Instant Takeaways: Mistake-Prone Storm Stumble Against Tempo
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Seattle Storm guard Zia Cooke (7) tries to dribble past Toronto Tempo forward Laura Juskaite (2) during the first half at Coca-Cola Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images [/caption]
A healthy dose of turnovers doomed the Seattle Storm in an 86-73 loss to the Toronto Tempo on Wednesday, May 13, at Coca-Cola Coliseum.
Toronto earned its first win in franchise history after losing its opener, dropping the Storm to 1-2 overall. It was far from Seattle’s best performance, with a lack of contributions across the lineup, sloppy play on both ends of the court and a lack of resilience to battle back.
Storm head coach Sonia Raman, just a few days removed from her first win, was a victim of Tempo head coach Sandy Brondello’s first win with Toronto.
Seattle was led by 21 points, seven rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal from Dominique Malonga. Veteran post Stefanie Dolson finished with 16 points and two blocks, while Jade Melbourne totaled 14 points, six assists and three steals.
Marina Mabrey led the Tempo with a game-high 26 points, four rebounds, three assists and four steals. Former Storm guard Brittney Sykes finished with 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
Here’s what we learned from the Storm’s Wednesday loss to the Tempo.
Two-dimensional start
It was the bigs who carried the Storm in the first quarter, with Stephanie Dolson and Dominique Malonga combining for 16 points. Turnovers in the latter stretch of the quarter put the Storm behind, with the Tempo concluding the first 10 minutes trailing 27-22.
Seattle kept up in the second quarter, even though the Tempo controlled the pace. Malonga continued to dominate, making five of her first eight shots (including two threes) to score a quick 12 points.
Defensively, the Storm struggled to contain Tempo standouts Marina Mabrey, Maria Conde and Kiki Rice. They scored 29 of Toronto’s 44 points in the first half.
Sykes, now with the Tempo, also had three offensive rebounds, which killed Seattle inside. The Tempo won the early rebounding battle in general, which was a surprise.
The Storm concluded the first half on a 7-0 run, taking a 45-44 advantage into the second half. They began forcing Toronto into the same mistakes Seattle had been making, and they turned those takeaways into eight points.
After winning the first quarter and losing the second in each of their first two games, the Storm reversed that trend against Toronto.
Turnovers spell doom for Storm
The Tempo settled in, mounting a 12-4 run midway through the third quarter that helped them build a nine-point lead — the biggest of the game by either team at the time. Seattle was plagued by bad shot selection, particularly beyond the 3-point line.
After starting well in that area, the Storm went 0 for 2 in the third quarter from three. It wasn’t many shot attempts, but the ones they did get were poor. Overall, Raman’s system runs much better when the Storm can get consistent quality looks from long range.
When the Tempo still held a two-plus-possession lead midway through the fourth quarter, it just felt like Toronto could smell blood in the water. They were hunting for the first victory in franchise history, and that motivation was obvious.
Mabrey sank a 3-pointer from at least four feet behind the 3-point line with four minutes left in the game to push the Toronto lead to 10, seemingly pushing the game out of reach for the Storm based on momentum.
Raman called a timeout, attempting to gameplan for one final push. Continuing to turn it over and struggle offensively, the Storm couldn’t make up any ground. The Storm had 19 turnovers to 18 assists, putting that ratio opposite of what Seattle wants it to be.
Versatility disappears
The strength of this Storm team thus far has been the ability to get contributions from the entire 10-player lineup that Raman is running.
In the first two games of the regular season, the Storm averaged 40.5 bench points per game. They got only 23 against the Tempo, with Jade Melbourne making up the majority of that (14 points). Melbourne has been one of Seattle’s best players this season, regardless of the starting lineup or bench.
The Storm’s lack of bench contribution was apparent in this loss, and nine of their 19 turnovers came from bench players.
Youth is apparent
Expectations for this Storm team were low, particularly because there was almost no continuity from 2025. They showed their youth, inexperience and lack of reps together with their sloppiness on both ends of the court on Wednesday.
Malonga, the youngest player in the starting lineup, was the best player on the floor for the Storm, but even she struggled in some areas. The second-year former No. 2 overall pick converted just 1-of-4 free-throw attempts — leaving valuable points at the stripe.
The Storm didn’t even shoot poorly overall, sitting at 47%, but they took 11 fewer shots than the Tempo. That hurt the bottom line.
Horston, Hiedeman’s slow starts
The two most underwhelming players thus far for the Storm have been Jordan Horston and Natish Hiedeman. Both have started all three games, but Horston has played less overall due to a minutes restriction following her season-ending knee injury prior to the 2025 season.
Hiedeman stats: 23.7 mpg, 7.3 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 3.7 apg, 0.7 spg
Horston stats: 16 mpg, 1.6 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 0.6 apg, 0.3 spg, 0.7 spg
Hiedeman is still contributing in all areas, but both are also committing a lot of turnovers. The difference with Horston is that she’s nearly averaging as many turnovers (1.3 per game) as points. Hiedeman has to prove she’s a starting-caliber point guard.
There’s no way around the fact that Horston, despite not playing basketball for over a year before the start of the season, is adding almost nothing for the Storm. She was on the rise before her injury, and she has to find a way to get back to that to provide meaningful minutes.
Thus far, Melbourne and Zia Cooke are adding more value consistently than both players in their more limited time on the court.
Up Next
The Storm stay on the road to face the Indiana Fever (0-1) at 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 17, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Indiana has a game on Wednesday and on Friday, May 15, so the Storm will have more rest than their counterparts.
