Dominique Malonga Makes WNBA History as Storm Hold Off Sky 97-88

Dominique Malonga scored 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds Monday night as the Seattle Storm held off the Chicago Sky for a 97-88 win at Climate Pledge Arena.

Seattle never trailed. Malonga went 9-of-14 from the field and made 3 of her 4 attempts from 3-point range, setting a career high for made 3-pointers. She also blocked 3 shots and recorded the 14th double-double of her career, tied for sixth in Storm history.

At 20, Malonga became the youngest player in WNBA history to reach 300 career defensive rebounds. Lauren Jackson previously held the mark at 22. Malonga is also the third-youngest player in league history to reach 100 made free throws.

Natisha Hiedeman added 18 points and 9 assists in 33 minutes without committing a turnover. She went 12-of-12 at the free-throw line, setting a career high for free throws made.

Seattle led 22-16 after the first quarter and used a 16-6 run in the second to stretch the margin to 15. The Storm went into halftime ahead 47-33.

Their advantage reached 17 during the third quarter, Seattle's third-largest lead of the season.

Storm coach Sonia Raman said Seattle wanted to play with pace early and get into its first action quickly enough to leave time for second and third options.

"I think they just came out with a lot of focus," Raman said. "The home crowd, the energy that we got from our fans, was huge. And just a lot of togetherness. I think we got a lot of stops early, and that's what we wanted to do.

"And then as the Sky started to kind of figure things out a little bit more, like in the third quarter, obviously they had a pretty big scoring output," Raman continued. "I thought we did a good job of just getting to the next play. Like, a really well-contested three that they hit, but then we come down and we hit one. So I think just kind of being able to answer when we weren't getting stops, but then getting back to digging in and being able to get those stops, to be able to just kind of maintain that lead."

Zia Cooke gave Seattle 16 points off the bench on 7-of-12 shooting in 21 minutes. Jordan Horston finished with 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals for her fourth game in double figures this season.

Horston said Seattle carried its work from the morning shootaround into the game and kept the reads in transition simple.

"Man, it feels great. It feels great," Horston said. "I mean, like you said, we've been coming close in games. We got to fight, we got to effort, we got to — everything is just like, we're just not pulling out those games. And for us to win today and get it up, I mean, who doesn't love to win? So we just got to keep working.

"Even though we're out the playoffs, we still getting better," Horston added. "So we trying to ruin somebody's season, trying to make somebody a third seed or whatever. So we're not done playing. And I'm very proud of this group and how we came out tonight, and of course I'm happy that we won."

Chicago scored 33 points in the third quarter and cut Seattle's lead to 4. The Sky made another push in the fourth, using a 12-4 run to get within 84-82 on a DiJonai Carrington fast-break layup with 2:52 remaining.

Cooke answered with a 3-pointer 40 seconds later.

The Storm turned 15 Chicago turnovers into 22 points, the fifth time this season Seattle has scored at least 22 points off turnovers. Seattle also went 25-of-28 at the free-throw line. Its 89.3% shooting there was the team's third-highest mark in a game this season.

Malonga said Seattle did a better job stopping Chicago's runs before they could decide the game.

"No, I think it's just like, we're fed up. We just don't want to lose," Malonga said. "We just want to win at this point. And that's what we showed tonight.

"I think the biggest thing is how we contained the runs today," Malonga added. "I think usually in games that we lose, it's like they go on a crazy run at the end and we can't get it back. And today we always stopped their run. They went six, eight points straight, and then we cut it off all the way and went on the run ourselves. So I think that's the biggest thing for me that I see."

Malonga also worked against Kamilla Cardoso inside. She said the focus was keeping Cardoso from sealing her early and making the Chicago center move defensively.

Raman said Malonga has continued to find answers as opposing teams change how they defend her.

"Yeah, I mean, Dom continues to be like a walking double-double," Raman said. "Just the improvement that we've seen from her this season, it's incredible. The leaps that she's taken, maybe one of the most improved kind of campaigns from last year to this year that I've seen, and especially at the age of 20. It's really remarkable.

"She just keeps finding solutions out there," Raman noted. "So she's starting to understand like how teams play, or be able to adjust in the moment. I think that she's just going to keep taking those steps forward, but she's arrived. Like, she's really determined. She's being a leader for this team. She's willing to take the tough shot. Like, when I mentioned earlier, the runs, and then we come back and answer — like, some of those were Dom scoring and making huge shots and timely shots at the right time."

Taylor Thierry returned to the rotation after not appearing in Seattle's previous 11 games. She played 21 minutes and finished with 7 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists while posting a plus-16. Four of her rebounds came on the offensive glass.

Ezi Magbegor had 5 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists in 26 minutes. Jade Melbourne scored 9 points, Stefanie Dolson added 6 on 2-of-2 shooting from 3-point range, and Awa Fam recorded 2 steals in 13 minutes.

For Chicago, DiJonai Carrington scored a career-high 26 points off the bench with 6 rebounds and 5 steals. Kamilla Cardoso had 15 points and 13 rebounds for her 12th double-double of the season. Courtney Vandersloot scored 13 points and made 8 of 9 free throws.

Chicago outscored Seattle 48-38 in the paint, but the Storm shot 45.1% from the field and went 8-of-21 from beyond the arc. Seattle finished with 36 rebounds and 22 assists.

The Storm improved to 7-28. Flau'jae Johnson missed the game because of a left ankle injury, while Katie Lou Samuelson remained out with a right knee injury.

Seattle hosts Portland on Friday at Climate Pledge Arena.