Dominique Malonga, Former Storm Coach 1 Win Away From Unrivaled Championship Appearance
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Storm star Dominique Malonga and the franchise's former coach, Noelle Quinn, have reached the Unrivaled semifinals with the Breeze after beating the Rose on Saturday. Credit: John Mac [/caption]
Seattle Storm star Dominique Malonga and former franchise head coach Noelle Quinn are one win away from reaching the Unrivaled championship.
Malonga and Quinn’s Breeze handily beat the Rose 69-50 on Saturday, Feb. 28, to advance to the semifinals. The duo of Malonga, the 2025 WNBA No. 2 overall pick, and Paige Bueckers, the first pick, have been dominant in Unrivaled this season.
In the win, Malonga scored 14 points and pulled down a massive 17 rebounds, while also adding four assists, three steals and a block. Bueckers scored a game-high 29 points.
Buckers is fourth in scoring, averaging 22.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.5 assists. Malonga is posting 16.4 points (16th), 9.4 rebounds (5th) and 0.9 blocks (T-7th).
Quinn, who was fired by the Storm after a disappointing 2025 season, was emotional in the postgame press conference following the first-round win over the Rose.
“They grew up tonight, before our eyes, and it’s very cool to see it. It started with Paige and Rickea [Jackson] in their mindsets — Paige offensively setting the tone and Rickea defensively setting the tone,” Quinn said. “I think everyone else followed. Dom had a double-double, and really good minutes from everyone who played.
“I think we left last night with the feeling of wanting to get back here and just get another shot of playing Breeze basketball, and from the first day till now, just amazing growth in a lot of areas. And I don’t want to cry, I’m just really proud of the group.”
The Breeze were only 6-8 in the regular season, but so were the Rose. They will now have to face the 10-4 Mist, led by Allisha Gray, Breanna Stewart and Arike Ogunbowale, in the semifinals.
Anything can happen in Unrivaled, which is a three-on-three league with the WNBA’s biggest stars. Even with the regular season records, depth isn’t as big a factor unless there are significant injuries. The star power can swing the games in any direction.
Although Bueckers is the Breeze’s top star, Malonga is getting a chance to pursue her first basketball championship in the U.S. since being drafted by the Storm. The road to a WNBA championship remains a much more difficult feat, especially with the state of the league, CBA negotiations and the Storm’s roster.
Quinn could also bolster her resume with a championship appearance. In five seasons as the Storm’s head coach, Quinn compiled a 4-8 postseason record and was eliminated by the Las Vegas Aces in all but one of her four playoff appearances.
Seattle finished 23-21 in the 2025 regular season and was eliminated in the first round for the second-straight year. Despite having a stacked roster of veterans with exciting young talent like Malonga, the Storm simply underachieved with a healthy, talented group.
Sonia Raman was hired shortly after, ushering in a new era of Storm basketball.
The dynamic on the Breeze is unique due to the former era of Quinn combining with the new era of Malonga. It was a pair that existed for only one season, and Quinn didn’t unleash Malonga until about the midway point of the WNBA schedule.
Now the two have a chance to win a championship together.
Erica Wheeler is the only other player who finished the 2025 season with the Storm that is still competing in the Unrivaled postseason. Wheeler plays for the Vinyl (5-9), who managed to beat the 10-4 Laces in the first round of the playoffs, 82-69.
Wheeler only played 10 minutes, but she scored seven points and added five assists. Brittney Sykes, who scored 22 points and pulled down six rebounds, was eliminated with the Laces.
Li Yueru, who was traded from the Storm to the Dallas Wings in a midseason trade, plays for the Mist, who the Breeze will play in the semifinals. However, Yueru has only played 5.2 minutes per game this season, the least of any player on the Mist.
The Breeze and Mist tip off at 5:45 PM PT on Monday, March 2, for a chance to advance to the Unrivaled championship game.
