoop Stats and Across the Timeline for being great resources!

Social Media:
Facebook (NEW): https://www.facebook.com/StormChasersBasketball
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In Part 2, I wrote about how Awa Fam is finally on her way and what that could mean for the Storm. I discussed some positive signs from Grace VanSlooten and Seattle’s ability to get to the foul line. I’ve also included the post-game audio interviews for you to listen to.

Coming Soon … Awa Fam

Good news, everyone! Awa Fam’s overseas season has come to a riveting end as Valencia Basket won their fourth Liga Femenina Endesa (Spanish league) Championship in the final seconds of their game played early Sunday morning.

The team still hasn’t confirmed exactly when she’ll arrive in the United States and join the Storm, but I’d say there is a very high chance that she’ll make her WNBA debut during Seattle’s upcoming four-game homestand. The Storm will be in Seattle from 5/18 through 5/27. I don’t expect her to play in Wednesday’s game against the Connecticut Sun (5/20), but ideally will suit up for one of their games on 5/22 or 5/24. Hopefully, there won’t be any Work Visa issues like what they went through with Nika Mühl. Dominique Malonga never had those issues, so they should be good. I believe that was more related to Mühl having a school Visa to attend an American college and then needing a work Visa to play for the Storm.

Awa Fam’s arrival comes not a moment too soon, as the Storm are ultra-depleted by injuries to Ezi Magbegor, Katie Lou Samuelson, and Dominique Malonga. Malonga suffered a concussion during Wednesday’s game against the Toronto Tempo. Sadly, this was her second concussion in roughly the span of two months. She had one playing in the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers on March 13th in a game against Colombia. Brain injuries are obviously no joke, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Malonga misses more than just this one game against the Indiana Fever. The two concussions in such a short amount of time are not ideal, and the team’s doctors should be extra cautious with her. As of this writing, the Storm still have 40 games remaining on their schedule. There is zero reason to rush her back before it is safe to do so.

If Malonga misses at least a couple of weeks, I think there is a high probability that they just throw Awa Fam straight into the fire. She may have a few days to relax at home after winning her championship before flying to the USA. Or a few days to rest while getting acclimated to a new country, and a new city in Seattle. But I think that once they activate her for game day, it could be go time from the jump.

The team could insert the third overall pick from the 2026 WNBA Draft straight into the starting lineup if they wanted to. She could play next to Stefanie Dolson at the four (power forward) if Malonga remains out with a concussion. If Dom comes back sooner than expected, they could pair the two young post players together and bring Dolson off the bench.

Dolson has played well, filling in for the injured Ezi Magbegor, and she is one of the team’s primary veteran leaders. There is a scenario where I could see them playing a three-big lineup with Dolson, Malonga, and Fam. In that scenario, they would likely bring Jordan Horston off the bench, as Jordan is still on a minutes restriction after coming back from a torn ACL.

I think expectations for Fam should remain in check for the 19-year-old. Similar to Dominique Malonga last season, she is probably going to have games where she’s scoring four points and grabs 3-4 rebounds. And then we might get another game where she’s scoring 10-15 points, showing off her tantalizing potential, and the reason why there was a debate that she could be drafted #1 overall. Reviewing her box scores from the Liga Femenina Endesa playoffs shows exactly that. She finished the championship game with 6 points and 4 rebounds. But in the final game of the semifinals, she produced 17 points and five rebounds. And another playoff game with 15 points and four rebounds.

Fam’s potential and development throughout the season is one of the larger storylines surrounding the team this season. That and pairing her with Dominique Malonga to become the youngest frontcourt duo in WNBA history. We’ve already seen some fun moments early on this season with Flau’jae Johnson. It won’t be long now, Storm fans, Awa Fam is coming soon!

Positive Signs from Grace

With Dominique Malonga out with a concussion, and Jade Melbourne inserted into the starting lineup, I thought Grace VanSlooten was the team’s best “big” off the bench, and the second-best reserve after Zia Cooke. VanSlooten didn’t have a breakout star-making performance or anything, but she was just very solid. She finished with five points, three assists, two rebounds, two steals, and two blocks. Her statline would have looked even better had she made a couple more of her free throws (1-4 FT).

With the aforementioned Awa Fam arriving soon, the Storm are going to have an interesting decision ahead of them. Especially after they signed Taylor Thierry to the team’s second developmental spot on the roster. Before they did that, I thought the most logical move would be to waive either Grace VanSlooten or Mackenzie Holmes and re-sign that player to a development contract. But that option seems to be out the window, at least for now.

I believe it would be possible for the team to release/waive one of their developmental players (Thierry or Taina Mair), release Holmes or VanSlooten, and then re-sign Holmes/VanSlooten to a development contract after they cleared waivers. However, there is no guarantee Seattle’s front office would want to do that. I’m not sure that would even make sense. Why would they have signed Thierry if they were just going to do that as soon as Awa Fam joined the team?

I initially thought that they might have signed Thierry because, to me, it looked like Mack had tweaked her knee in the Toronto Tempo game this past Wednesday. Holmes also only played five minutes in that contest. With Dominique Malonga out with a concussion and the possibility that Holmes had aggravated her knee, I thought the team might need to sign an extra body (similar to Hardship contracts in the past).

That was not the case. Mackenzie played 10 minutes against the Indiana Fever and looked fine. She finished with four points on 2-3 FG, two steals, and a rebound.

We’re still not sure exactly when Awa Fam will arrive in Seattle. And even then, she may not play right away. But as soon as she arrives, she will need to be activated to the main roster. At that point, the team will have 13 players. Just looking at the depth chart, it seems like the Storm will have to waive either Mackenzie Holmes or Grace VanSlooten. With maybe a very outside chance of them releasing Lexie Brown.

If it’s between Mack and Grace, then VanSlooten may have taken the edge as of late. Holmes played more minutes off the bench in the first two games. She played 11 minutes to VanSlooten’s 7 minutes against the Golden State Valkyries. Holmes played 23 minutes to VanSlooten’s 10 minutes against the Connecticut Sun. But since then, it’s been the opposite. Grace played 12 minutes against Toronto, while Holmes played 5 minutes. She played 18 minutes off the bench against Indiana compared to Mackenzie’s 10 minutes against the Fever.

Does that mean Grace is favored to stay on the main roster once Awa arrives? Or is it simply a new head coach playing around with lineups while dealing with multiple injuries and absences from her front court? It could also be purposeful to try to play both players evenly while having to evaluate for this upcoming decision. In totality, Mackenzie Holmes has played 49 minutes of in-game action through the first four games. Grace VanSlooten has played 47 minutes in the WNBA this year.

Free Throws Can Be an Equalizer

It’s still very early, but the Storm rank 6th in the WNBA at 26.0 Free Throw Attempts (FTA) per game. That’s nearly in the top 1/3rd of the league now that we have 15 franchises. This is one of the main bright spots I’ve seen out of the Storm through the first four games of the season. For reference, the Toronto Tempo lead the league at 29.3 FTA/game. Thanks to Brittney Sykes, who averages 11.0 FTA/game and ranks #1 in the WNBA.

Interestingly, Flau’jae Johnson ranks just outside the Top 10 in the entire league. She is 11th at 6.5 FTA/game. While Flau’jae has struggled with her efficiency through the first four games, knocking down just 11-43 FG (26%), her ability to get to the free throw line has been a major plus. It can be a great equalizer when the shots aren’t falling. And as a team, it can allow the Storm to stay competitive when they might be outmatched by the opposing team’s roster.

The positive sign from the Storm is that it isn’t just Flau’jae. Jade Melbourne ranks 17th in the WNBA at 5.8 FTA/game, and Dominique Malonga isn’t much behind her. Dom is ranked 21st at 5.0 FTA/game. Seattle has 3 players in the Top 21 at free throw rate. The Atlanta Dream are the only other team that has 3 players in the Top 20. Allisha Gray ranks 4th at 8.7 FTA, while Angel Reese and Rhyne Howard are both tied at 13th with 6.0 FTA/game.

Zia Cooke has also been strong in this area and did a great job on Sunday, getting to the line for six foul shots. I spoke to Cooke after the game about the team’s ability to draw contact from the opposing defenses.

Cooke responded, “Yeah, we got a very talented group, so I think getting downhill is definitely something that we’re super good at. We just gotta be able to get to that next level now, which is getting downhill, getting 2 feet, seeing the spray, seeing the kickouts, because I think that’s what can separate us from other teams, because we got 3 point shooters as well. So it’s just all about reading a game and taking what the defense has given us.”

I think Zia brings up a good point here with this quote. They are doing a great job of getting downhill. However, they do need to improve their ability to read defenses and find the open players. There have been multiple moments this season where I’ve seen players open coming off the pick-and-roll or cutting through the lane, and they aren’t receiving the pass for the easy score. The team needs to work on their court vision.

Of course, this is a lot easier for me to say when I’m watching the entire court from my TV screen and not worrying about defenders in my face. Ideally, this is something the team will improve upon as the season progresses, as they get more experience, more exposure, and build more chemistry between teammates.

Player Interviews

Coach’s Quotes

Notes:
Thanks to my readers for the great support! Please tell other WNBA fans about my coverage. Please share, retweet, repost, etc., if you enjoy my articles.
Photography Credits: Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography
Thanks to Her Hoop Stats and Across the Timeline for being great resources!

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(Indianapolis, Indiana) - The Seattle Storm (1-3) played a hard-fought game in Indiana on Sunday afternoon, but ultimately came up short. They were without Dominique Malonga, Ezi Magbegor, and Awa Fam in their front court, which made life difficult in the interior. Seattle trailed by 15 points in the first quarter and by 20 points in the 2nd half, but never lacked effort or the will to compete. In the end, it wasn’t quite enough to out-duel the backcourt duo of Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell as the Storm fell 89-78 to the Indiana Fever (2-2).

I spoke with Coach Sonia Raman about the team’s ability to compete while being without key players and on the road.

“We talked about it before the game, these runs that they can go on, and being on the road, you have to have that next play mentality. So I’m proud of them. I told them that after the game as well. That game easily could have gotten away from us, and I think the way that we battled back, it tells us a little bit about who we are in this young season and with this new group.” Raman said.

“Just having that fight in them, that’s something that I haven’t ever questioned with them. They’re a resilient group, and I think they showed it tonight,” she added.

Natisha Hiedeman played her best game of the season, finishing with a team-high 19 points, including 3-6 FG from beyond the arc. Despite another rough shooting performance (3-14 FG), Flau’jae Johnson finished with 14 points, six rebounds, and four blocked shots. Johnson got to the free throw line for a team-high nine shots, sinking 8-9 FT. Zia Cooke added 13 points off the bench and a team-high four assists. Jade Melbourne rounded out the group of double-digit scorers with 12 points and a perfect 6-6 FT from the foul line.

I spoke with Hiedeman after the game about stepping up with a strong performance.

“I feel like that’s what I can take away from this game with our team. When you’re down a player, everybody got to step up and be a little bit more aggressive. So I kind of feel like that was the mindset going into the game, and I feel like that was kind of everybody’s mindset.” Hiedeman told me.

Seattle was outshot and out-rebounded in this game. They did an admirable job of taking care of the basketball. They committed just eight turnovers and forced the Fever into 20 mishaps. The Storm outscored the Fever 22-14 in points off turnovers. Their defense was more active with nine steals and eight blocks.

Indiana Fever

The Fever were led by Caitlin Clark, who finished with a near-triple-double of 21 points, 10 assists, and seven rebounds. Clark made 50% of her shots (5-10 FG) and was a perfect 9-9 FT from the foul line. Kelsey Mitchelled added 17 points. Sophie Cunningham also had a strong performance as she was moved to the bench in favor of Lexie Hull. Cunningham added 17 points on 5-9 FG and was also a perfect 6-6 FG from the line. In fact, the Fever as a team shot 100% from the free throw line (22-22 FT).

Indiana outshot the Storm 46% (31-67 FG) to 35% (25-71 FG). They out-rebounded Seattle 38-24. They had the edge in assists (22-17), points in the paint (50-30), fast break points (12-6), and bench points (30-25).

Aliyah Boston did not play in this game due to a lower leg injury.

Game Breakdown

Myisha Hines-Allen scored the game’s first basket inside the paint. Jade Melbourne tied the game with a drive to the lane. Lexie Hull scored near the rim as Indiana looked to take advantage of the absence of Dominique Malonga. Natisha Hiedeman put the Storm ahead by one with a three-pointer. Caitlin Clark found her teammates with back-to-back assists. Flau’jae Johnson was fouled to cut the Storm’s deficit to one at 8-7.

Seattle was out of sorts on defense, as Kelsey Mitchell got a wide-open layup, and then Caitlin Clark had an open three-pointer after the Storm turned the ball over in the open court. The triple put the Fever ahead 13-7 and forced Coach Raman to call a timeout.

Out of the timeout, things got worse for the Storm. Turnovers by Mackenzie Holmes and Jade Melbourne led to five consecutive points by Sophie Cunningham. That ballooned Indiana’s lead to 11. Grace VanSlooten had a nice drive and was fouled, but missed both free throws. Kelsey Mitchell found Makayla Timpson for the layup. Zia Cooke split two free throws and then scored on the next possession. The Fever countered with a Damiris Dantas three-pointer and another score from Mitchell. Melbourne found Mackenzie Holmes rolling to the rim off the pick-and-roll.

Hiedeman got to the rim for two. Zia Cooke hit a stepback triple. Clark was fouled and made both free throws. Then she buried a three from near the half-court logo. Cooke helped cut the Fever’s lead with two more free throws.

At the end of the first period, the Fever led the Storm 32-19. Caitlin Clark led the Fever with eight points. Sophie Cunningham added seven points off the bench. Zia Cooke provided a nice spark for the Storm with eight points off the bench. Without Dominique Malonga and Ezi Magbegor, the Storm’s interior defense was noticeably lacking. They were outscored 18-4 inside the paint through the first 10 minutes.

Clark shot two more free throws to begin the 2nd quarter. Flau’jae Johnson got on the board with a strong drive to the rim. Then knocked down a dribble pull-up from the midrange. Lexie Hull and Ty Harris added four more points from the foul line. Hideman scored four straight for Seattle by being able to get to the rim. Monique Billings and Mackenzie Holmes exchanged baskets inside the paint. Holmes was left wide-open near the rim, and that immediately triggered Fever Coach Stephanie White to call a timeout.

Seattle cut their deficit to 10, but immediately turned the ball over, which led to a transition layup by Caitlin Clark. Melbourne scored two free throws. VanSlooten stole the ball and raced past Clark to score at the rim. That cut Indiana’s lead to 42-34. Free throws by Clark and Hines-Allen extended the Fever’s lead back to double-digits. Jade had a nice drive to the rim, but Clark answered back with an AND1 on a bit of a circus shot.

Jordan Horston snagged a steal and was able to score in transition. Melbourne scored two more from the line. Clark set up her teammates with a few more assists to Lexie Hull, Myisha Hines-Allen, and Kelsey Mitchell. Horston found Stef Dolson down low for two more. Hiedeman drove hard to the rim and scored right before the halftime buzzer.

At the midway point, the Indiana Fever led 55-44. Hiedeman led the Storm with 11 points through the first 20 minutes. Clark topped the Fever with 17 points. Indiana outshot the Storm 50% (18-36 FG) to 44% (15-34 FG).

Clark found Mitchell cutting backdoor for the easy layup. Mitchell scored again to put the Fever ahead by 15. Hiedeman crossed up Clark for a midrange pull-up. Flau’jae was fouled right before the shot clock expired and hit both free throws. VanSlooten had a nice block that led to a jumper for Johnson in transition. Unfortunately, Seattle lost Kelsey Mitchell on the other end, and she made them pay with another three-point basket. That forced Coach Raman to call another timeout to clean up the defensive errors.

Sophie Cunningham got past Lexie Brown for an AND1 score and foul. VanSlooten faked the three and drove to the rim for two. Cunningham scored five more over the next couple of possessions. Brown hit a triple in between those scores. Lexie Hull scored an AND1 on Lexie Brown. Clark drew the foul on Cooke with 00.1 seconds left in the third period. She sank both to put the Indiana Fever ahead 77-58 as the two teams prepared to enter the final frame.

Hiedeman found Dolson down low for two. Cunningham scored again with another assist from Clark. VanSlooten got a steal that led to a Cooke three-pointer in transition. Clark added two more from the midrange. Flau’jae was fouled and scored a pair. Eight of Johnson’s 14 points came from the free throw line.

Timpson scored on back-to-back possessions for the Fever, including an impressive offensive rebound tip-in. Hines-Allen gave Indiana a 20-point lead with a nice spin move in the low post. Hiedeman knocked down a 3-PT shot. Jade was fouled on another drive and added two more from the line. Natisha buried another three to cut the Storm’s deficit down to 12, forcing Fever Coach Stephanie White to call a timeout. Over the final two minutes, Seattle was only able to tack on one more point while holding Indiana scoreless. At the final buzzer, the Fever had secured an 89-78 victory.

Final Box Score

Up Next

The Storm (1-3) will return home for a four-game homestand after three straight on the road. The schedule gets slightly easier with back-to-back home games against the Connecticut Sun (0-4). The first is on Wednesday, 5/20, at 7:00 PM.

Notes:
Thanks to my readers for the great support! Please tell other WNBA fans about my coverage. Please share, retweet, repost, etc., if you enjoy my articles.
Photography Credits: Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography
Thanks to Her Hoop Stats and Across the Timeline for being great resources!

Social Media:
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The Seattle Storm (1-2) were unable to overcome the red-hot shooting of Marina Mabrey and Maria Conde as they fell 86-73 to the Toronto Tempo. Despite strong performances from Dominique Malonga, Stefanie Dolson, and Jade Melbourne, the Storm didn’t get enough help to escape Canada with the victory.

If you missed it, you can read the full game recap at the link below.

In Part 2, I wrote about the Toronto Tempo and Seattle Storm making history. Through the first three games, I wrote about Seattle’s best performers and who else needs to step up, and I talked about Jordan Horston’s slow offensive start to the season.

Making History

The Seattle Storm will forever be associated with Canada in the WNBA. They will be written in the history books as the team that the Toronto Tempo beat to earn their first-ever win in franchise history. Funny enough, the Tempo are not the first WNBA team to ever win a regular-season game in Canada. That honor belongs to the Seattle Storm. Seattle defeated the Atlanta Dream 80-78 in Vancouver, BC, last season.

It was not a surprise that Toronto picked up their first win against the Storm. These expansion teams are hungry for success. The Portland Fire had an incredible win over the New York Liberty on Tuesday night that went right down to the buzzer.

Unlike the Fire, the Toronto Tempo used their expansion draft and free agency period to attempt to build a playoff team in Year 1. They added All-Star veterans Marina Mabrey and Brittney Sykes. Plus other good options like Nyara Sabally and Temi Fágbénlé. I will be interested to see how the Tempo perform as the season progresses. I still have my doubts that they will be a playoff team (Top 8), but they should have a decent shot at it. I see them as a fringe playoff team, likely finishing the season somewhere between 7th and 11th out of 15 teams.

If the WNBA has proven anything over the years, it’s that any team can win on any given night. As of this writing, there are only two remaining undefeated teams in the league, the Chicago Sky (2-0) and the Atlanta Dream (2-0). All of the other 13 teams have lost at least one game, and most of these teams have only played two games! If that doesn’t scream parity, I don’t know what does.

Who Else Will Step Up?

Through three games, the Seattle Storm have just three players averaging double-digit scoring. Dominique Malonga leads the team at 16.0 PPG. Jade Melbourne is next with a consistent 14.0 PPG. Flau’jae Johnson is the third player, averaging 11.7 PPG. Stefanie Dolson (9.3 PPG) and Zia Cooke (8.7 PPG) are next on the Storm’s scoring list.

Zia Cook scored 15 points in the opener against the Valkyries after putting up 19 points and 12 points in the two preseason games. But since then, she’s scored four points and seven points. Lexie Brown exploded for 17 points in the team’s win against Connecticut, but has scored zero points and zero points in the team’s other two games.

I’m not expecting players like Mackenzie Holmes or Grace VanSlooten to be double-digit scorers. And Jordan Horston is recovering from a major injury (more on her below).

Until Ezi Magbegor, Awa Fam, and Katie Lou Samuelson start playing, Seattle will need others to step up. Zia Cooke did a great job in the first game. Stefanie Dolson was wonderful on Wednesday. Lexie Brown was hot in the middle. At least one of those three players is going to have to consistently score for the Storm to have a chance at winning against tough competition in the WNBA.

Jade Melbourne has arguably been the best thing about the Storm through three games. The hope is that she can keep this up, but that could be asking a lot. That will be something to watch as the season progresses through the first month of the season.

Flau’jae Johnson should be able to score, but that doesn’t mean she won’t have tough games as she did in Toronto. Especially, having to go against an elite defender like Brittney Sykes. Johnson hasn’t found an efficient stroke, but that shouldn’t deter her from shooting the ball. The team desperately needs scorers, and her skills and toolkit are among the best on the team to get that done.

One thing I would be interested in seeing, especially if Lexie Brown and Zia Cooke are struggling, would be for Seattle to play more guard lineups with both Natisha Hiedeman and Jade Melbourne on the court together. We’ve seen that at times, but I think we could see it even more. Obviously, you want to balance your best ball handlers and not play them together at all times. But for instance, in Wednesday’s game against Toronto, Jade played 28 minutes, Natisha played 22 minutes, and Lexie played 16 minutes. I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing Hiedeman take 3-4 more minutes of Brown’s time (or Cooke’s if Brown is shooting well), to see if Natisha can create some more offense with or without the ball. That can be setting up her teammates with dribble penetration, or moving without the ball to get open for the outside shot. I believe Hiedeman can contribute more if given the chance.

Get Jordan Going

It’s not shocking that Jordan Horston has had a slow start to her 2026 WNBA season. She is coming off one of the most brutal sports injuries. Before last Friday’s game against the Golden State Valkyries, Horston hadn’t played a WNBA game in roughly 18 months.

Jordan scored 0 points on 0-4 FG in her first game back, four points on 1-4 FG in the 2nd game, and one point on zero field goal attempts in Wednesday’s contest against Toronto.

This isn’t a section to be negative about Jordan Horston. She deserves a lot of grace as she recovers from a major injury. There are 44 games in a WNBA season, and she has only played in three games. That’s far too soon to make any rash judgments.

My biggest thing is that I don’t want her 0-4 FG performance to dissuade her from shooting the ball. I’m much more concerned about her taking zero field goal attempts in nearly 20 minutes than if she were to go 0-10 FG in this game.

After the game, I spoke with Coach Sonia Raman about Jordan’s lack of shot attempts and if there is anything the coaches can do to get her more involved in the offense.

“Yeah, I think she’s still trying to find her spots and, you know, where that offense is going to come from, from her.

We certainly want to see her production continue to increase as she gets more comfortable out on the floor.” Raman said.

I think Jordan is likely focused on getting her wind and legs back first. And to prioritize her defense right now because she’s always been such a great defender. As Coach Raman said, the hope is that she continues to get more comfortable out there, and the offensive production picks up as the season goes on. The Storm will eventually need her to score, but that isn’t the priority right now.

It’ll be interesting to see how Katie Lou does in her return later this season, from a similar injury.

Player Interviews

Coach’s Quotes

Notes:
Thanks to my readers for the great support! Please tell other WNBA fans about my coverage. Please share, retweet, repost, etc., if you enjoy my articles.
Photography Credits: Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography
Thanks to Her Hoop Stats and Across the Timeline for being great resources!

Social Media:
Facebook (NEW): https://www.facebook.com/StormChasersBasketball
Bluesky (@wnbastormchasers.bsky.social)
Threads/Instagram (@WNBAStormChasers)
X/Twitter (@WNBAStormChaser)

(Toronto, Canada) - The Toronto Tempo (1-1) earned their first win in franchise history after holding on to defeat the Seattle Storm (1-2) by a final score of 86-73. Toronto outlasted Seattle in a back-and-forth contest. It was a close game throughout. The Tempo didn’t stretch their lead to double-digits until there were four minutes left in the game. The three-point shooting of Marina Mabrey helped Toronto separate and secure the win.

Seattle was led by Center Dominique Malonga, who finished with 21 points (9-19 FG) and seven rebounds. Stefanie Dolson had her best game in a Seattle uniform. She finished with 16 points on 6-8 FG, including 2-3 FG from beyond the arc. Dolson also had a pair of blocks on the defensive end. Jade Melbourne was the only other Storm player to score in double figures. Melbourne finished with 14 points, six assists, and three steals.

They outshot the Tempo 47% (27-58 FG) to 44% (30-69 FG), but Seattle wasn’t as sharp from beyond the arc. Toronto outscored them there 38% (11-29 FG) to 35% (7-20 FG). Seattle lost most of the statistical battle, but did have a 38-32 advantage with points in the paint.

It was the Storm’s turnovers that doomed them in this game. They committed a season-high 19 turnovers compared to just 12 for the Tempo. Toronto outscored Seattle 26-14 in points off turnovers.

Toronto Tempo

Marina Mabrey led the way with 26 points in 29 minutes of action. She finished 9-20 FG from the floor, but made 6-11 FG from long distance. Mabrey scored 16 of her game-high 26 points in the second half, where the Tempo outscored Seattle 42-28.

Former Storm guard, Brittney Sykes, finished with 18 points. It wasn’t her most efficient game. She shot 5-14 FG, but she got to the free throw line more than any other player and made 8-9 FT. Sykes also had a game-high eight rebounds and six assists.

Maria Conde and Kiki Rice were the other two Toronto players to score in double figures. Conde scored 16 points, including shooting 50% (4-8 FG) from three-point range. She scored 10 of her 16 points in the first half. Rookie Kiki Rice had a very nice game off the bench for the Tempo. She finished with 12 points on 5-9 FG and a couple of rebounds.

Toronto out-rebounded Seattle 33-28. They had a 9-3 advantage in offensive rebounds. They dominated in fast break points (17-2). The Tempo had the edge in assists (21-18), steals (11-6), and bench points (30-23).

Game Breakdown

Dominique Malonga knocked down a corner three from Flau’jae Johnson for the game’s first basket. Nyara Sabally scored in the low post. Malonga scored again on the roll to the rim. Marina Mabrey got to the rim for two. Stefanie Dolson hit a trailing three-pointer. The Tempo recovered a blocked shot, and Teonni Key laid it in. Mabrey connected on a three. Malonga and Dolson added four more points. The Tempo took the lead at 13-12 after points from Sabally and Julie Allemand. Flau’jae Johnson scored her first points on a dribble pull-up. The Tempo regained the lead on a pair of Mabrey free throws.

Malonga continued to score down low, but Maria Conde drilled another shot from beyond the arc. Jade Melbourne got to the rim for two. Conde connected on another three-pointer as both offenses continued to go back and forth. Dolson tied the game on a pair of free throws. Kiki Rice finished strong at the rim. Melbourne had a bad pass that left Lexie Brown on the wrong end of a two-on-one fast break that resulted in an AND1. Brown then had a turnover, and Conde scored again for the 7-0 Tempo run. Jade was fouled and hit both foul shots to cut the Storm’s deficit to five. At the end of the first period, the Tempo led 27-22.

Zia Cooke got on the board to begin the second quarter with a pull-up in the lane. Both teams turned the ball over in the open court, trying to get out in transition. Kiki Rice got to the rim again. Dolson hit another three at the top of the arch. Another score by Rice was countered by a Zia Cooke triple. Both teams continued to knock down threes as Mabrey and Malonga hit one for each team.

Brittney Sykes made her presence known. She was able to get to the foul line. Score in the paint, and force turnovers on the defensive end. Flau’jae had a nice defensive stop on Sykes that led to Melbourne getting downhill to the rim for the AND1. That cut the Tempo’s lead down to one at 39-38. That forced Coach Sandy Brondello to call a timeout. Out of the timeout, Sykes got two shot attempts and made the second.

Conde and Melbourne exchanged three-pointers. Stef Dolson got a block that led to a two-on-one fast break with her and Malonga that eventually led to two points for Dom. Seattle led 45-44 after outscoring the Tempo 23-17 in the second quarter. Malonga led all scorers in the first half with 14 points.

Stef Dolson scored to begin the third period, but Brittney Sykes scored an AND1 to tie the game at 47-47. Natisha Hiedeman hit a three-pointer. Sykes scored five more points in a row. Then Mabrey added two more to put the Tempo ahead 53-50.

Malonga cut the deficit to one briefly, but the Tempo hit back-to-back three-pointers to extend Toronto’s lead to seven at 59-52. Grace VanSlooten was fouled and made both free throws, but Mabrey drilled another 3-PT shot. Seattle was swapping twos for threes (Toronto), which allowed the Tempo to increase their lead to nine. Dom and Jade scored in the paint. The Tempo outscored the Storm 23-17 in the third period to regain their five-point lead (67-62) through 30 minutes.

Flau’jae Johnson got to the line for two. Brittney Sykes scored from the line and the midrange. Zia Cooke used an athletic drive to two. Before the Storm could take back the momentum, Rice knocked down a corner three. Mabrey and Melbourne swapped baskets in the paint.

Seattle cut the Tempo’s lead to four, but Mabrey immediately answered with back-to-back three-pointers to put Toronto up 81-71 with 04:00 left in the fourth quarter. It was academic from there. Toronto ended the game on a 5-2 run to win their first game in franchise history by a final score of 86-73.

Final Box Score

Up Next

The Storm (1-2) will finish up their road trip with a game on Sunday (5/17) against the Indiana Fever (0-1) at 3:00 PM. The schedule gets slightly easier after that with back-to-back home games against the Connecticut Sun (0-3).

Notes:
Part 2 will be sent exclusively to paid subscribers later on.
Thanks to my readers for the great support! Please tell other WNBA fans about my coverage. Please share, retweet, repost, etc., if you enjoy my articles.
Photography Credits: Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography
Thanks to Her Hoop Stats and Across the Timeline for being great resources!

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The Seattle Storm (1-1) bounced back from their season-opening loss to the Golden State Valkyries by picking up an impressive road win against the Connecticut Sun (0-2) on Sunday. The trio of Flau’jae Johnson, Lexie Brown, and Jade Melbourne combined for 48 of the Storm’s 89 points in the victory. If you missed it, you can read the full game recap at the link below.

In Part 2, I wrote about the fearlessness of Flau’jae Johnson, how it’s best not to judge things too quickly, congratulated Coach Sonia Raman, and took a look at how some former Storm players did over the weekend.

Fearless

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