Storm Defeat the Mystics 97-85 Part 2

Additional thoughts, discussion, and interviews from Seattle's win over D.C.

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.