New-look Storm fall to Valkyries in opener
Published 12:00 am Saturday, May 9, 2026
SEATTLE — The Seattle Storm overhauled their roster in the lead-up to Friday’s opening-night action against the Golden State Valkyries. The team lost three All-Stars in Gabby Williams, Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins to free agency, leaving a young team to pick up the pieces.
That young team learned some lessons in Friday’s opener, dropping the game 91-80 in front of over 14,000 home fans.
Seattle led early and often, but a well-rounded Valkyries attack proved too much for first-year head coach Sonia Raman’s squad.
“The defensive side of the ball is obviously where we need to keep focusing; the offense will come,” Raman said postgame, as four Valkyries reached double figures. “First game, a lot to get better at.
2025 No. 2 overall pick Dominique Malonga led the Storm with 21 points and eight rebounds, followed by 15 points from returner Zia Cooke and 13 from new addition Jade Melbourne. Malonga, a 6-foot-6 center who is still just 20 years old, became the youngest player in WNBA history to reach 200 career rebounds with her performance on Friday.
The Valkyries were led by Janelle Salaun’s 20 points, while stars Veronica Burton (16 points, six assists) and Kayla Thornton (13 points, eight rebounds) beat the Storm off the dribble consistently. The final touch was a breakout game from second-year pro Kaitlyn Chen, who scored 14 points and hit some timely shots in the second half to deflate Seattle.
#Storm honor Gabby Williams during pre-game with a video, the reception:#WNBA pic.twitter.com/CgvPSdYE9j
— Qasim Ali (@qasimasports) May 9, 2026
It was also a return to Seattle for Gabby Williams (seven points), who joined the Valkyries during the off-season after four years with the Storm. The team honored Williams with a pre-game video tribute, giving the home fans a chance to applaud the 2025 steals leader.
The Storm were missing some key pieces in the opener, as All-Defensive center Ezi Magbegor continues to recover from a foot injury that will likely sideline her through May. No. 3 overall pick Awa Fam is still overseas finishing a playoff run in Europe and is expected to join the team sometime in May.
Despite the two 6-foot-3 posts missing from Raman’s lineup, the Storm out-rebounded Golden State 41-35 as Cooke grabbed seven rebounds while returner Mackenzie Holmes had six boards.
No. 8 overall pick Flau’jae Johnson (12 points), who gained national acclaim as a star at LSU for her scoring, opened the scoring with a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer moments in.
But in just over two minutes, Johnson picked up her second foul to force Raman to sit her. Johnson’s foul trouble was indicative of what was to come, as posts Stefanie Dolson (six points) and Malonga each picked up two offensive fouls on moving screens. The Storm tallied 15 fouls in the first half.
Malonga suggested the offensive fouls, which continued into the rest of the game, were the result of miscommunication in the opener.
“A lot of that was, we say we want to play fast until sometimes we’re not on the same page. Like I’m coming to set the screen and the guard isn’t waiting for me (to set),” Malonga said. “That was game one, and we need to all adjust to each other.”
Still, the Storm led for most of the first quarter and finished the period up 24-23 as Cooke hit a 3-pointer and Malonga scored in transition to ignite the home crowd.
Johnson re-entered the game to start the second quarter as Melbourne scored on a cross-key drive to pick up an and-1 basket. Johnson showed her value quickly, deflecting a pass before hitting her second triple of the day a few feet beyond the arc.
But another offensive foul on Malonga and a catch-and-shoot triple from Thornton quickly spelled a seven-point Valkyries lead. Burton continued the onslaught with an and-1 layup as Seattle picked up another offensive foul on the other end, this time on Jordan Horston, who made her debut after missing the 2025 campaign with a torn ACL.
The Storm went into the second half trailing 49-41 after giving up nine Golden State 3s in the first two periods. The third quarter was more of the same.
Seattle was held to just four points over the first five minutes of the third period, as Kaitlyn Chen hit two runners in the lane and knocked down a three to balloon the lead to 16 late in the third. The frustration mounted as Lexie Brown pushed a defender while screening for another offensive foul on a scoreless day in 22 minutes.
The fourth saw Salaun erupt for three triples in an 11-point frame to keep Seattle at bay. Malonga made a few contested jumpers while Cooke scored in transition twice to cut into the lead, but the deficit proved too large to overcome as the Storm fell on opening day.
By the night’s end, Golden State had made nine triples on a blazing 41% clip. The new-look Storm were out of sorts at times, switching screens consistently to allow for Valkyries’ mismatches that opened the floor up.
“That’s probably the biggest area we talked about in the locker room,” Raman said of Golden State’s hot shooting night. “Many of those 3s should be taken away in the future, so it’s just a matter of continuing to get comfortable with those (defensive) rotations and being able to have those multiple efforts.”
On the players’ side, Melbourne was intent on putting this one in the rearview mirror.
“We discussed in the locker room — that’s the worst we’re going to be for like the rest of the season,” Melbourne said. “The fight in the last quarter shows our character, that we were down 20 and brought it back to 11 points.”
Though it may have been too late at the 2:37 mark of the fourth, Seattle put together an 11-2 run by playing in transition, something Melbourne sees as the future of this new Storm squad.
“From day one, we established that we want to play fast,” Melbourne said. “We have the most athletic frontcourt, I think, in the league. We have youthfulness, Flau’jae reminds us all. The energy in the building is fantastic.”
Though Johnson finished shooting 3-for-12, her energy in rallying her teammates after tough baskets was clear throughout the night. On the topic of speed, Melbourne chipped a tooth diving for a loose ball in the second quarter to set the tone.
As for Malonga, she scored nine of her 21 points in the fourth, finding her stroke from midrange late. Her 2026 season comes after a rookie campaign that saw her slowly build up time on the court — she averaged just a shade over 14 minutes per game last season. Without star talent like Ogwumike or Diggins ahead of her in the scoring department, the French phenom, who played 29 minutes on Friday, is taking her role as a primary option seriously.
“It comes naturally… It’s just doing whatever I always did, I’m setting (screens), I’m rolling, I’m running all the floor, I try to get my teammates open,” Malonga said.
Despite missing key players from the roster, Raman gave minutes to 10 different Seattle players in the game. Horston didn’t score in 15 minutes, but pulled in four rebounds as she rounds into game shape.
Like Horston, the new-look Storm will have a full season to learn and find their identity.
“We’re going to keep building,” Raman said.
The Storm will return to action on Sunday when they face Connecticut on the road.
