Seattle

Storm

Following a first-round exit at the hands of the eventual champion Las Vegas Aces, the Storm parted ways with Noelle Quinn after five seasons at the helm. She’s been replaced by Raman, who becomes the first Indian-American head coach in WNBA history. A member of Sandy Brondello’s coaching staff with the Liberty this season, Raman spent the prior four seasons on Taylor Jenkins’ coaching staff in Memphis. Like many teams, the Storm have multiple key players who will be unrestricted free agents this offseason, including Skylar Diggins and Nneka Ogwumike. However, promising rookie Dominique Malonga is under contract for 2026 after playing well to finish the 2025 campaign.

After taking over for former Storm head coach Dan Hughes six games into the 2021 WNBA season, Quinn had served as the organization’s latest head coach up until Sunday, when the team announced it wouldn’t be renewing Quinn’s contract. Days before the parting of ways, the Storm lost to the Aces in a series-deciding Game 3, marking the third straight season Seattle had failed to advance past the first round of the playoffs. Quinn had previously served as a Storm assistant and also played five years for Seattle, winning a championship during her final season as a player in 2018.

Wheeler was the Storm’s best shot maker on Thursday night as she made six shots, the most across the entire Storm team. While she also wasn’t the most efficient, she tied Nneka Ogwumike for the most points scored from the Storm of the night. Wheeler was most effective getting downhill since she missed most of the three-pointers she took. Although her most important shot came with 19.3 seconds left in regulation where she hit a 12-foot jumper to give the Storm a one point lead. Skylar Diggins got the ball to Wheeler once again with 4.4 seconds left in regulation while the Storm was down just a point, but Wheeler missed a 15-foot jumper losing the Storm the game. Just like Diggins, Wheeler registered assists to five different teammates which included Ogwumike, Diggins, Gabby Williams, Ezi Magbegor and Dominique Malonga.

Diggins was inefficient from the field only hitting just over 30% of her field goals. She missed six shots at the rim which is usually where she’s most effective. Diggins scored the ball beyond the arc, taking five three-pointers and making three of them. She had a chance to win her team the game with 12.4 seconds left in regulation. She got the ball at the top of the key and drove past Jackie Young and A’ja Wilson. She was met by Jewell Loyd right on the block but decided to pass the ball to Wheeler who had a more hot hand rather than trying to drive the ball to the rim through contact. Diggins also had six assists and found five different teammates in Ezi Magbegor, Nneka Ogwumike, Erica Wheeler, Brittney Sykes and Gabby Williams all for scores.

Ogwumike wasn’t her most efficient on Thursday night, but she still had moments that showed she’s a future Hall-of-Famer. She scored 14 of her 16 total points all in the second half, giving her team an offensive boost when the Storm really struggled to score the ball in the second quarter. Ogwumike was aggressive on both the glass and getting to the line, as she got to the line four times and led her team in rebounding with nine, just a rebound away from a double-double. She also was clutch and hit a huge wide open three with 2:40 left in regulation to pare down the Aces’ 5 point lead to just a score.

Malonga was one of the difference-makers for the Storm on both ends of the floor Tuesday night. She became the youngest player to record consecutive double-doubles in the postseason, but she was more impactful in her defense of A’ja Wilson. The Aces star did not score in the 7:06 of Game 2, with Malonga being her primary defender. Seattle took a measured approach to Malonga’s development this season, and she’s looked ready for prime time in her first two playoff games. A similar effort in Game 3 on Thursday would go a long way toward giving the Storm a chance of winning the series. Ezi Magbegor (4/5/3/1/2) may be the starter, but this is a series in which Malonga’s importance is magnified due to her height and athleticism.

Neutralizing the pick-and-roll tandem of Diggins and Nneka Ogwumike is atop the scouting report for any opposing team, and the Aces did that with significant effect in Sunday’s series opener. However, both were excellent in Game 2, which is why the series is headed back to Las Vegas for Game 3. Diggins was efficient on Tuesday, shooting 50 percent from the field and recording nearly twice as many assists as turnovers (four). The veteran point guard was at her best in crunch time, shooting 5-of-7 from the field in the fourth quarter, including a short jumper that gave Seattle a three-point lead with 4.2 seconds remaining. She’ll need to come through with a similar effort on Thursday if the Storm are to advance.

After scoring 11 points and finishing with a plus/minus of minus-33 in Sunday’s Game 1 defeat, Ogwumike was motivated to bounce back with the Storm’s season on the line. The Storm forward was elite in Game 3, shooting 4-of-5 from beyond the arc and finishing a blocked shot shy of a complete stat line. Ogwumike started well, shooting 4-of-6 from the field in the first quarter. She and the Storm were excellent down the stretch, outscoring Las Vegas in the fourth quarter by a 25-14 margin to force a decisive Game 3 on Thursday. Seattle will need a similar effort from Ogwumike if they’re to have a chance of ending the Aces’ season.

The Storm turned to the rookie Malonga for instant offense when they had so much difficulty generating it. With Malonga having to play against former DPOY A’ja Wilson, it was much more difficult for her to score in her usual spots. She only scored twice in the paint in addition to hitting a pair of three-pointers in the second half. Malonga notched her fifth double-double since entering the WNBA this past May. She became the first rookie in Storm franchise history to deliver a double-double in the playoffs.

The Aces defense was so tuned into what Diggins does that she struggled to score the ball. She was held scoreless in the first half, but then got more aggressive in the third quarter when she scored all of her points. She hit two three-pointers, and cut well off the ball to score at the rim twice on passes from Gabby Williams and Ezi Magbegor. It was a challenge for Diggins to find her grove and chemistry with Nneka Ogwumike as she only had one assist to her star power forward. She only had two in total with the second one going to rookie Dominque Malonga who hit 25-foot three-pointer with around two minutes left in the third quarter.