Efficiency and unselfishness are at the core of Seattle Storm’s dynamic stretch
By Christan Braswell, edited by Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - The hottest team in the WNBA resides in the Pacific Northwest. After an early-season slump, the Seattle Storm are winners of six of their last seven games.
During this stretch of dominance, the Storm defeated the top three teams in the WNBA, which include the one-loss Minnesota Lynx, the defending champion New York Liberty, and new look Phoenix Mercury.
In the last seven games, Seattle leads the league in scoring at 87.6 points per outing. They are also top three in points off turnovers, fastbreak points, points in the paint, and are the only team to do so since the start of the season. Additionally, they sit at second in assists (23.9), steals (9.3), and blocks (5.3).
At the core of Storm coach Noelle Quinn’s philosophy is unselfishness, purposeful physicality, and a strong interior game. The proof is in the pudding as the team is posting the third-highest field-goal percentage (69.4) in the month of June. Shots in the restricted area are assisted on 68.2% of the time, which leads the WNBA.
For stretches throughout the 2024 season, the Storm possessed one of the most potent paint attacks in the league. The only issue was that it became predictable. Shooting just 28% from three, the team finished dead last while taking the third-fewest attempts. Forward Nneka Ogwumike shot 40.5% on threes and was the only Storm player who shot better than 30% with more than 20 attempts.
Knowing the Storm’s weakness, opponents threw zone coverages frequently, forcing a one-dimensional offense to beat it. The thing about the old days is that they are the old days for a reason.
Seemingly overnight, Seattle earned limitless range badges for nearly the entire team in 2025. With six players averaging at least one attempt from deep, they’re all shooting well over league average. Backup forward Alysha Clark leads the way, shooting 44.8% on 2.2 attempts, while Ogwumike rounds out the list at 36.6% percent on 2.9 attempts.
Forward Gabby Williams and guard Skylar Diggins have been the most important figures this season from outside. Williams is thriving in a career year for most categories, but none more impressive than shooting 41.2 percent on nearly five attempts per outing. Diggins is second in volume at 3.9 attempts while averaging a 43.6% clip.
Such reliable threats from outside only empower the team’s post presence, which shows in the percentages compared to last season.
It’s rather simple to imply that the Storm’s success is mainly due to defenses having to game plan for an exterior presence as well as an interior one. But the truth lies in the variety of shots and where they come from. Last season, 21.8% of the team’s points came from three-pointers, which was the second-worst rate in the WNBA.
“A lot of those shots are just reps and confidence and knowing where each other are going to be at, moving the ball and having some continuity within our offense,” coach Noelle Quinn said. “We’re super-efficient in the ones that we take.”
Through the team’s first 14 games, Seattle has upped the ante to 28.1%. In the last seven games, it sits at 32.9%, which is sixth in the league. Over 90% of these shots are assisted, good for sixth place. Efficiency and clean looks to serve whoever is on the floor is the mentality, and shows no signs of slowing down.
“It starts with the quality of shots that we’re generating,” guard Skylar Diggins said. Sharing the basketball, next action, being efficient, and moving the ball. But it starts with the quality of threes that we’re getting. They’re great shots. They’re great looks most of the time. And so, it’s no surprise that we’re shooting with confidence. We work on them. We believe that they’re going in.”
It’s early in the season, but this Storm team is far more suited to make a run for a championship than last season. However, Storm coach Noelle Quinn believes the job isn’t done yet.
“We still have a lot of work to do, but I think that we’re trending in the right direction with a lot of things that we’ve been emphasizing,” Quinn said. “These are important wins, and it’s good for our group to feel how we should be playing. The reps that we get early are going to play dividends in the end, for sure. But we have a group who is so committed to like keeping the main thing, the main thing. We know what we have in our locker room, and we don’t want to look too far ahead and get too far in front of us before we handle the day-to-day.
“Whether it’s a statement or not, we’re going to handle our business and see what happens in the end. … What we are, is a very good basketball team when we lock into the things that are important and that matter in the games. That’s going to continue to be our focus. Just us and us getting better.”
“The focus for us is just to continue to play solid, continue to play together, do what’s been working well, moving the basketball, taking proper shots on goal, and not deviate too far from that, no matter who or what the game presents,” Quinn said. “Continue to really lock in on the things that make us who we are.”
Fever in town
For the first time this season, the Storm (9-5) face the Indiana Fever (6-7). The game starts at 7PM PDT in front of a sold-out Climate Pledge Arena.
On the final leg of a three-game West Coast swing, the Fever has dropped three of its last five games, including two straight losses.
“The focus for us is just to continue to play solid, continue to play together, do what’s been working well, moving the basketball, taking proper shots on goal, and not deviate too far from that, no matter who or what the game presents,” Quinn said. “Continue to really lock in on the things that make us who we are.”
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