The 2019 WNBA season was the 20th season for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association. The regular season began on May 25 with a game against the Phoenix Mercury.[1]
| 2019 Seattle Storm season | |
|---|---|
| Coach | Dan Hughes |
| Arena | Alaska Airlines Arena Angel of the Winds Arena |
| Attendance | 7,562 per game |
| Results | |
| Record | 18–16 (.529) |
| Place | 3rd (Western) |
| Playoff finish | 6th Seed; Lost in 2nd Round to Los Angeles |
| Team Leaders | |
| Points | Natasha Howard – 18.1 ppg |
| Rebounds | Natasha Howard – 8.2 rpg |
| Assists | Jordin Canada – 5.2 apg |
| Media | |
| Television | KZJO (JOEtv) |
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On August 15, 2018 the Seattle Storm announced that they would play their regular season games at the University of Washington's Alaska Airlines Arena while KeyArena undergoes renovations for the Seattle Kraken of the NHL.[2] The Storm will play five games at the Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, Washington.[3]
During the preseason, two of the Storm's prominent stars were injured. Breanna Stewart, the 2018 WNBA MVP, ruptured her Achilles tendon while playing in the EuroLeague for Dynamo Kursk. Stewart underwent surgery, and is expected to recover in time for the 2020 season, but miss the entirety of 2019.[4] Sue Bird underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove a loose body in her left knee and would miss the entire 2019 season. Bird was selected to the All Star Game in 2018, and was the team leader in assists.[5]
For the first six games of the season, the Storm alternated winning a game and losing a game. Through the month of June, they could not win more than two games in a row, and finished June with an 8–6 record. July was a streak filled month, with the team winning four games in a row, after starting the month with two home losses to Atlanta Dream and New York Liberty. The Dream and Liberty ended up having the worst records in the WNBA. However, they finished the month with a 12–9 overall record, and an eye toward a playoff berth. August proved difficult as the team went 3–6 during the month. The month ended on a high note when they secured a playoff berth on August 29. They finished the season strong, going 3–1 in September to lock up the number six playoff seed.
As the #6 seed, Seattle hosted the #7 seed Minnesota Lynx in the first round of the playoffs. The Storm were able to advance to the second round with a ten point win. In the second round, the #3 seeded Los Angeles Sparks proved to be too much for the Storm, and their season ended with a twenty three point loss at the Staples Center.
Transactions
WNBA draft
| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | Ezi Magbegor |  Australia | Melbourne Boomers (Australia) |
| 2 | 24 | Anriel Howard |  United States | Mississippi State |
| 3 | 36 | Macy Miller | United States | South Dakota State |
Trades and roster changes
| Date | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| February 1, 2019 | Re-Signed F Crystal Langhorne[6][7] | |
| Re-Signed C Mercedes Russell[6][7] | ||
| February 7, 2019 | Signed Teana Muldrow to Training Camp Contract[8] | |
| April 11, 2019 | Signed G Shavonte Zellous[9][10] | |
| April 18, 2019 | Signed F Zykera Rice to Training Camp Contract[11] | |
| Signed G Presley Hudson to Training Camp Contract[11] | ||
| Signed G Receé Caldwell to Training Camp Contract[11] | ||
| May 2, 2019 | Signed G Brooke Salas to Training Camp Contract[12] | |
Roster
| 2019 Seattle Storm roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Game log
Preseason
| 2019 pre-season game log | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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May: 0–2 (Home: 0–1; Road: 0–1)
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| 2019 pre-season schedule | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Regular season
Playoffs
| 2019 playoff game log Total: 1–1 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–1) | ||||||||||||||||||
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First Round: 1–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–0)
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Second Round: 0–1 (Home: 0–0; Road: 0–1)
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| 2019 playoff schedule | ||||||||||||||||||
Awards and honors
| Recipient | Award | Date awarded | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natasha Howard | WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week | June 3, 2019 | [13] |
| June 17, 2019 | [14] | ||
| WNBA Western Conference Player of the Month - June | July 1, 2019 | [15] | |
| Jewell Loyd | WNBA All-Star Selection | July 15, 2019 | [16] |
| Natasha Howard | |||
| Natasha Howard | WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week | July 22, 2019 | [17] |
| Natasha Howard | Defensive Player of the Year Award | September 11, 2019 | [18] |
Standings
| # | Western Conference | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles Sparks (3) | 22 | 12 | .647 | – | 15–2 | 7–10 | 10–6 |
| 2 | Las Vegas Aces (4) | 21 | 13 | .618 | 1 | 13–4 | 8–9 | 11–5 |
| 3 | Seattle Storm (6) | 18 | 16 | .529 | 4 | 11–6 | 7–10 | 10–6 |
| 4 | Minnesota Lynx (7) | 18 | 16 | .529 | 4 | 11–6 | 7–10 | 7–9 |
| 5 | Phoenix Mercury (8) | 15 | 19 | .441 | 7 | 9–8 | 6–11 | 5–11 |
| 6 | e – Dallas Wings | 10 | 24 | .294 | 12 | 8–9 | 2–15 | 5–11 |
Notes
- (#) – Conference Standing, Playoff Seeds shown to the right of team name
- e – Eliminated from playoffs
Playoffs
| First round: Single elimination (Sept. 11) | Second round: Single elimination (Sept. 15) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 17 – Sept. 24) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 29 – Oct. 10) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Washington Mystics | 97 | 103 | 75 | 94 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Las Vegas Aces | 93 | 4 | Las Vegas Aces | 95 | 91 | 92 | 90 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Chicago Sky | 105 | 5 | Chicago Sky | 92 | 1 | Washington Mystics | 95 | 87 | 94 | 86 | 89 | |||||||||||||
| 8 | Phoenix Mercury | 76 | 2 | Connecticut Sun | 86 | 99 | 81 | 90 | 78 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Connecticut Sun | 84 | 94 | 78 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Los Angeles Sparks | 92 | 3 | Los Angeles Sparks | 75 | 68 | 56 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Seattle Storm | 84 | 6 | Seattle Storm | 69 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Minnesota Lynx | 74 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Note: Teams re-seeded after each round.
Statistics
| Legend | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | RPG | Rebounds per game |
| APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage | TO | Turnovers per game |
| PF | Fouls per game | Team leader | League leader | ||||
Regular season
| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Natasha Howard | 34 | 34 | 31.4 | 43.9 | 30.8 | 81.0 | 8.2 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 1.7 | 18.1 |
| Jewell Loyd | 27 | 21 | 25.4 | 39.1 | 33.7 | 92.8 | 2.7 | 2.0 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 12.3 |
| Jordin Canada | 30 | 29 | 28.8 | 38.8 | 18.6 | 76.8 | 2.4 | 5.2 | 2.3 | 0.2 | 9.8 |
| Alysha Clark | 31 | 30 | 28.4 | 48.1 | 48.1 | 81.8 | 4.7 | 2.5 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 9.6 |
| Mercedes Russell | 34 | 30 | 25.6 | 51.7 | 0.0 | 64.6 | 6.1 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 7.5 |
| Sami Whitcomb | 33 | 13 | 20.4 | 36.8 | 34.2 | 100 | 1.7 | 2.4 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 7.2 |
| Crystal Langhorne | 34 | 4 | 17.0 | 40.9 | 31.6 | 75.0 | 3.1 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 5.6 |
| Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis | 31 | 4 | 14.0 | 39.9 | 34.1 | 100 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 5.5 |
| Shavonte Zellous | 31 | 4 | 13.9 | 37.6 | 18.8 | 75.0 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 4.0 |
| Courtney Paris | 30 | 0 | 6.3 | 40.0 | 0 | 42.9 | 1.7 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.5 |
| Blake Dietrick | 17 | 1 | 6.2 | 10.0 | 0 | 66.7 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.4 |