Scoring in WNBA is way up, but Seattle Storm struggling to follow trend

Good news for WNBA fans: scoring is up across the league.

Granted it's a small sample size, but teams are averaging 87.3 points per game through the first 30 games - nearly a 7% increase from last year when teams averaged 81.7 points and way above the league record of 83.1 points per game set during the COVID-shortened season in 2020.

In the first two weeks, six teams eclipsed the 100-point barrier - three teams did it twice - and the WNBA is on track to have at least one team reach 100 points in 55 of its 330 games, which would shatter the record of 30 set in 2022.

"Fans want to see us score and they come to see points," Storm guard Jade Melbourne said. "We don't know what the next 10 games will look like, but it's an exciting time for everyone, the players and the fans."

In 2025, the average WNBA game produced 160.2 points per game through the first 10 days of the season. This year games are totaling 175.4 points per game.

It remains to be seen if the scorching scoring trend continues throughout the summer, but it appears the WNBA's crackdown on illegal contact has yielded early results that's allowed players freedom of movement and given a boost to offenses.

"For someone like me, I understand if my line gets impeded, then I get to the free-throw line," said Melbourne who is averaging career highs in points (13.5) and free-throw attempts (5.8). "My free-throw numbers are up in the first four games than they have been in a long time. So, now it's just about converting them, to be completely honest with you."

In addition to scoring, free-throw attempts in the WNBA are up to 22.8 per game from 18.2 last year and there's a theory that adding two expansion teams has diluted the overall talent in the league, which makes it easier for All-Stars to score.

"People are playing with a really aggressive mindset and maybe defenses are a little bit more hesitant," Melbourne said. "Everyone's kind of playing a free style of basketball to where coaches are allowing you more freedom. If you see a read, go take it. People aren't really going A to B to C this year. It's more like, if I'm open off this roll, I don't care if there's a next action in our offense, I'm going to get two points.

"That kind of freedom of movement and aggressive mindsets is really apparent in this small sample size of the league."

If scoring is at an all-time high in the WNBA, then why do the Storm rank last in the league at 80.0 points per game?

The short answer is Seattle's depleted roster is missing four of its top players.

Injured forwards Ezi Magbegor (foot) and Katie Lou Samuelson (knee) and rookie center Awa Fam, who is not with the team, have not played a game, while leading scorer and second-year center Dominique Malonga is in concussion protocol and sat out Sunday's 89-78 road loss against the Indiana Fever.

That's a lot of missing firepower, but first-year coach Sonia Raman believes contributing factors have also led to the Storm's offensive troubles.

"It starts a little bit with our defense and being able to get the stops that we need to be able to get and run," Raman said. "Our spacing, our shot quality, we're trying to really lock in on some of the details with our practice that we had (Tuesday) and we'll do the same with our shoot around (Wednesday). It's the spacing. It's trying to move the ball a little bit earlier in the possession. As soon as we draw two, be able to get off it, and then keep it moving.

"A lot of that is just coming from they're new to each other, and they're still sort of gaining that chemistry. It's an unselfish group, but they just have to learn how to play together."

Raman inherited a Storm team comprised of 10 newcomers and five holdovers who played in Seattle last season.

The unfamiliarity with each other partly explains why the Storm are last in the WNBA in assists at 16.3 per game.

"We're still learning one another," Melbourne said. "We're a young and very new group, so it's going to take time, but I think now it's really about being deliberate and homing in to people's strengths. Getting stops and then running out in transition where we're successful and then that'll allow us to get more points."

The Storm (1-3), who have been held to 80 or fewer points in three games, exploded for 89 points for their lone win against the Connecticut Sun (0-4), who rank next to last in the WNBA while allowing 95.4 point per game.

Seemingly, Seattle's anemic offensive attack is due for another power surge when the Storm face the Sun at 7 p.m. Wednesday in a rematch at Climate Pledge Arena. It's the first of two games in three days against the visiting Eastern Conference rival.

"Growth is something that we're looking for every game win or lose," Raman said. "We want to learn from … the experiences with live reps and then apply it to the next game. But it is a unique scenario when you play the same team back to back, so we're looking to see how we can adjust? How we can obtain some mastery on the things that those particular opponents are presenting, especially with Connecticut? This is the second time playing them, so we're already looking for that in the game (Wednesday).

"And then by the third game, which is two days later, really looking to see what kind of growth we have. If we can avoid repeatable mistakes, and if we can really lean into what's working. As your opponent takes things away, how do you counter? So, really looking at those counters."

Without Malonga, who averages 16.0 points, the Storm's next highest scorers are Melbourne, rookie guard Flau'jae Johnson (12.3) and veteran guard Natisha Hiedeman (10.3).

"The thing that's killing us right now to be completely honest is the middle part of the shot clock," Melbourne said. "When we are really fast, we are successful. When we're finding our open shooters in the first eight seconds of the shot clock, we're generating really good looks.

"It's when we don't create an advantage or we don't maximize the advantage on the back half of the shot clock, is where then we're putting up contested twos or late shots in the shot clock. … That's where we really need to improve."

Notes

- Samuelson, who is recovering from a right ACL injury that forced her to miss the 2025 season, returned to full participation in practice, but she's going to miss her fifth straight game on Wednesday.

- Malonga did not practice Tuesday and is out Wednesday along with Magbegor and developmental players Taina Mair and Taylor Thierry.

- Fam is expected to fly to Seattle on Thursday and is scheduled to participate in an introductory news conference before Friday's game against the Connecticut Sun. It's unclear when she'll make her Storm debut. "We're still finalizing all of that," Raman said.

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This story was originally published May 20, 2026 at 6:51 AM.