Dominique Malonga Wins Unrivaled Battle of Storm Stars vs. Ezi Magbegor
The popularity of the Unrivaled basketball league brings some silly matchups from a WNBA lens. On Friday, Jan. 9, Seattle Storm star Dominique Malonga faced teammate Ezi Magbegor while being coached by the franchise’s recently fired head coach, Noelle Quinn.
Quinn and Malonga’s Breeze beat Magbegor’s Hive 73-62 to move to 2-0. The Breeze and Rose, who are both currently 2-0, will face off at 4:30 p.m. PT on Sunday, Jan. 11.
Malonga outplayed Magbegor in the post, totaling 15 points, 13 rebounds, one assist and one block in 15.4 minutes. Magbegor got the start for the Hive for the second straight game, but she only played 8.9 minutes and finished with 10 points, six rebounds and one assist.
Magbegor was actually quite aggressive offensively during her time on the court, finishing 4 for 10 from the field. She only eclipsed double-digit shot attempts four times during the 44-game WNBA season. Malonga still got the best of Magbegor on the boards, however.
Malonga has had a double-double in both games of the short Unrivaled season thus far. But she missed three game-winning shot attempts at the end of the win against the Hive, finishing 5 for 13 from the field. It was far from her best offensive performance.
A young group of WNBA stars leads the Breeze. Malonga (20 years old), Paige Bueckers (24), Rickea Jackson (24), Cameron Brink (24) and Kate Martin (25) make up the squad’s top players.
That has made the Breeze the most exciting team in Unrivaled. We’re seeing the future of the WNBA collaborate against some of the league’s best veteran players.
Quinn is leading that group, and she had a chance to face one of her former players while coaching another one of them. That’s likely a bittersweet feeling for the former Storm that led the franchise for the last five seasons.
Magbegor, who is the Storm’s longest-tenured player, is an unrestricted free agent this offseason. The emergence of Malonga has made her much more expendable despite Magbegor still being the better rim protector.
When, or if, the WNBA and the player’s association agree to a new CBA, it will be interesting to see how the Storm approaches retaining Magbegor. New head coach Sonia Raman will have huge plans for Malonga and the Storm’s other young players, and a rebuild makes more sense.
The Breeze and Hive will face each other again later in the season on Friday, Feb. 6. For now, the Breeze are turning their attention to the Rose, which doesn’t have any players from the 2025 Storm roster.
