Instant Takeaways: Storm Trample Mystics in Awa Fam’s Debut

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Seattle Storm center Awa Fam (11) goes up fo a shot against Washington Mystics forward Kiki Iriafen (44), left, and center Lauren Betts (51) during the second half at Climate Pledge Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images [/caption]

Rookie No. 3 pick Awa Fam made her WNBA debut, and the Seattle Storm carried their momentum from Friday’s win into a 97-85 victory over the Connecticut Sun on Sunday, May 24, at Climate Pledge Arena.

Still without Ezi Magbegor and Dominique Malonga, the Storm finally got the second of their two prized rookie draft pick on the court for the first time. Katie Lou Samuelson also made her season debut, playing her first game for the Storm since 2021.

The final score makes it look closer than it was. This was a game the Storm dominated from the end of the first quarter to the final buzzer, making it by far their best game of the season against a quality opponent.

Natisha Hiedeman (24 points), Flau’jae Johnson (17) and Stefanie Dolson (16) combined for 57 points to lead the Storm, erasing any thoughts about Seattle’s still-sidelined stars.

Here’s what we learned from the Storm’s decisive Sunday victory over the Mystics.

Hiedeman puts bows on first two periods

Fam checked into the game for the first time late in the first quarter with the Storm trailing by one point. She immediately pulled down a rebound for her first logged statistic in her WNBA career.

Samuelson, who hasn’t played a WNBA game since 2024 due to a significant knee injury, checked in at the same time. There was a strong sense of reinforcements finally arriving for the Storm, who have had a limited lineup the last three games.

Hiedeman drained a long-range stepback three just before the first quarter buzzer to give the Storm their first lead of the game, 26-24, heading into the second period. 

Hiedeman turned in a game-high 10 points in the first period, punctuating that effort. Even if she hasn’t been creating as much as expected, Hiedeman’s offensive contributions have been growing since the first few games of the season.

While Hiedeman paced the Storm, Fam scored her first career points with 1:28 remaining in the second quarter on a layup. Hiedeman finished with 18 points in the first half, and the Storm held Mystics scoring leaders Kiki Iriafen and Sonia Citron to a combined five points.

The Storm’s defense, which impressed against a lesser opponent in the Connecticut Sun on Friday, rolled right into the game against the Mystics. Washington shot 46% from the field, but they converted just 2-of-12 threes. The Storm sank seven 3-pointers in the first half.

Hiedeman, after hitting another pre-buzzer shot with 1.8 seconds left in the period, waved to the Mystics’ bench with the Storm leading 49-37 at the break.

Backcourt continues to lead push

It remained a backcourt show for the Storm in the second half. Hiedeman and Johnson kept pouring it on, and the rest of the Storm’s lineup provided balanced contributions beyond that.

Sonia Raman’s system on both ends of the floor is coming together. The Storm are playing much more cohesive basketball, setting up their offense before rushing into the lane and turning it over — something that happened far too often in the first few games.

Defensively, players are finding their roles and turning defensive stops into points on the other end. That wasn’t happening at all at the very beginning of the season.

The Mystics shot just 21% from the field in the third quarter, as they couldn’t make the long-range looks and struggled to get shots to go inside, which has been their bread and butter.

Seattle’s lead ballooned to 26 points at one point in the third quarter. Though the Mystics found a few point flurries that shaved it down at times, the Storm were in firm control and didn’t slow down. 

Fam’s debut

This was about as good as it could’ve been for Fam’s WNBA debut, especially for a player who is expected to become exponentially better over the next few seasons.

Fam totaled 10 points, two rebounds and a steal in 20 minutes and seamlessly integrated into the Storm’s offensive and defensive schemes. She was smooth in the pick and roll and, at times, looked like she had been catching passes from Hiedeman near the rim for multiple years already.

We still haven’t seen the projected future Big 3 of Johnson, Fam and Malonga all on the court at the same time. With the way the first two are playing, however, it should be as good as anticipated.

Raman showed she wants Fam to be a big part of what the Storm are doing immediately. That’s much different than how Noelle Quinn approached Malonga’s development in 2025.

Week of career highs

Hiedeman tied her career high of 24 points (four threes) and added five assists. She cooled off late in the game after previously looking like she might shatter her previous record. Regardless, it has been a week of career-best performances by Storm players.

Mackenzie Holmes posted a career-best 18 points in the 80-78 loss to the Sun on Wednesday, and Zia Cooke posted 25 points in the 77-59 victory over Connecticut on Friday.

These young players who have rarely been trusted with bigger roles are getting opportunities to show what their ceiling can be. Hiedeman, Holmes and Cooke have been trusted with big minutes, and so far they have stepped up to the plate.

Why this was Storm’s best win yet

The Mystics expect to be a good team this season. The combination of Iriafen, Citron and Shakira Austin is a quality Big 3, and they will likely finish ahead of the Storm in the end-of-season standings.

To get a huge win against Washington this early in the season without even being at full strength shows the potential that this Storm team has. They’re beginning to catch their stride and should be even better once they get Magbegor and Malonga back healthy.

If we’re being honest, the 18-point win over the Sun didn’t prove much. It was a much sloppier game as well. Connecticut didn’t have Brittney Griner, and the Sun may not be very competitive once again this season in general.

It isn’t as impressive as beating a team like the Las Vegas Aces, but this was much more of a statement victory for the Storm.

Up next

Seattle hosts the Mystics for the second of a two-game series at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 27. After that, the Storm won’t face Washington until they head out for a road game on Sunday, July 12.