Storm Fall to Liberty 92-86 Part 2
Additional thoughts, discussion, and interviews from Seattle's loss to New York.
The Seattle Storm (6-27) fought hard, but still came up short against the New York Liberty (19-13) by a final score of 92-86. Dominique Malonga dazzled with 31 points and 10 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough as the Storm lost their 10th game in a row. If you missed it, you can read the full game recap at the link below.
Storm Battle but Lose to Liberty 92-86
(Brooklyn, New York) - Another slow start for the Seattle Storm (6-27) put the team behind the 8-ball again. They trailed 21-6 in the first quarter. To their credit, they battled back and tied the game at 50-50 in the third period, but New York used a 12-2 run to reclaim a substantial lead. Seattle fought but came up short, falling to the Liberty 92-86. This was Seattle’s 10th loss in a row, and the second time this season that they’ve had a 10-game losing streak.
For Part 2, I wrote about how Dominique Malonga is the future of the WNBA, I talked about Jade Melbourne’s progress, discussed what Seattle can do if Katie Lou Samuelson’s injury is serious, and gave a quick congratulations to Noelle Quinn. Plus, I’ve included lots of quotes from Malonga, Melbourne, and Coach Raman, and the audio interviews.
The Future is French
The Storm are in the middle of their worst season in franchise history, but watching Dominique Malonga play basketball alleviates a lot of the negativity surrounding that fact. Malonga is just 20 years old, was named to the WNBA All-Star team this season, and is averaging 16.9 PPG and 8.7 RPG. Against New York, she put up 31 points on 70% FG shooting and pulled down 10 rebounds. It was her second 30/10 double-double and 5th 20/10 double-double of the season. Did I mention she is just 20 years old?
As absurd as this sounds, Dom probably won’t even enter the prime of her career for another 4-5 years. While the league is filled with superstars on pretty much every team, five years from now could be the tail-end of some of their careers. Jonquel Jones will be 37 by then, Stewie would be 36, etc.
Malonga talked about competing with Breanna Stewart, who had 28 points and eight rebounds in the Liberty’s victory.