Valkyries Hang On to Defeat Storm 76-72
Seattle still struggles to find the win column.
(Seattle, WA) - The Seattle Storm (3-12) lost their 8th game in a row on Friday night. They were competitive through the first two quarters. The two teams were tied 21-21 after the first quarter, and Golden State led 40-38 at the end of the first half. The Valkyries (8-5) outscored the Storm 26-15 to gain separation from the young Seattle team. Seattle’s defense did an excellent job of holding Golden State over the final 10 minutes. After trailing by 15 points they cut the deficit to one with 13 seconds left in the game. The Valkyries hit their free throws late that secured the win. Seattle was surprisingly poor from the foul line in this game, making just 67% (12-18 FT). They were outscored by eight points from the free throw line.
The Storm were led by the 26 points from Natisha Hiedeman. Unfortunately, she was the only Storm player to score in double figures in this game. The Valkyries defense smothered Seattle’s players and made life difficult for all of them. Dominique Malonga was held scoreless in the first half, but finished with nine points and eight rebounds. Rookies Flau’jae Johnson and Awa Fam each scored eight points. Katie Lou Samuelson also added eight points off the bench, scoring all of them in the first half.
Both teams struggled shooting from the floor. Seattle slightly outshot the Valkyries 38% (25-66 FG) to 36% (24-66 FG). The Storm outshot Golden State 44% (10-23 FG) to 22% (8-37 FG) from beyond the arc. They forced the road team into more turnovers (14-12) and outscored them 24-17 in points off turnovers. Seattle also outscored Golden State 28-22 with points in the paint.
Golden State Valkyries
Janelle Salaün made a huge impact off the bench for the Valkyries. She finished with a team-high 22 points on 7-14 FG, and 5-12 FG from 3-PT range. She had seven rebounds, but fouled out at the end of the game.
Gabby Williams returned to Seattle and had another stellar performance. Similar to Nneka Ogwumike in the game before, Gabby looked very comfortable playing in front of the Seattle crowd, and in Seattle’s home arena. Williams finished the game with 19 points, including 5-5 FT, and did an excellent job as the primary defender against Flau’jae Johnson, limiting Johnson to eight points on 4-9 FG.
Veronica Burton added 11 points and a game-high eight assists. She hit some clutch shots throughout the game. Tiffany Hayes contributed with 17 points on 5-9 FG. She had four rebounds and three assists.
The Valkyries out-rebounded the Storm 34-31. They had a 10-6 advantage in offensive rebounds. They shot 87% (20-23 FT) from the foul line. They had a slight advantage in assists (18-16), fast break points (10-8), and blocked shots (6-5).
Game Breakdown
Natisha Hiedeman knocked down a three-pointer to start the game. Gabby Williams answered right back with a triple. Golden State forced a turnover that resulted in an open drive for Kayla Thornton. Hiedeman added two more from the foul line. Awa Fam knocked down a triple in transition, and Hiedeman followed that up with a bank shot off the rim in the paint. Kiah Stokes scored on an open roll to the rim. Jordan Horston cut to the rim and finished with an up-and-under layup. After another Seattle stop, Hiedeman knocked down a three-pointer at the top of the arc. That put Seattle ahead 15-7 and forced Coach Natalie Nakase into a timeout.
Out of the timeout, Gabby Williams promptly threw the ball 10 feet past her teammate into the crowd. Stefanie Dolson made a triple to put the Storm ahead by 11. Gabby was fouled on a three-point attempt and connected on all three. The Valkyries continued their 9-0 run with a basket from Cecilia Zandalasini and a four-point play by Janelle Salaün. Fam ended the run with her second three-pointer of the opening quarter. Salaün added another pair from the line. She then tied the game at 21-21 with another three-pointer. The Valkyries ended the first period on a 14-3 run. Natisha Hiedeman led all scorers with 10 points.
Tiffany Hayes scored an And-1 to open up the second quarter. Hayes scored again with another strong drive to the rim. Katie Lou Samuelson answered back with a shot from beyond the arc. Samuelson was fouled and added two more from the line to put Seattle back on top, 27-26. After a few empty possessions by both sides, the Storm scored with a Flau’jae Johnson midrange pull-up and a Melbourne drive to the rim. Veronica Burton scored on a floater in the paint.
Gabby Williams tied the game with a three-pointer. Veronica Burton took a hard foul by Flau’jae. Burton added the extra point from the foul line. Katie Lou and Natisha Hiedeman added back-to-back three-pointers that put the Storm ahead 38-34. Golden State ended the half on a 6-0 run. Tiffany Hayes knocked down a midrange jumper, and Salaün added four more, including one in the final two seconds of the first half. At the midway point, the Valkyries led the Storm 40-38.
Both teams shot poorly through the first 20 minutes. The Valkyries made 39% (14-36 FG) to 38% (12-32 FG). Seattle was much better from beyond the arc, knocking down 67% (8-12 3-PT FG) to 20% (4-20 3-PT FG). Golden State out-rebounded Seattle 20-15.
Dom Malonga scored her first basket of the game on a reverse layup to open up the third. Salaün hit another three. The Valkyries sprung some half-court traps to open up the period and forced Seattle into a couple of turnovers. One was a live-ball turnover that led to an easy layup for Gabby Williams. Tiffany Hayes got to the rim after a Flau’jae corner jumper. Burton added two more from the line as the Valkyries opened up the 2nd half on a 9-4 run.
Golden State expanded their lead to double-digits with another Salaün triple, and two more free throws by Veronica Burton. That put them ahead 55-44. They extended their lead to 15 on back-to-back baskets by Gabby Williams. Seattle finally showed some life with two consecutive triples. Tiffany Hayes quickly ended the Storm run with an outside jumper. Then Hayes added two more from the line. Veronica Burton drilled a crucial three-pointer late in the third period. Flau’jae scored on a drive to the rim. The road team led 66-53 at the end of the third.
Both teams struggled to open the fourth quarter as neither team scored within the first two minutes. Seattle got on the board with a steal from Jordan Horston that led to a transition basket for Hiedeman. Flau’jae scored on a drive to the rim. Salaün connected on her 5th three-pointer of the game. Both teams combined to score just 10 points through the first seven minutes of the the final period.
Dom Malonga scored an And-1 from an offensive rebound to cut the Storm’s deficit to six. Natisha Hiedeman found Awa Fam off the pick-and-roll for a wide-open layup. That reduced Golden State’s lead to 69-65. Tiffany Hayes added the Valkyries’ 4th and 5th point of the quarter from the line. Hiedeman quickly scored to make it a four-point game again.
Malonga cut the lead to one with two free throws. After a defensive stop, the Storm had a chance to take the lead with around 30 seconds to play. They set up a nice play that had Flau’jae Johnson go to the rim. Johnson missed the shot, and Seattle was forced to foul Tiffany Hayes. Hayes calmly hit both free throws. Seattle called another timeout, they tried to get a three, but it wasn’t there, so Jade Melbourne drove baseline for a reverse layup. That made it 73-72 with 13.4 seconds left in the game. Seattle was forced to foul Gabby Williams. She made both fouls shots.
Seattle didn’t have any timeouts left, and they ran a play to get Natisha Hiedeman a three, but Kiah Stokes blocked it, and forced a jump ball. The Valkyries won the tip and the game 76-72.
Final Box Score
Player Interviews
Coach’s Quotes
Coach Raman Pregame:
Coach Raman Postgame:
Up Next
The Seattle Storm (3-12) will travel to Portland to face the Fire (6-8) for the first time this year. The I-5 Rivalry is renewed on Wednesday, 6/17 at 7:00 PM.
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I've included the post-game press conferences in this article because I have to be up early tomorrow, so there won't be a Part 2 for this game.
Some talking points to discuss.
- The playoff atmosphere at the end of the 4th quarter of this game (I asked Awa and Coach Raman about this)
- Golden State's "analytics" basketball, where they chuck up as many three-pointers as possible. For games where they're making their shots, it's great. But on a game like tonight, where they shoot 8-37 FG (22%), it's bowling shoe ugly. They took 14 more three-pointers than the Storm and made two fewer. I'm sorry, but that's NOT good basketball even if the analytics tell them it is. I'd much rather see more movement, screens, baseline cuts, pick-and-roll, and dominant post-play. To the Valkyries' credit, their physicality on defense allows them to disrupt their opponents and limit them. But I'd much rather watch the Minnesota Lynx execute their offense than what Golden State does.
- How does it feel to watch Nneka Ogwumike and Gabby Williams come back to Seattle in back-to-back games and be a large reason why the Storm lost? Is that tough to swallow as Storm fans?
We definitely could have won this game. It's a good thing that the Valkyries weren't hitting their 3-pointers or it could have been a real wipeout. I loved the intensity at the end which kept everyone engaged and hoping for at least an overtime game. ‘T’ was great and definitely playing at an All-Star level. Too bad no one ran interference for her on that last shot. Dom was kind of absent in the first half but looked good in the second half.