Flau’jae Johnson’s career-high 28 helped Seattle end its franchise-worst 11-game skid
Eleven straight losses can wear down even the most stubborn team. By Thursday night, the Seattle Storm had simply had enough. Behind a career-high 28 points from rookie Flau’jae Johnson and another slice of history from Dominique Malonga, Seattle finally exhaled, beating the New York Liberty 99-88 at Climate Pledge Arena to end a franchise-worst skid that had dragged on for a full month.
A rookie refuses to flinch
Johnson, a 22-year-old in her first pro season, carried the load when it counted, going 11-for-23 from the floor, leading all scorers with 28 and pulling down nine rebounds. Earlier in the week she had taken a bit of advice to heart, the idea that a team should play like it wants to win rather than play scared to lose, and on Thursday the Storm finally looked the part.
Seattle shakes off the funk
The Storm built a 48-40 halftime lead but lost their rhythm coming out of the break. Jade Melbourne, back after missing a game with a foot injury, jolted them awake with nine points in the third quarter on her way to a season-high 18. Johnson’s 3-pointer pushed the cushion to 12 entering the fourth, and Seattle held firm as New York trimmed a 16-point deficit to eight with three minutes left. Malonga slammed the door, scoring six of the Storm’s final 10 points.
2 young stars carry the Storm
The win belonged to Seattle’s emerging core. (1) Johnson set the tone with her career-high night and a steady effort on both ends. (2) Malonga, all of 20 years old, added 20 points and 10 rebounds for her second straight double-double and stepped into the record book again, becoming the youngest player in WNBA history to reach 500 career points and, per the league, the youngest to collect 200 career defensive rebounds. Awa Fam chipped in 15, and veteran Natisha Hiedeman added 11 while passing 2,000 career points. Coach Sonia Raman pointed to the work on the glass, where Seattle’s 13 offensive rebounds became the second-chance points that kept the Liberty at arm’s length.
New York rests a star and pays for it
The Liberty arrived as one of the East’s best at 12-7, but they were without Breanna Stewart, who sat for a rest day in her first regular-season absence of the year. Stewart, a two-time Finals MVP from Seattle’s 2018 and 2020 title teams, ranks among the league’s top 10 in both scoring and rebounding. In her place, Jonquel Jones led New York with 26 points, Leonie Fiebich added 19 and Sabrina Ionescu finished with 14 points and five assists.
A young core finding its footing
At 4-15, the Storm are still deep in a rebuilding season, but the timing of this one mattered. The breakthrough arrived days after Malonga poured in a career-high 37 in a 112-110 overtime loss to Dallas, a defeat that set the franchise’s consecutive-loss record and also made her the youngest 30-point scorer in league history. Seattle carried that same fire into Thursday, and this time it produced a win instead of heartbreak.
Up next
Seattle, winners for the first time since May 24, hosts the Atlanta Dream on Saturday. New York visits the Golden State Valkyries on Sunday.