Reunion Between Storm’s Dominique Malonga, Former Coach Noelle Quinn Yields Early Returns
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In their first game back together in the Unrivaled basketball league, the Seattle Storm’s youngest star and its most recently fired head coach earned a big win. Credit: John Mac [/caption]
The WNBA is no longer the only league that 2025 No. 2 overall pick Dominique Malonga is dominating this year.
Making her debut in Unrivaled — a professional three-on-three league that began in 2023 — Malonga was one of the best players on the floor as she helped her team, the Breeze, earn a win in their first game of the season.
Coincidentally, the Breeze is led by former Storm head coach Noelle Quinn as its head coach.
Malonga logged 17 points on 6 of 10 shooting and added a game-high 14 rebounds. She turned the ball over five times, but it was an impressive performance by the French phenom. The Breeze beat the Phantom 69-62 on Monday, Jan. 5.
The Breeze were led by Dallas Wings star and 2025 No. 1 overall pick Paige Bueckers, who finished with 24 points, five rebounds, six assists and a pair of blocks.
Malonga got the start in her first career Unrivaled game over the WNBA’s 2024 No. 2 overall pick, Cameron Brink. It’s an interesting shift from Quinn’s approach with Malonga during the regular season, where she only played nine minutes per game over the Storm’s first 23 games.
Quinn did put Malonga on the court for an average of 20 minutes per game over the final 19 games, so it seems that confidence has carried over to the duo’s new shared team.
The Storm opted not to renew Quinn’s contract following the 2025 season. In five seasons as the team’s head coach, Quinn posted a 97-89 regular-season record but was 4-8 in the playoffs. Seattle hired former Memphis Grizzlies and New York Liberty assistant Sonia Raman in late October.
If Quinn continues to start Malonga, that will be an indirect gift to the WNBA franchise that just fired her. Unrivaled is filled with the best current WNBA talent, and the reps against those players will only make Malonga better. That’s a huge benefit for the Storm.
The Breeze play their next game on Friday, Jan. 9, against the Hive, who have Storm center Ezi Magbegor on the team. Malonga and Magbegor could see head-to-head action in the post in that contest.
Here’s how the other three 2025 Storm players fared in their Unrivaled debuts on Monday. Skylar Diggins plays for the Lunar Owls but did not play in the season opener.
Ezi Magbegor
Magbegor logged six points (3 of 9 shooting), eight rebounds, three assists and four blocks in the Hive’s 72-56 loss to the Mist. She started the game and played 12.3 minutes.
Erica Wheeler
Wheeler didn’t start, but she played the third-most minutes on the Vinyl in a 58-42 loss to the Laces. She totaled 12 points (4 for 10 shooting), five rebounds, two assists and three steals.
Brittney Sykes
On the other end, Sykes led the Laces to a win over Wheeler’s Vinyl. Sykes finished with a game-high 19 points (8 for 17 shooting), seven rebounds and a steal.
