Storm beat – Zia Cooke scored 25 points—16 in the first half—and rookie Flau’jae Johnson matched her best game with 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists as the Seattle Storm defeated the Connecticut Sun 77-59 on Friday night.
SEATTLE — The Seattle Storm didn’t just win Friday night. They answered the Connecticut Sun’s late comeback moment from earlier this week and did it with a starter who looked unstoppable early, plus a rookie who picked the perfect night to take over.
Zia Cooke scored 16 of her career-high 25 points in the first half, and Flau’jae Johnson—Seattle’s No. 8 pick in the recent WNBA draft—turned in her best game of the season as the Storm beat the Sun 77-59.
Johnson finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists, each a season high. Natisha Hiedeman added 11 points for the Storm (2-4), who had avenged a last-second loss to the Sun on Wednesday. Seattle had won 89-82 at Connecticut in the second game of the season.
Connecticut fell to 1-6. Diamond Miller scored 13 points and Aaliyah Edwards added 10. Brittney Griner missed her fourth straight game with a rib injury.
The turning point came before halftime. Seattle trailed 21-19 after one quarter, but Cooke powered the second-quarter surge as the Storm built a 37-28 lead at halftime. Cooke outscored the Sun 8-7 in that frame, and the momentum stayed with Seattle through the third.
The Storm led by 16 in the third quarter, but Connecticut trimmed the deficit to seven when the Sun opened the fourth with a three-pointer. Cooke made a free throw and Johnson hit a three-pointer to keep the advantage firmly out of reach, and the Sun never got back to single digits after that.
Connecticut’s shooting told part of the story. The Sun made nine baskets in the first quarter and totaled 11 over the final three quarters, finishing at 35 per cent.
Seattle came into the game short-handed in the front court as well. Dominique Malonga missed her third straight game in concussion protocol. Veteran Ezi Magbegor has yet to play, and Awa Fam—the recent No. 3 pick—had just arrived in Seattle from Spain. There has been no announcement about when Fam, who helped Valencia win the Spanish League championship, would make her debut.
Still, the Storm leaned on the minutes they had. Joyner Holmes was signed earlier in the day and made an impact immediately, posting two points, five rebounds and three blocks in 15 minutes.
With the game settled, attention now turns to what comes next for both teams. The Sun head to Golden State on Monday for the third game of a five-game western road trip. The Storm stay home for a second straight two-game set with Washington beginning Sunday.
Seattle Storm Connecticut Sun Zia Cooke Flau'jae Johnson Natisha Hiedeman Brittney Griner Dominique Malonga Ezi Magbegor Awa Fam Joyner Holmes WNBA