# 2019 Seattle Storm season

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.
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. The Storm will play five games at the Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, Washington.
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. 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.
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 |
| February 1, 2019 | Re-Signed C Mercedes Russell |
| February 7, 2019 | Signed Teana Muldrow to Training Camp Contract |
| April 11, 2019 | Signed G Shavonte Zellous |
| April 18, 2019 | Signed F Zykera Rice to Training Camp Contract |
| April 18, 2019 | Signed G Presley Hudson to Training Camp Contract |
| April 18, 2019 | Signed G Receé Caldwell to Training Camp Contract |
| May 2, 2019 | Signed G Brooke Salas to Training Camp Contract |

## Game log
### Preseason

2019 pre-season game log :
May: 0–2 (Home: 0–1; Road: 0–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
May 15
Phoenix Mercury
L 84–87
Tied (15)
Tied (7)
Canada (5)
Angel of the Winds Arena 3,076
0–1
2
May 17
@ Los Angeles Sparks
L 85–92
Canada (18)
Russell (9)
Canada (6)
Hutto-Patterson Gym N/A
0–2 :
2019 pre-season schedule :

### Regular season

2019 game log Total: 18–16 (Home: 11–6; Road: 7–10) :
May: 2–1 (Home: 1–0; Road: 1–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
May 25
Phoenix Mercury
W 77–68
Howard (21)
Howard (16)
Canada (6)
Angel of the Winds Arena 8,500
1–0
2
May 29
@ Minnesota Lynx
L 61–72
Howard (18)
Tied (5)
Canada (4)
Target Center 8,092
1–1
3
May 31
@ Atlanta Dream
W 82–66
Howard (19)
Howard (14)
Canada (7)
State Farm Arena 2,119
2–1 :
June
: 6–5 (Home: 4–1; Road: 2–4)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
4
June 1
@ Chicago Sky
L 79–83
Howard (21)
Howard (9)
Canada (6)
Wintrust Arena 7,063
2–2
5
June 4
Minnesota Lynx
W 84–77
Loyd (19)
Howard (6)
Canada (7)
Angel of the Winds Arena 5,711
3–2
6
June 9
@ Chicago Sky
L 71–78
Tied (20)
Tied (6)
Canada (5)
Wintrust Arena 5,032
3–3
7
June 11
@ Indiana Fever
W 84–82
Howard (26)
Howard (9)
Tied (6)
Bankers Life Fieldhouse 3,506
4–3
8
June 14
@ Washington Mystics
W 74–71
Howard (19)
Tied (11)
Clark (5)
St. Elizabeth's East Arena 3,654
5–3
10
June 16
@ Connecticut Sun
L 67–81
Howard (20)
Howard (8)
Tied (3)
Mohegan Sun Arena 7,773
5–4
11
June 21
Los Angeles Sparks
W 84–62
Loyd (23)
Clark (10)
Tied (3)
Angel of the Winds Arena 6,114
6–4
12
June 23
Indiana Fever
W 65–61
Loyd (21)
Tied (6)
Howard (4)
Alaska Airlines Arena 7,211
7–4
12
June 25
@ Las Vegas Aces
L 56–60
Howard (14)
Howard (12)
3 tied (3)
Mandalay Bay Events Center 4,215
7–5
13
June 28
Chicago Sky
W 79–76
Canada (17)
Howard (9)
Tied (3)
Alaska Airlines Arena 7,915
8–5
14
June 30
Phoenix Mercury
L 67–69
Whitcomb (13)
Howard (8)
Howard (5)
Alaska Airlines Arena 8,002
8–6 :
July
: 4–3 (Home: 3–2; Road: 1–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
15
July 3
New York Liberty
L 83–84
Russell (19)
Clark (9)
Canada (7)
Alaska Airlines Arena 8,710
8–7
16
July 5
Atlanta Dream
L 66–77
Howard (20)
Russell (9)
Whitcomb (5)
Alaska Airlines Arena 8,111
8–8
17
July 12
Dallas Wings
W 95–81
Mosqueda-Lewis (18)
Russell (8)
Canada (12)
Alaska Airlines Arena 6,451
9–8
18
July 14
New York Liberty
W 78–69
Langhorne (19)
Canada (9)
Canada (8)
Alaska Airlines Arena 6,733
10–8
19
July 17
@ Minnesota Lynx
W 90–79
Howard (33)
Russell (9)
Whitcomb (8)
Target Center 8,403
11–8
20
July 19
Las Vegas Aces
W 69–66
Howard (21)
Howard (10)
Canada (4)
Alaska Airlines Arena 9,000
12–8
21
July 23
@ Las Vegas Aces
L 62–79
Tied (13)
Howard (10)
Clark (4)
Mandalay Bay Events Center 5,193
12–9 :
August
: 3–6 (Home: 2–3; Road: 1–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
22
August 2
Washington Mystics
L 79–99
Howard (26)
3 tied (6)
Canada (6)
Angel of the Winds Arena 7,488
12–10
23
August 4
@ Los Angeles Sparks
L 75–83
Tied (16)
Russell (9)
Howard (5)
Staples Center 12,820
12–11
24
August 8
Dallas Wings
W 69–57
Howard (23)
Howard (11)
Canada (6)
Angel of the Winds Arena 6,268
13–11
25
August 11
@ New York Liberty
W 84–69
Clark (21)
Tied (8)
Russell (6)
Barclays Center 7,715
14–11
26
August 14
@ Washington Mystics
L 59–88
Howard (24)
Howard (8)
Howard (4)
St. Elizabeth's East Arena 3,917
14–12
27
August 16
@ Connecticut Sun
L 78–79
Howard (27)
Howard (10)
3 tied (4)
Mohegan Sun Arena 7,092
14–13
28
August 18
Minnesota Lynx
W 82–74
Canada (14)
Tied (6)
Canada (6)
Alaska Airlines Arena 9,000
15–13
29
August 25
Indiana Fever
L 54–63
Howard (14)
Howard (9)
Howard (5)
Alaska Airlines Arena 8,076
15–14
30
August 27
Connecticut Sun
L 89–70
Loyd (18)
Howard (7)
Canada (5)
Alaska Airlines Arena 6,258
15–15 :
September
: 3–1 (Home: 1–0; Road: 2–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
31
September 1
Atlanta Dream
W 92–75
Canada (21)
Tied (8)
Canada (8)
Alaska Airlines Arena 9,000
16–15
32
September 3
@ Phoenix Mercury
W 82–70
Howard (22)
Howard (12)
Canada (10)
Talking Stick Resort Arena 8,724
17–15
33
September 5
@ Los Angeles Sparks
L 68–102
Tied (13)
Russell (8)
Howard (4)
Staples Center 10,591
17–16
34
September 8
@ Dallas Wings
W 78–64
Howard (22)
Howard (9)
Tied (5)
College Park Center 5,910
18–16 :
2019 season schedule :

### Playoffs

2019 playoff game log Total: 1–1 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–1) :
First Round: 1–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
September 11
Minnesota Lynx
W 84–74
Canada (26)
Russell (9)
Howard (6)
Angel of the Winds Arena 5,011
1–0 :
Second Round: 0–1 (Home: 0–0; Road: 0–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
September 15
Los Angeles Sparks
L 69–92
Howard (20)
Howard (11)
Canada (7)
Staples Center 9,081
0–1 :
2019 playoff schedule :

## Awards and honors

| Recipient | Award | Date awarded |
| Natasha Howard | WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week | June 3, 2019 |
| Natasha Howard | WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week | June 17, 2019 |
| Natasha Howard | WNBA Western Conference Player of the Month - June | July 1, 2019 |
| Jewell Loyd | WNBA All-Star Selection | July 15, 2019 |
| Natasha Howard | WNBA All-Star Selection | July 15, 2019 |
| Natasha Howard | WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week | July 22, 2019 |
| Natasha Howard | Defensive Player of the Year Award | September 11, 2019 |

## Standings

| # | Western Conference vte | 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) | First round: Single elimination (Sept. 11) | First round: Single elimination (Sept. 11) | Second round: Single elimination (Sept. 15) | Second round: Single elimination (Sept. 15) | Second round: Single elimination (Sept. 15) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 17 – Sept. 24) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 17 – Sept. 24) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 17 – Sept. 24) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 17 – Sept. 24) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 17 – Sept. 24) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 17 – Sept. 24) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 29 – Oct. 10) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 29 – Oct. 10) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 29 – Oct. 10) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 29 – Oct. 10) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 29 – Oct. 10) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 29 – Oct. 10) | 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 | Connecticut Sun | 84 | 94 | 78 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 3 | Los Angeles Sparks | 92 | 3 | Los Angeles Sparks | 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
### 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 |