Instant Takeaways: Storm’s Best Offensive Performance Still Not Enough vs. Aces

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Seattle Storm guard Flau'jae Johnson (4) drives against Las Vegas Aces guard Jackie Young (0) in the first quarter of their game at Michelob Ultra Arena. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-Imagn Images [/caption]

A’ja Wilson erupted for a 34-point near-triple-double, and the Seattle Storm surrendered triple-digit points for the first time this season in a 101-91 loss to the Las Vegas Aces on Monday, June 8, at Michelob Ultra Arena.

Seattle (3-10) dropped its sixth-straight game as they are still struggling to string together consecutive quality quarters after fast starts. Dominique Malonga led the Storm with 19 points and five rebounds in her second game back from injury.

Las Vegas (8-3) continued to show why it’s among the WNBA’s best, and Wilson became the youngest player to surpass 6,000 career points. The Aces scored at least 22 points in every period.

The Storm bookended the game with their two best quarters, but fell too far behind in the middle periods to make up the difference. The Aces were simply too efficient from the field, shooting 50% as a team.

Here’s what we learned from another Storm loss against one of the league’s best teams.

Another promising start leads to disappointment

Malonga carried the Storm in the first quarter with 12 points, four rebounds and a steal. She shot 5 of 6 from the field in the first 10 minutes, while the rest of the team made 5 of 17 shots in the period.

Wilson went toe-to-toe with Malonga, posting 14 points and three rebounds of her own in the first quarter for the Aces. The two stars were already dueling early.

The Storm led the Aces 25-23 heading into the second quarter. Even with that lead, however, Seattle had to prove it could maintain its advantage and composure for all four quarters. That’s been difficult for them so far this season after fast starts.

The second quarter was more Wilson than Malonga. Las Vegas built up a lead while Malonga went scoreless in the period. Seattle struggled to pull down rebounds and let the Aces convert nearly 50% of their shots.

Las Vegas erupted for 27 points in the second quarter, and the Storm could hardly keep up. It wasn’t the same type of collapse we’ve seen from Seattle lately that led to the difference, as it was more of an offensive explosion from the Aces.

Storm head coach Sonia Raman had her work cut out for her heading into the second half with a seven-point deficit. She has to prove she can make effective in-game adjustments, and this was a prime opportunity while trying to slow down Wilson, the WNBA’s best.

Wilson, Aces pour it on

To keep up with the Aces, the Storm were going to need more quarters like the first one. Consistently scoring fewer than 20 points per period isn’t going to get it done against great teams like Las Vegas.

However, even with Malonga back in the lineup, the Storm remain arguably the worst offensive team in the WNBA. It stretches beyond just their efficiency from the field, as well.

Seattle is attempting just 20.4 free throws per game (10th), and it’s in the middle of the pack in free throws allowed per game (22.0). When that’s combined with their league-low 39.8% field goal percentage and assist totals (16.8 per game), the Storm simply aren’t putting forth a winning formula.

To be more consistently competitive, the Storm must foul less, force more fouls by their opponents, generate better shot selection and limit their turnovers. Those are their biggest weaknesses, 13 games into the season.

Those areas didn’t improve much for the Storm outside of the first and fourth quarters.

The Storm’s defense kept them in the game with 19 points off 13 Aces turnovers. Getting Las Vegas to miss shots, on the other hand, was a near-impossible feat. 

Seattle trailed by six with just over seven minutes left, still allowing them to make a final push. But the offense had to follow, and the Aces had to cool down.

Even though the Storm went shot-for-shot with the Aces in the fourth quarter, Las Vegas stayed red-hot. Seattle’s 31 fourth-quarter points were a welcome change, but they had already conceded too big a lead to the Aces in the earlier periods.

Natisha Hiedeman (17 points), Awa Fam (16) and Flau’jae Johnson (13) also scored in double figures for the Storm.

In addition to Wilson, Jackie Young turned in a big performance for the Aces with 29 points, three rebounds and six assists.

On Lexie Brown’s release

Brown was in a slightly expanded role from 2025, but she was still only playing a 3-point specialist role and was seeing less than 15 minutes per game. That had led to only one good game from the former 2018 No. 9 overall pick, who then missed two games as she was away from the team.

The Storm ultimately waived her on Monday before the game against the Aces.

Raman was asked about the Storm’s decision before the game against the Aces, and her response didn’t provide much more context.

“We decided to waive Lexie. We wish her all the best,” Raman said. “
I think just where we are as a team and where she is in her career, [we] just weren't aligned at the moment."

Seattle signed Taylor Thierry, who was previously in a developmental roster spot, to the active roster. Thierry was a 2025 third-round pick by the Atlanta Dream, and she has appeared in three games this season.

“[Thierry]’s worked really hard,” Raman said. “Credit to our player development coaches as well for the work that they put into that space. We want to really be a high-level development system here.”

The bright side

Offensively, this was a better game for the Storm. While they have yet to put all the pieces together for a full game, it is a step in the right direction against a quality opponent. The Storm would beat a lot of other teams outside of the Aces with the performance they turned in on Monday.

The hypotheticals don’t win games, but they should provide some optimism moving forward. They hung in the game and had a solid fourth quarter instead of giving in.

Seattle has a good chance to bounce back at home against a Los Angeles Sparks team that has lost three of their last four games at 7 p.m. PST on Wednesday, June 10.