It was the first preseason and the Storm had three regular-season starters in street clothes. Ezi Magbegor, Gabby Williams, and rookie Dominic Malonga watched as their teammates hosted the Connecticut Sun. What they saw was a high-energy team that played stifling defense and scored with efficiency in transition. A 12-2 run in the first quarter set the tone for the Storm, who also shot 42% from the field in the quarter.
With Magbegor, Williams, and Malonga being rested due to their recent European League participation, Head Coach Nolle Quinn started Eric Wheeler and Skylar Diggs at the guard positions, Li Yueru at center, Nneka Ogwumike and Alysha Clark as the two forwards.
Hard-nosed defense, coupled with good fundamental defense, saw the Storm hold the Sun to just 12 first-quarter points and lead 24-12 at the break. The Storm made 8 of its nine shots from the field, with the Sun converting just 5 of 17 field goal attempts. Yueru led all scorers with nine points and five rebounds. Clark scored seven points and picked up where she left off as a crowd favorite.
CONTINUED PRESSURE
The Storm continued its pressure defense in the second quarter, but it was the Sun who made the necessary adjustments to make a game of it. The visitors made 6 of 16 field goals. Tina Charles and Amy Okonkwo each scored six points. The Storm outscored the Sun by just one point in the second quarter but managed to hold onto to 45-32 halftime lead.
SOLID THIRD QUARTER TO REGAIN SUPERIORITY
The Storm regained it’s dominance over the Sun by shooting a scorching 71% from the field. Nneka Ogwumike scored eight points in the quarter as the team made 10 of 14 field goal attempts. After three quarters of play, the Storm led 68-49, and Quinn rested her starters in the final quarter. Mackenzie Holmes and Serena Sundell played the entire quarter with Zia Cooke, Lexie Brown, Brinna Fraser, Madison Conner, and Jordan Hobbs rotating in.
For Quinn, this game was about the players carrying lessons learned from training camp into a real-life game .
“ The biggest thing we’ve been emphasizing in camp is our are spacing, not getting too crowed, not getting on top of each other. The next thing we’ve been at emphasizing along with spaces is our pace, I saw those things on the offensive,” said Quinn. “ Then the other thing on the defensive end, the disruption, I think you know, we were super disruptive to start the basketball game. So again, with a veteran group, the translation to the game, the carry over to the game was there because they were committed to making sure we were staying locked into what we’ve been emphasizing in camp.”
BIG TAKE
It was mission accomplished for Quinn and her squad. The team won the game, entertained the crowd and gave them reason to believe this will be a contending team. More importantly ,the game will give Quinn and her staff valuable tape in which to evaluate the players fighting for a roster position.
STORM HIGHLIGHTS
· Li Yueru made her Storm debut, shooting 6-for-8 (75%) and scoring a preseason career-high 15 points while logging a double-double with 10 rebounds. Yueru’s five offensive rebounds tied for the most by any player in a single preseason game so far this season.
· Skylar Diggins shot 3-for-5 (60%) from the field and scored nine points with four assists and a pair of steals.
· With a game-high 18 points, Nneka Ogwumike tied her career-high for points in a single preseason game. Ogwumike made four of her five three-point attempts for an 80% percentage from deep.
· Mackenzie Holmes scored nine points on 4-for-5 (80%) shooting from the field and recorded the highest rebounding total among 2025 rookies so far this preseason, with eight. Holmes also posted three blocks against Connecticut, which was the most of any player so far in the 2025 preseason.
· Alysha Clark recorded three steals in the first half to set a new career-high for steals in a single preseason game.
SUN HIGHLIGHTS
· Tina Charles was the Sun’s leading scorer with 13 points.
Amy Okonkwo put in 10 points and four rebounds off the bench.
The Connecticut Sun bench accounted for 29 of the team’s 59 total points.
UP NEXT: The Storm start the 2025 regular season on the road against fellow Western Conference team, the Phoenix Mercury. A new Mercury lineup includes Satou Sabally, Kahleah Copper, Alyssa Thomas, Natasha Mack, and former Storm guard, Sami Whitcomb. Tip-off is at 7:00 pm PT, Storm fans can watch on KOMO/CW stations.
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