New-Look Storm Fall Narrowly Short Against Valkyries in Preseason Opener

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="6000"]

Seattle Storm guard Flau'jae Johnson (4) and center Dominique Malonga (14) direct teammates against the Golden State Valkyries in the first quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images [/caption]

Despite holding an eight-point halftime lead, the Seattle Storm’s group of young, developing players narrowly fell to the Golden State Valkyries, 78-76, in the first 2026 preseason game on Saturday, April 25, at the Chase Center.

The Storm had 12 of their 19 players step onto the court in the game, getting a decent look at a mostly new group that has had just six days of practice together thus far.

Of that group who played, eight were not with the Storm in 2025 and four were rookies.

Even in a loss, there were plenty of bright spots for Seattle as we begin to see what the new-look Storm will look like. We won’t see the entire lineup until Ezi Magbegor is healthy and Awa Fam joins the team, but it was a glimpse at some of the exciting acquisitions.

Here’s what we learned from the Storm’s close loss to the Valkyries on Saturday.

Exciting new additions

The stars of the first half for the Storm were two of their new additions, guards Jade Melbourne and Flau’jae Johnson.

Melbourne got the start at point guard, while Johnson was at the shooting guard spot. Even though Seattle trailed by three at the end of the first quarter, it was Melbourne who was the Storm’s biggest aggressor on offense — leading the team with seven points in the period.

Johnson came on strong in the second quarter, as the rookie No. 8 overall pick began asserting herself both offensively and defensively. In just 13 minutes on the court in the first half, Johnson poured in 10 points and pulled down four rebounds.

There were a combined 32 turnovers in the game by both teams, but some sloppiness is expected in the limited amount of preparation time these teams get before the preseason kicks off.

Though the Storm had standouts, it was a well-rounded first half overall. Seven different players scored, and Seattle doubled up Golden State’s scoring total in the second quarter to own a 42-33 lead at the break.

Familiar trend, too early to judge

One of the most frustrating parts of the 2025 Storm season was their inability to maintain big leads under head coach Noelle Quinn, especially down the stretch of the season in critical games. Many of those losses felt mostly on Quinn for a lack of adjustments.

So far, Sonia Raman hasn’t done any better. However, luckily for Seattle, it’s just a preseason game. And she did make some changes to the lineup that helped the Storm get back into the game late.

The Storm led by nine points at halftime before having their lead trimmed to two by the end of the third quarter. Golden State began the fourth quarter on a 14-5 run that included a trio of 3-pointers.

Staring down a sudden eight-point deficit, it was apparent that the Storm were lacking a leader to either get their edge back or calm down the players on the floor. Dominique Malonga was on the court, and she may have to be the one to fill that role at similar points throughout the season, even if it doesn’t come naturally to her personality.

That’s different from 2025. The Storm had multiple vocal leaders last season, and they will need to find one in 2026.

Still, Seattle closed the gap to tie the game with under a minute remaining. Guard Rennia Davis was the biggest surprise of the second half, scoring seven points and grabbing four rebounds in just her first six minutes on the court. That helped fuel the Storm’s comeback, even though they had a disjointed group of rookies and young players on the floor for much of that stretch.

A second-chance bucket by Valkyries forward Mariella Fasoula gave GS a two-point lead with 30 seconds left, and the Storm were unable to convert on the other end. Seattle had to resort to fouling, and Golden State led 78-75 with 15.2 seconds left.

Former University of Washington guard Elle Ladine got a good look at a potential game-tying three, but it was off. The game ended on a jump ball after the Storm were unable to corral it quickly enough to get a second shot opportunity.

You’d like to see the Storm close it out with a big halftime lead. But they weren’t employing their entire starting lineup; it was Raman’s first game and these players have almost zero experience together. There’s room for growth.

Other standouts

Davis was maybe the most impressive player of the evening when factoring in previous expectations. The former 2021 No. 9 overall pick hasn’t played in the WNBA since 2022, but you can see why she was thought to have such a high ceiling back then.

Keep an eye on Davis’ minutes on Wednesday against Portland. She greatly improved her chances of at least earning a developmental spot.

Outside of Melbourne and Johnson, No. 14 overall pick Taina Mair showed a lot of potential as a future productive point guard in the WNBA. She was all over the floor, and even though she finished with just two points, Mair had two rebounds, four assists and a steal — being a difference maker on both ends of the court.

Mair has a similar mentality to that of former Storm guard Skylar Diggins. She could be one of those future leaders for the franchise.

Guards Lexie Brown (nine points, three rebounds) and Jaelyn Brown (eight points, two rebounds, one steal) both were bigger factors than expected. Lexie Brown got the start with Jordan Horston and Natisha Heideman both sitting out.

Up next

The Storm will return to Climate Pledge Arena for their second and final preseason game against the Portland Fire on Wednesday, April 29, at 7 p.m. That will be the first game in Fire franchise history.