Instant Takeaways: Storm Drop 8th in a Row vs. Dream
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Dominique Malonga (left) and Natisha Hiedeman react to a play in the Seattle Storm’s 98-89 loss to the Atlanta Dream on Friday, July 31, at the Gateway Center. Credit: Courtesy of Seattle Storm [/caption]
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.
Here’s what we learned from yet another road loss for the Storm.
Turnovers galore
The story of the first quarter was the Storm’s 10 turnovers in as many minutes of game time. Atlanta getting just 10 points off those giveaways was a miracle for Seattle on its own. The Storm could’ve been trailing by far more than 12 after one period.
However, as they regularly have this season, the Storm didn’t get discouraged by one tough period. They cut the Dream’s lead back down to single digits early in the second quarter, but Atlanta still kept them at arm’s length.
Malonga picked up her third foul with just over three minutes remaining in the first half — the second-year star’s biggest struggle this season. She had to sit down after that, allowing the Dream to close out the second quarter on a 14-7 run and lead by 14 at halftime.
Flau’jae Johnson led the Storm with nine first-half points, while Malonga and Awa Fam combined for 13 rebounds. Reese and Hillmon led the Dream with a combined 23 first-half points.
Seattle took eight fewer shots than Atlanta in the first two quarters as a result of their 14 turnovers. That hurt their bottom line.
One step forward, one step back
Hiedeman and Malonga did most of the heavy lifting for the Storm in the third quarter. That duo each had 14 points by the end of the period, while nobody else on Seattle’s roster was in double digits.
The Storm got their deficit down to five points with eight minutes left in the game. But another back-breaking sequence — a three-pointer from Reese and a transition bucket from Jordin Canada — pushed it right back up to 10.
That continued to be the trend. Every major sequence in favor of the Storm that brought the game close was immediately countered by the Dream.
The biggest storyline from the second half was Ezi Magbegor’s resurgence. She played 14 minutes and totaled 12 points, one rebound and two steals. It was the most points she’s scored in a WNBA game since Aug. 30, 2025.
Seattle got it down to four with 40.4 seconds remaining and began a full-court press. Atlanta just made all the necessary plays to drop the Storm to 1-13 in clutch games this season (games separated by five points or fewer with five minutes remaining).
A turn in the season series
The Storm won the first of three games in the season series against the Dream, 105-90. It looked like it could be one of the few favorable matchups for Seattle this season.
However, the last two games couldn’t have been more different. Atlanta snapped a five-game losing streak against the Storm on July 9, and the Dream have been on a hot streak ever since. Now, they ended up dropping the season series after consecutive losses.
Malonga has been a factor in each game, but it's been Hiedeman who has had to step up offensively against the Dream in the last two meetings. That hasn’t been quite enough to push them over the edge.
Too many fouls
Seattle’s 26 personal fouls were the second most it's committed in a game this season. Magbegor fouled out in just her fifth game of the season, while Malonga, Johnson and Jade Melbourne all each had four.
That gifted the Dream 39 free-throw attempts. They made 34 of them. That’s also the second-most attempts from the stripe that the Storm have allowed in a game this season. And it’s the main reason they ended up losing the game.
Up next
The Storm will stay on the road to face the New York Liberty (16-13) at 4 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 3. Seattle won their last meeting with New York, 99-88, on June 25.
