The WNBA preseason flew by, and after just three exhibition games, the Seattle Storm opened their 2026 season Friday night at Climate Pledge Arena against the Golden State Valkyries. The crowd of 14,200 fans set a new franchise record for attendance at a season opener.
In the starting lineup for this young new team were third-year guard Natisha Heideman, rookie Flau’Jae Johnson, third-year player Jordan Horston, second-year player Dominique Malonga, and veteran center Stephanie Dolson. Malonga would play the most minutes in this matchup at 28:37, while becoming the youngest player in WNBA history to secure 200 rebounds. Malonga finished with 21 points, one shy of her career high, on 8-for-15 shooting and eight rebounds in her first career start.
Zia Cooke recorded a career-high 15 points and seven boards. Shooting 3-for-5 from behind the arc. Most Storm fans were eager to see the debut of rookie Flau’jae Johnson. Johnson scored 12 points, grabbed two rebounds, and handed out two assists in her WNBA debut. Jade Melbourne shot 4-for-5 from the field and was 100% from the free throw line, and also hit her 50th career three-pointer, as she went 2-for-3 from the three-point line in this matchup.
Though the Storm outrebounded the Valkyries 41-35 in this matchup, they also outscored the Valkyries in points in the paint 30-28. The Storm, unfortunately, also led in turnovers, recording 14 to 9. This aided the Valkyries to shoot 15 for 37 from behind the arc.
“That was probably the biggest area we talked about in the locker room. It was a focal point going into the game. There’s a lot to clean up — we’ll pull the clips, sit down with the team, and go through the rotations that should take many of those threes away,” said Storm head coach Sonia Raman. “It’s about getting comfortable with multiple efforts, scrambling, flying around, and running them off the line. Credit to the Valkyries — they did a great job.”
“We needed to adjust quicker. Salon got five off in the second half, and that hurt us. For a young group, it’s about adapting faster — if someone hits two, we can’t let them get more,” Storm guard Jade Melborne. “Maybe we need to step up more in the gaps and not sink off. We had players in their first game and others without much experience, but the character of this group is high. Everyone wants to learn. We’ll review, learn personnel, and get better. If a team hits 15 threes at 40%, you’re probably not beating them. We’ll adjust and stop that momentum quicker next time.”
The Storm’s inability to knock down shots in the second and third periods enabled the Valkyries to outscore them 46 -19 in those periods. Also losing the turnover battle 6-1 in the second quarter contributed to the Valkyries amassing a twenty-point lead in this match-up.
“Our defense impacted our offense — if we’re not getting stops, we can’t run. They were able to pressure us more in those situations. I’ll keep coming back to defense being our identity,” said coach Raman. “When we get stops, we’re good. When we have to take the ball out of the net, it becomes more challenging.”
“I think we had a pretty good start. We knew it would be a hard, physical game. They play great defense and play well together,” said Storm’s Dominique Malonga about their first game of the season. “They had a run where we were less energetic, but in the second half, we kept fighting. We fought to the end. Even though the result wasn’t what we wanted, it’s only game one, and we can only get better.”
The Valkyries’ Janelle Salaun scored a game-high 20 points. Her teammate Veronica Burton led all players by playing a game-high 30 minutes and chipping in 16 points and a game-high six assists.
The Storm will travel to Connecticut for their first road game of the regular season on Sunday, May 10 at 10 a.m. PT, and will be aired locally on the CW Seattle. The Golden State Valkyries will travel to play the Phoenix Mercury, also on May 10th. Kindly share your thoughts on the Seattle Storm with me at https://x.com/whatsgoodnsport.
