Storm three games over .500 near the halfway point

Published 5:28 pm Tuesday, July 1, 2025

The Seattle Storm has been a bit of an enigma in the WNBA’s power structure from the beginning of the season to today, about a month and a half in.

Sitting at 10-7, the Storm have conquered league titans New York and Minnesota at least once each. Seattle has also gotten potential All-WNBA seasons out of veteran point guard Skylar Diggins and 2016 MVP Nneka Ogwumike, the latter of whom was voted an All-Star game starter on Monday. But for as solid as Seattle has looked, there have been moments where the team’s direction and identity are a mystery.

Take Sunday’s 84-57 loss to the Golden State Valkyries, the team’s largest of the season, for example. The Storm held the expansion franchise to just 29% from 3-point range, forced 17 turnovers to their own 13 and narrowly lost the rebounding battle.

Just to lose by 27.

Transition defense and winning loose balls were the primary issues in the loss, as the Valkyries threw outlet passes to a jogging Storm backline even after makes on the other end. It’s an issue Ogwumike and the team addressed in film sessions following the tough defeat.

“They were playing harder than us, and that’s something that we don’t want to see for the rest of the season,” Ogwumike said. “It was less about the ‘what’ we were doing and more about how we were doing it.”

Head coach Noelle Quinn also pointed to the struggles to secure loose balls, but circled back to shooting — her squad shot just 6-28 from long range in the loss.

For the season as a whole, Seattle’s enigmatic nature is clear in the numbers.

The Storm is rated sixth out of the 13 WNBA squads offensively and defensively. A few trends have stood out, as Seattle is averaging the second-most assists, third-most steals and second-highest 3-point percentage of any team in the league.

But two factors have restricted Seattle’s performance heavily: rebounding and free throws. The Storm pulls down the second-fewest rebounds and is shooting the fewest free throws of any team in the league.

The Storm offense typically reverts to running pick-and-rolls and leveraging smart decisions from primary ball handlers in Skylar Diggins, Erica Wheeler and Gabby Williams.

Defensively, things revolve around three-time All-Defensive forward Ezi Magbegor. Magbegor is blocking 6.9% of opposing shots while she’s on the floor this season, good for the second-most among players with 200 or more minutes played.

Seattle will have a chance to get back to their halfcourt game as it gets set to take on the 11-6 Atlanta Dream on Thursday to kick off a three-game road trip as the July 19 All-Star game in Indianapolis looms.

Ogwumike, who was told she’d be an All-Star by her sister, former WNBA player and ESPN analyst Chiney Ogwumike, wasn’t expecting a top-10 nod.

“I’m not gonna lie, I was surprised I was a starter,” Ogwumike said. “It means the most to be doing it 14 years in, feeling healthy, feeling good.”

Other Storm notables include Diggins, who is averaging 18.9 points and 6.1 assists per game, and Williams, who is averaging 13.4 points and 4.6 assists per game. Both can still make an All-Star team as a reserve.

Diggins qualifies as a guard while Williams qualifies as a frontcourt player, meaning Diggins will have a shot at one of the remaining three guard spots and Williams will hope to make one of the five frontcourt availabilities. There are also four final positionless spots that either player could qualify for.

The reserves will be voted for by coaches, who cannot select their own players.

Still, Quinn gave her case for Diggins and Williams.

“(Diggins) is the best point guard in the league right now, in my opinion. … Same with Gabby, you just look at the increase of productivity over her career, but even last year to this year,” Quinn said.

Diggins has proven to be a versatile piece, becoming the second player in WNBA history to record 20 points, five assists, one steal and a block in three straight games. Williams, fresh off a lead role with silver-medal winner France at the Olympics last summer, is averaging career-highs in points per game, assists and 3-point percentage.

The results of the coaches’ vote will be announced on July 6.

No matter how things shake out for the Storm’s All-Star hopefuls, they’ll need to keep their foot on the gas up until the All-Star break. While Seattle is the fifth seed in the WNBA right now, eight squads have between 8-12 wins.

Seattle’s in the eye of the Storm at 10-7.