Storm heads to LA for scrimmage with regular season looming

The Seattle Storm’s May 17 opener is drawing closer, and the WNBA team is working around the clock to prepare. The Storm will be traveling to Los Angeles to face the Sparks in a closed scrimmage at UCLA on Saturday. The scrimmage will feature standard 10-minute quarters, game jerseys and referees.

The practice game will be a solid opportunity for the Storm to bring its No. 2 overall pick, Dominique Malonga, up to speed as the French phenom arrived in Seattle last weekend. The Storm is also in the process of trimming the roster down to its final shape — Seattle waived rookie third-rounders Madison Conner and Jordan Hobbs earlier this week.

The scrimmage won’t be the first time the franchise has played against other WNBA talent this year. The Storm won its first and only open preseason game against the Connecticut Sun at Climate Pledge Arena last Sunday. Although she was missing key pieces like Gabby Williams and Malonga, Storm coach Noelle Quinn learned plenty in the 79–59 win.

Every starter was at least plus-11 on the floor, while Zia Cooke led the squad in minutes with 26 off the bench (8 points, 3-9, +17).

Star forward Nneka Ogwumike put up an efficient 18 points in 21 minutes, while new addition Li Yueru went for 15 points and 10 rebounds in 19 minutes. The Storm still resembled a team figuring itself out at times, picking up 19 turnovers while going 5–16 from distance.

“I liked how we were moving the ball, I thought we got a lot of open looks,” Quinn said after Tuesday’s practice. “We just have to knock those down.”

Quinn experimented with varying lineups in that contest, but having Malonga ready for Saturday’s scrimmage will provide another key data point for her staff.

Quinn will put Malonga on the floor with a variety of lineups to gauge which alignments work best with the 6-foot-6 forward. Malonga played possessions alongside the 6-foot-7 Yueru at Thursday’s practice, and Quinn stopped play to tell her guards to work the ball around to find one of their bigs down low.

And with Ogwumike and All-Star Ezi Magbegor lining the frontcourt, the Storm appears deeper than usual in that department.

Still, Malonga made quite the impression on the team during Tuesday’s practice, throwing down a one-handed dunk to invigorate the squad.

The proof 😤 https://t.co/NdoqTohRUQ pic.twitter.com/Z1FONQivhz

— Seattle Storm (@seattlestorm) May 7, 2025

“I love it,” Malonga said of her viral dunking habits. “Everybody’s hyped, I’m hyped, and I feel like it gives me a lot of energy to put on the court.”

Cooke, though not a dunker at 5-foot-9, has stood out as the third-year pro and recent addition is fighting to make a roster spot. Cooke crashed the offensive glass well and knocked down some pull-up jumpers while playing solid on-ball defense during Thursday’s practice.

Some notes from #SeattleStorm practice today:
– Experimented with two-big lineups including Yueru and Malonga. The emphasis was to feed the bigs in those alignments.
– Zia Cooke looked good on both ends, knocking down some pull-up J’s and stopping the ball well. pic.twitter.com/fRgf1c1Fgz

— Qasim Ali (@qasimasports) May 8, 2025

“We have enough firepower offensively to get us what we need on that side of the basketball. Where I’m challenging (Cooke) is on the other side,” Quinn said. “‘Can you guard multiple positions, can you rebound, can you utilize your physicality to really impact the defensive side of the game?’”

With the WNBA Draft concluding less than a month ago, the preparation time has been as short as usual for the Storm. For players trying to make the team like Cooke, to those learning their role like Malonga, Saturday could be the team’s biggest point of development until the regular season begins in less than 10 days.

“Everyone’s learning. We’re not used to each other, and of course, we make a lot of mistakes. But when we can score out of the mistakes, it’s great,” Malonga said.

This story originally appeared at qasimsports.medium.com. Follow Qasim Ali on X.com at @qasimasports.