Storm Edge Mystics 84-82 Part 2

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

The Seattle Storm (20-18) picked up another important road win. This time, an 84-82 last-second victory over the Washington Mystics (16-22). It was the Storm’s third win in a row. They are now 4-1 in their last five games after losing six in a row at the start of August. The positive turnaround has allowed Seattle to move from the 9th seed back up to the 6th spot in the WNBA’s standings. It also improves the Storm’s road record to 12-8 on the season, which is tied with the Atlanta Dream (24-13) for the second-best road record in the WNBA, trailing only the Minnesota Lynx (30-7). In case you missed it, you can read the full game recap from Sunday’s contest at the link below.

In Part 2, I wrote about the good, the bad, and the ugly that we saw from this game. And I spoke with Brittney Sykes about the talented rookie trio of Dominique Malonga, Sonia Citron, and Kiki Iriafen, and discussed the impact they are already having on the league. Plus, I’ve included the press conferences in audio and video formats, and transcribed some of the quotes.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

There was a lot to like from Sunday’s game, like Nneka Ogwumike’s career night from beyond the arc and another impressive double-double for rookie Dominique Malonga were all keys to the Storm’s victory, but there were other moments of frustration and poor decision-making.

The first quarter was a big positive. Seattle jumped out to an 11-2 start and scored 28 points on 58% field goal shooting. They hit four three-pointers on 57% shooting. They were moving the ball well and had eight assists in the quarter. The Storm’s defense also forced the Mystics into six turnovers in the opening frame.

Things got progressively worse in the second half. Seattle went ice cold and made just 34% (13-38 FG) over the final 20 minutes. Defensively, they struggled to slow the Mystics down. Washington shot 56% (15-27 FG) in the 2nd half. The Storm missed their first nine shots of the 4th quarter. They also seemed to have some really bad breaks, where they were receiving a ton of contact on their end, but getting no fouls called on D.C. The Mystics scored multiple times in transition because one Storm player had been knocked to the floor, and Washington had numbers. Seattle was also whistled for a lot of touch fouls where little-to-no contact was made.

While the free throw disparity wasn’t egregious in this game (Mystics 18 FTA - Storm 13 FTA), I still felt there were a lot of missed calls that didn’t get called for Seattle to the point where I believe it would have benefited the team for Coach Quinn to pick up a Technical Foul. I understand not wanting to do it in a close game, but if it results in even one more whistle going your team’s way, it’s worth it. Obviously, a coach can’t pick up Technical Fouls every game, but in 38 games, Coach Quinn hasn’t picked up a single one this season. I do feel this plays a factor in the fact that the Storm get the least amount of whistles and Free Throw Attempts per game in the entire WNBA (15.8 FTA/game).

I also have no idea why Coach Quinn and her staff didn’t challenge Magbegor’s 5th foul. It was during the play where Ezi defended Shakira Austin straight up, and Austin pushed her shoulder into Magbegor to create separation and then took the shot. The offensive player is forcing the contact, the defender was straight up, and it was a critical 5th foul against Magbegor. Not challenging that play could have cost the Storm this game. I don’t put that all on Quinn. The head coach has a lot to deal with, to the point where they have several assistants who have specific roles. Whomever is in charge of telling Quinn to challenge bad calls needs to be quicker to pull the trigger on some of these plays because some are very obvious, and they aren’t being challenged.

Another part of the game that really stood out was the poor isolation plays with Erica Wheeler. I think it’s easy to watch those plays and just put 100% of the blame on Wheeler, but I believe many are at fault. There were several plays in this game where Wheeler had the ball with under 7 seconds left in the shot clock, and everyone was standing around, until Erica took a terrible shot. That’s bad basketball. Wheeler finished the game 0-5 FG. I’m not sure a single one of her shots was a good, high-percentage look. It felt like during those moments, someone would just pass the ball to Wheeler and let her go to work, while everyone else took time to rest and just stood around. There were no backdoor cuts, no off-ball screens, no moving without the ball, etc. Seattle has to be better about avoiding that type of offense. It’s losing basketball, even when you have an elite isolation player like Jewell Loyd or Arike Ogunbowale.

After the game, I spoke with Coach Quinn about some of the positive ball movement in the first quarter, but also the bad isolation plays in the game.

Quinn replied, “Yeah, I think we missed a lot of layups. So if you think (about it), Dom had about five of those that I feel like, you know, usually are finished. Slim has some bunnies, Gabby has some bunnies so I'll start there; like we want to continue to get the looks and continue to get the layups but we have to finish and then the possessions, the longer possessions the Mystics started showing a little bit higher on their ball screens trapping a little bit more, and what we wanted to find some possessions, we weren't really executing that. And I don't think that we were trying to; the ball was trying to stick, but they impacted the ball and compacted the paint. And so some of our reads weren't as clear as from before when we were kind of playing in flow and transition. So, yeah, we've got to get rid of those sticky possessions in which that ball is sticking. But if we can continue to get the layups and the looks and the paint, we just have to be more efficient and finish those.”

Beyond that, another thing that drives the basketball coach in me crazy is how the Storm have repeatedly mishandled the end of quarters. With 19 seconds left in the third period, Dominique Malonga pulled down a defensive rebound and passed the ball to Skylar Diggins. For some insane reason, Diggins ran down the court as fast as possible and chucked up a shot among two or three defenders that had no chance of going in. Sonia Citron grabbed the rebound still with 13 seconds left on the third-quarter clock, and the Mystics got a decent look at a three-point shot that didn’t go in. Had it gone in and the rest of the game played out the way it did, the Storm would have lost another game by one possession.

Sometimes I feel like I’m taking crazy pills, because I’ve seen this happen multiple times this season, by several Storm players, including Skylar, Erica Wheeler, and Gabby Williams. The Storm lost five games in a row by four points or less each. And they have misplayed the end of quarter or the end of half possessions throughout the season. You can’t help but feel these items are related.

Malonga, Citron, Iriafen

I think it’s pretty neat that Brittney Sykes has been able to play with three out of the top four picks from the 2025 WNBA Draft this season in Dominique Malonga (#2 overall), Sonia Citron (#3), and Kiki Iriafen (#4). After this game, I thought it was only fitting to speak with “Slim” about what she’s seen from all three of the talented rookies this year, especially considering the large impact they’ve had already in the WNBA.

Sykes replied, “Yeah, I mean, I'll start with Dom. It's just been great playing with her. I think after our first practice, we hit crazy chemistry. And it's been dope just to see her grow as an opponent and now as a teammate, just watching her grow these last six, seven games that I've been here. Soni and Kiki obviously played with them as well, and it's just really dope to see Kiki dominate the way she does in the paint with the fearlessness that she has, and just Sony being so, so smart and knowing how to just get her shot off even though she's having a hard time. She's getting harassed, she's seeing all types of defenses and still manages to stay poised and never, you know, break a sweat, so kudos to all three of them because they're coming into a very physical league and they're holding their own and you just wish for them the best.”

Citron and Iriafen were named to the 2025 WNBA All-Star team alongside #1 overall pick Paige Bueckers. Citron is averaging 15.2 PPG on 47% FG, 42% from 3-PT range, 4.1 RPG, 2.4 APG, and 1.2 SPG. Iriafen is averaging 12.9 PPG on 49% FG, 8.7 RPG, and 1.6 APG.

Meanwhile, Dominique Malonga is averaging 7.5 PPG on 54% FG shooting and 4.6 RPG. Dom’s numbers are lower because she didn’t get much playing time through the first couple of months of the season. For the entire year, she averages 13.5 MPG, compared to 32.4 MPG for Citron and 26.8 MPG for Iriafen. Malonga’s per 40 averages increase to 22.1 PPG, 13.7 RPG, 2.3 APG, and 1.6 BPG.

Of the three rookies, Malonga’s per 40 splits are the highest. Citron would average 18.8 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 3.0 APG, and 1.5 SPG if she played the full 40 minutes. Iriafen would average 19.3 PPG, 13.0 RPG, and 2.4 APG. Her steal and block numbers remain low (under 1.0 per game). But no matter how you slice it, all three rookies have been incredibly impressive.

Which leads me to my next thought. Could the top four picks of the 2025 WNBA Draft be the best one in modern WNBA history? Paige Bueckers, Dominique Malonga, Sonia Citron, and Kiki Iriafen are a very strong foursome. I think about the 2013 WNBA Draft having arguably the best Top 3 with Brittney Griner, Elena Delle Donne, and Skylar Diggins. 2018 has to be up there because A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Mitchell, Diamond DeShields, and Gabby Williams have all made at least one All-Star team. And while DeShields dealt with a serious injury that derailed her career, A’ja’s dominance will lead to the 2018 Top 4 being one of, if not the greatest of all time.

There are, of course, other drafts that have been loaded with talent. The 2019 WNBA Draft has had four All-Stars in Jackie Young, Arike Ogunbowale, Napheesa Collier, and Ezi Magbegor, but only Young was selected in the Top 4.

Another top contender might be the 2024 WNBA Draft, which had Caitlin Clark, Cameron Brink, Kamilla Cardoso, and Rickea Jackson. I think I’d give the edge to the 2025 draft class (Top 4 specifically), but it’s pretty close.

With that in mind, I would say this. It feels like draft classes are being loaded with more and more talent as the years go on. That should be natural as the WNBA and women’s basketball continue to grow in popularity. That leads to more investment in younger women and girls. More training and involvement in youth sports, etc. I remember one of my former AAU programs that I coached at had no interest in coaching AAU girls basketball during my time there (between 2016-2018), but now they have several age groups of girls teams that they train. The sport continues to grow. The talent pool is getting larger and deeper. There are more International scouts as well to bring in even more talented players to the WNBA.

Ideally, the Storm will get a lottery selection in the 2026 WNBA Draft. They will if the Sparks miss the playoffs. But even if they don’t, they’re still going to have two first-round picks, and they should be able to add even more talent to the roster. They just need to make sure to hang onto their future draft picks in 2027, 2028, etc., because the talent is only going to get better as the years go on.

Post-Game Press Conference

If you prefer to listen to the audio version, they are available below. I’ve included the pre-game interview with Coach Quinn as well.

Player Interviews

Coach’s Quotes

Pre-Game:

Post-Game:

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

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