Storm fall apart against Mercury for record-tying 10th straight loss
Approaching the halfway point of the WNBA season, the Storm believed the worst was behind them and brighter days were ahead.
"No rain, no flowers," rookie guard Flau'jae Johnson said weeks ago, which could be the team's motto for what's becoming a historically disastrous 2026 campaign.
When the former LSU star was asked how she's dealing with Seattle's string of losses, she added: "As long as we're growing, growing and growing, it's going to happen. It's a process."
After falling by five points or fewer in the past three outings, the Storm lost control of Saturday's 93-73 defeat against the Phoenix Mercury in the second and third quarters when they were outscored 62-37.
It's the 10th straight loss for the Storm (3-14), which ties the franchise record set in 2023.
Natisha Hiedeman led Seattle with 20 points and extended her streak of double-digit scoring to nine games. Johnson added 13 points while Dominique Malonga and Zia Cooke each had 10.
In front of 9,662 at Mortgage Matchup Center, the Storm's offense sputtered at critical times while their normally stout defense repeatedly sent the Mercury to the free-throw line.
"It's connected," coach Sonia Raman said. "If you're scoring, then you can set your defense a little bit better, but also if you're missing shots, sometimes it's frustrating and then the challenge is to not let it impact you on the other end.
"For the most part we've been a team that's been really good in that area and has been solid on the defensive end. It wasn't our (day) today and (needed to be) a little bit more disciplined in terms of keeping them off the foul line. That just has to be something that we get better at going forward."
The Storm led 24-19 after the first quarter and the Mercury seized momentum when they started the second quarter scoring eight unanswered points.
Tied at 27 points apiece, Phoenix broke the game open with a 16-2 run to surge ahead 43-29. During the spurt, the Mercury converted 5 of 7 field-goal attempts while the Storm were 0 for 5.
"It changes the game, obviously a lot," Hiedeman said. "We got to be able to shut their runs down earlier."
The Storm trailed 48-41 at halftime and any thoughts of a comeback were erased when the Mercury began the third quarter with a blistering 17-2 run to go up 65-43.
Seattle never got closer than 14 points the rest of the way.
"The game definitely got away from us in those runs," Raman said. "Missed some good looks and then not be able to get back and get stops. Not typical and in our DNA of how we've been, but I do think that some of our empty possessions on the offensive end impacted us on the defensive end and led to some of those fouls as well."
During this string of defeats, Raman has stressed the need to defend without fouling, but the Storm put the Mercury on the free-throw line 26 times and they made 21 foul shots. Seattle was 15 of 17 at the charity stripe.
Phoenix, which played without guard Monique Akoa Makani, also had more rebounds (41-28), assists (27-17), points in the paint (34-30), second-chance points (14-11) and fast-break points (13-0).
Led by Valériane Ayayi (18 points), Kahleah Copper (17) and Noemie Brochant (16), six players scored in double figures for the Mercury (5-12), who snapped a four-game losing streak.
The Storm believed they were poised for their first win since May 24.
On Wednesday, they led by five points and were outscored 10-0 in the final three minutes of a 94-89 road defeat against the Portland Fire.
In the previous two outings, Seattle was edged 76-72 by the Golden State Valkyries and dropped an 88-83 nail-biter to the Los Angeles Sparks.
The latest setback looked like many of the lopsided losses early in the losing streak and prompted the question of whether the Storm have regressed?
"I don't want to say we took a step back because I just don't even want to say that," Hiedeman said. "Obviously, our performance today, it's kind of a reflection of the score. We didn't play our best game. We got to show up better as a team and just keep battling."
It doesn't get any easier for the Storm, who return for a difficult three-game homestand that starts Monday against the Dallas Wings (9-6) and includes the New York Liberty (11-5) and Atlanta Dream (11-4).
"It's a process and we're continuing to follow that path," Raman said. "Stay with the process and stay with the commitment to getting better and to really learning each other. These things can take time, and this is a group that hasn't played a lot of minutes together … (because of) injuries and people who have been in and out of the lineup.
"So, we've had this kind of ever-revolving door of players and so that's hard to do, especially with the young team. We didn't have a core from last year that you know has some familiarity with playing with each other in that way. So, that's all being developed right now in real time."
Note
- Storm guard Jade Melbourne injured her right foot and did not play in the second half. She made her second straight start in place of injured Jordan Horston (foot). After the game, Raman did not have an update on Melbourne.
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This story was originally published June 20, 2026 at 4:59 PM.