Storm Lose to Tempo 86-73 Part 2
Additional thoughts, discussion, and interviews from Seattle's loss to Toronto.
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:
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I’m not worried about Jordan Horston. She was a work in progress with respect to her shooting even before her injury. She looks like she has regained her lateral mobility so that’s a huge plus. She gives 100% effort when she’s on the floor and she’s one of my favorite players. But let’s face it - she lost a year’s worth of development/progression re: her shooting. Give her time.
agreed re: Tempo finish, I have 'em at 11th but we'll see, I do like Sandy's coaching, and Mabrey is starting out hot