Natisha Hiedeman’s second career night in a span of about two weeks still wasn’t enough to break the Seattle Storm’s losing streak in a 105-95 loss to the Indiana Fever on Tuesday, July 28, at Climate Pledge Arena.
Hiedeman scored a game-high 33 points and helped lead multiple Storm comeback attempts, but it still wasn’t enough without Dominique Malonga (injured) on the floor. Seattle (6-24) dropped its seventh straight game and ninth of its last 10.
Indiana (18-10) was led by a combined 60 points from Caitlin Clark (32) and Kelsey Mitchell (28) in a game where they were short-handed in the second half. The Fever have now won four in a row and are 8-2 in their last 10 games.
Three Seattle Storm players participated in the WNBA’s All-Star weekend on Friday and Saturday, even though only one was in the main event.
Dominique Malonga was the Storm’s lone All-Star this season. However, Natisha Hiedeman was selected to participate in the 3-point contest, and Flau’jae Johnson played in the inaugural Shooting Stars event with Team Seattle.
None of them emerged as winners. But Malonga set a few records and continued to build what is becoming a historic resume at just 20 years old.
The Seattle Storm are 6-23 overall and in last place in the WNBA standings at the All-Star break. With 15 games remaining in the season, it’s clear that the Storm are no longer vying for a postseason berth and are instead trying to maximize the development of their young stars.
Dominique Malonga, the 2025 No. 2 overall pick, has taken a huge step from her rookie season and is the Storm’s lone representative in Saturday’s All-Star Game. Rookie top-8 picks Awa Fam and Flau’jae Johnson have shown glimpses of greatness, but haven’t found enough consistency to regularly fuel Seattle to victories.
So, entering the final stretch of the 2026 season, what are some primary goals for the Storm as they begin to look to 2027?
It was much closer than the final score suggests, but the Seattle Storm’s chronic shortcomings and late-game mistakes led to an 86-76 loss to the Minnesota Lynx on Wednesday, July 22, at Climate Pledge Arena.
Seattle (6-23) dropped its sixth straight game and eighth of its last nine. It also marked the second straight home loss to the Lynx in just three days following a three-point loss to Minnesota on July 20.
Minnesota (22-6) won its seventh in a row, leaning on the trio of Napheesa Collier (24 points), Kayla McBride (20) and Olivia Miles (13). Dominique Malonga led the Storm with 21 points on 9 of 13 shooting and added nine rebounds, two assists, one steal and four blocks.
Continuing to stack competitive performances, the Seattle Storm (6-22) found themselves in another tight contest, this time with the best team in the WNBA, the Minnesota Lynx (21-6).
But once again, Seattle couldn’t finish a game that came down to the wire, falling 105-102 at Climate Pledge Arena. The Storm dropped to 0-10 in games decided by five points or fewer this season and suffered their fifth straight loss.
It was an encouraging night for the future of the league, as rookie guards Flau’jae Johnson and Olivia Miles dueled against each other, showcasing why they were both first-round selections in this year’s draft. Yet in the end, Miles won the battle and led her team to stave off Johnson and Seattle.
The Seattle Storm made multiple late-game surges to try and erase their deficit, but it wasn’t quite enough in a 98-89 loss to the Atlanta Dream on Friday, July 31, at the Gateway Center.
Natisha Hiedeman led Seattle (6-25) with 23 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals — one game separated from her career-best night against the Indiana Fever. Dominique Malonga posted 16 points and 13 rebounds on an efficient 8-of-10 shooting.
Seattle lost its eighth straight game and is nearing elimination from playoff contention.
Atlanta (18-10) was led by 21 points, 13 rebounds and two steals from Angel Reese. Naz Hillmon was the Dream’s second-leading scorer with 18 points.