> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Instant Takeaways: Storm Allow Massive Run in Loss to Valkyries - URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/storm-allow-massive-run-in-loss-to-valkyries/ - Published: 2026-09-20T04:06:46.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-08T06:13:20.000Z - Author: Connor Benintendi - Tags: Game Day, Analysis, Storm, Flau'jae Johnson, Dominique Malonga, Awa Fam, Sonia Raman \[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1226"\] ![ Seattle Storm guard Flau’jae Johnson drives into the lane in the team’s 70-57 loss to the Golden State Valkyries on Saturday, Sept. 19, at the Chase Center. Credit: Courtesy of Seattle Storm ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1d/f2/1df2f77b-83dd-4bc0-a6d2-6d1bb5df89a3/content/images/2026/10/ajt_6857-format-original.jpg) Seattle Storm guard Flau’jae Johnson drives into the lane in the team’s 70-57 loss to the Golden State Valkyries on Saturday, Sept. 19, at the Chase Center. Credit: Courtesy of Seattle Storm \[/caption\] The Seattle Storm put forth possibly their worst 13 minutes of basketball all season in the second and third quarters, but they finished strong with an attempted comeback in a 70-57 loss to the Golden State Valkyries on Saturday, Sept. 19, at the Chase Center. Seattle (8-34) lost its second straight game since the FIBA break ended. Flau’jae Johnson was the Storm’s only double-digit scorer with 17 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Dominique Malonga and Awa Fam each added eight points and combined for 15 rebounds. Even without former Storm star Gabby Williams, Golden State (31-11) inched within a half-game of the Minnesota Lynx (31-10) for the No. 1 seed in the WNBA standings. Five players scored 10 or more points, led by Kaila Charles with 16 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and four steals. What previously looked like a pending blowout became a competitive game towards the end. Here’s what we learned from the Storm’s Saturday loss against one of the league’s top teams. ### **Worst stretch of the season** The first half was entirely summarized by Golden State’s 24-4 run to begin the second quarter. That pushed what was previously a slim, two-point Valkyries lead after 10 minutes to a 22-point Storm deficit late in the second quarter. By halftime, Seattle trailed 49-25\. Storm head coach Sonia Raman and her team were staring down the barrel of another massive post-FIBA break blowout against another one of the WNBA’s top teams. Seattle’s energy from the first to the second quarter shifted completely. The Storm already weren’t shooting well across the board — Johnson led the team with nine first-half points — and the defense and attitude followed suit shortly after. It didn’t help that a Valkyries trio of Charles, Laeticia Amihere and Juste Jocyte all scored 11 points in the first two quarters, leading Golden State’s offensive effort. Even without Williams, the Valkyries were a well-oiled offensive machine. Golden State outpaced Seattle 15-6 in assists, looking much more connected and fluid than the Storm, who were simply trying to piece together offensive possessions. That’s why the Valkyries are battling for the No. 1 seed in the postseason and the Storm are at the bottom of the league standings. ### **Finishing strong in yet another loss** From the beginning of the second quarter to just under the seven-minute mark in the third quarter — nearly 13 minutes of clock — the Storm scored six points. Golden State outscored Seattle 36-6 in that span. But the Storm eventually found some rhythm, outscoring the Valkyries 21-7 in the rest of the third quarter. Johnson continued to lead the way for Seattle, scoring eight points in the period alone. Although it wasn’t initially enough to drastically narrow the gap, it was reassuring that the Storm haven’t completely run out of gas in the 2026 season. They still had some fight left in them in their third-to-last game of the campaign. This is where Raman had to show up and coach her team, and she did. The Storm took the Valkyries’ lead all the way from 32 down to just 12 less than three minutes into the third quarter. They had multiple opportunities to cut the deficit to single digits, but it didn’t come together. One consistent attribute of this Storm team all season has been their fight until the end, even though it rarely results in wins. Giving up 21 points in the second half after surrendering 49 in the first half is progress, whether or not the Storm ended up in the win column. ### **Why Raman slightly dodges criticism** Allowing your team to give up a 36-6 run is nothing short of horrendous, and Raman deserves a massive piece of the blame when she’s in charge of making the necessary adjustments to stop the bleeding. For a while, she had no answers against Natalie Nakase, one of the best coaches in the WNBA. Then Raman lit a fire under the Storm, or at least Johnson, and Seattle made it somewhat of a game. Ample Storm injuries and young talent have made it exceptionally difficult to gauge Raman’s overall skills as a head coach, and that’s why Seattle almost certainly has to give her another season to see if there’s a turnaround. But that doesn’t eliminate the fact that she hasn’t overachieved with the current roster and has maybe even fallen short of expectations. It would be hard to sell a third Raman season to the Storm fans if the second goes similarly. However, for now, they have the excuse of it being a rebuilding season. ### **Up next** Seattle turns around quickly for a back-to-back, heading to face the Las Vegas Aces (28-13) at 6 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 20\. The Storm are 0-2 against the Aces this season, most recently falling to Las Vegas 114-77 on Sept. 17.