Storm 97, Sun 81: How much can we take out of a positive finish?

It didn’t seem like the Sun played a bad first half Friday in Seattle, they were doing some good things offensively, had a couple of steals they turned into points, but then you look up, and they’re still down 14 at the break. And that was with the Storm - who came in as the best three-point shooting team in the league - at just 3-for-16. Welp.

As I’m sure you know if you’re reading this, the poor shooting for Seattle didn’t last, and it didn’t get any better from there as Connecticut was blown out again by the Storm, 97-81, in a game that wasn’t nearly that close, setting a franchise record for consecutive losses, a streak that does not look like it’s going to end anytime soon, especially with a game at Minnesota on the horizon.


What’s perhaps most frustrating is that it seems to be different things almost every night, although the offense has been consistently poor all season. And as I wrote in the preview, Seattle might be a sneaky title contender, so it’s probably unrealistic to expect the Sun to be in every game.


But, as I’m sure Rachid Meziane is, you’re looking for something the Sun can do well, anything to hang your hat on and say, “You know, we do this well.” Right now, the highest Connecticut is in any of the four factors (offensive or defensive) is forcing turnovers, where they are seventh, barely.


And the Lynx, whom the Sun somehow almost beat the last time, will not feel sorry for them Sunday.  


What else did we learn from Seattle Friday night?:




 

  1. Another point guard goes off  - Skylar Diggins is a legendary WNBA player and was hot early, but the Sun can’t seem to keep point guards from having huge nights against them, which seems a bit weir, because Jacy Sheldon did such a good job on Caitlin Clark in that game against Indiana a couple weeks ago, but has not been able to stop the likes of Paige Bueckers and Diggins in recent games. If you believe in such things, Sheldon’s defensive metrics were pretty poor last year as well (some of that is the lack of rebounds and steals), Sheldon also got caught on switches against the likes of Dominique Malonga, which did not end well.

  2. Should we make anything of the positive last few minutes - A lot of women have played basketball in this country, and very few of them can say they put up 20 and 10 in a WNBA regular season game, so I am not going to downplay what Aneesah Morrow did too much (I was the one that wanted her to play more after all in the preview), but a lot of them came in the fourth quarter with the game decided. The Sun got the 31-point lead down to 16 by the end (frustrating anyone who wagered on the Storm, which was kind of funny), and seeing Saniya Rivers finally hit a shot was great, as was getting to 81 points, the most in the current losing streak.

  3. Seattle is very good -  Especially when Diggins is hot like she was, although you’d still like to see the Sun offer a little more resistance to teams. The defensive rebounding was a little better, but Connecticut is still dead last by a big margin in both rebounding and fouling, and that’s a recipe for defensive disaster. As Meziane certainly has figured out, some of his best offensive players - Hartley and Sheldon - do not have good defensive metrics, while his best defensive players - Nelson-Ododa and Rivers - struggle on on the offense end. But they’re getting better.


Player of the game:  Aneesah Morrow - Another easy choice when you finish with 20 points and 11 rebounds (and she got 27 minutes). You can still see where she needs to grow with decision making and on the defensive end in general, but she’s a rookie, and it’s a tough, tough league for rookies historically. Of the players drafted in 2025 only Paige Bueckers, Sonia Cintron, and Kiki Iriafen have gotten to 20 this season.


Inside the numbers : 20 -  Longest regular season losing streak in WNBA history, which is shared by the 2011 Tulsa Shock and 2022 Indiana Fever, whom you might be hearing a lot about in the next two months.


Under the radar: That Rivers basket at the end will hopefully get her going a little, she’s shooting just 34.3% from the field and 21.1% from behind the arc this season, and you can see she’s frustrated.


Also, Jaelyn Brown was slightly injured and played just six minutes, so hopefully she’s not going to be out.


Quotable:  “We played a good game against Minnesota last time, that was a game where we showed we are capable of playing against some of these teams. It’s a big challenge right now, but by just controlling what we can control, we can keep fighting. When you are in our position, you have to find some positives” - Rachid Meziane


Next up: Sunday at Minnesota, 7 p.m. EDT

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