Storm vs. Mystics: Natisha Hiedeman Ties Her Career High With 24 as Seattle Wins 97-85 in Awa Fam's Debut

By the 75th free throw, Climate Pledge Arena had the pace of a DMV on a Monday. Sunday's game in Seattle had whistles, lines, more whistles, 52 free throw attempts after halftime alone and, every so often, a Storm player remembering that the 3-point line also pays pretty well.

Natisha Hiedeman tied her career high with 24 points, Seattle knocked down a season-high 13 3-pointers, and the Storm beat the Washington Mystics 97-85. Oh, and the No. 3 overall pick showed up. Awa Fam made her WNBA debut and scored 10 in 20 minutes.

Washington Blinked First

The Mystics had their moment early, building a lead as big as seven. It did not last. Seattle was up 26-24 after one, and Hiedeman's 3 early in the second put the Storm in front for the rest of the afternoon. Washington managed just 13 points in the quarter. Hiedeman then capped the half with a long floater at the 1.8-second mark, and it was 49-37 at the break.

If the first half was a warning, the third quarter was the eviction notice. Seattle's 10-0 run turned 53-42 into 63-42 in under two minutes. A second burst, nine straight late in the period, took it from 67-50 to 76-50, and that 26-point gap was as big as it would get. The Storm won the quarter 27-17 and took a 76-54 lead to the fourth. Washington never got back inside double figures after halftime.

Credit the Mystics for refusing to mail it in. A 10-0 run of their own made it 81-66 with 7:21 left, and they won the final period 31-21, mostly by attacking the rim and living at the line. But every time the margin sniffed respectability, Seattle had an answer. Fam, Jade Melbourne and Stefanie Dolson each made a pair of free throws in a little over a minute, and Dolson's 24-foot 3 off a Hiedeman feed with 40.3 seconds left made it 97-82.

Hiedeman's Day, Dolson's Math Problem

Hiedeman was efficient in every column: 7-of-12 overall, 4-of-6 from 3, 6-of-6 at the line, five assists in 28 minutes. Seattle needed an adult in the room, too. Dominique Malonga, the team's leader in scoring (16.0 points per game) and rebounding (7.3), sat out a fourth straight game in the concussion protocol, so somebody had to absorb those touches.

Flau'jae Johnson scored 17 for a second straight game, matching the season best she set on Friday against Connecticut. It wasn't pretty at 4-of-14, but the rookie went 7-of-7 at the line and grabbed six rebounds, which is how you stay useful on a cold night.

Then there's Dolson, whose stat line looks like a typo: three shots, three makes, two of them from deep, plus 8-of-8 at the line for 16 points and a team-best plus-16. Somebody should check the scorer's math, and then check it again.

Fam is the long-term story. The 6-foot-4 center won't turn 20 until June 17, and she only reached the Storm on Friday, coming off a Spanish League title with Valencia. Her first WNBA basket came late in the second quarter, when she and Johnson ran a pick-and-roll and she finished at the rim. She shot 4-of-7 and added four straight Seattle points late in the fourth. Zia Cooke also had 10 off the bench and finished plus-13.

Washington got balance without a closer. Sonia Citron led the way with 16 points, 10 of them on 11 trips to the stripe. Kiki Iriafen, Georgia Amoore and Angela Dugalic had 13 apiece, and Shakira Austin added 12. Dugalic was the bright spot, needing just 12 minutes and 5-of-6 shooting. Amoore had the strangest night in the building: 8-of-8 at the line, 2-of-9 from the floor, 1-of-7 from 3, six assists and six fouls.

The Third Quarter Settled the 3-Point War

Washington did plenty right. It doubled Seattle in the paint, 36-18, won the fast break 12-5 and even scored more off turnovers, 18-15. In most games, that's a blueprint.

The trouble was behind the arc. Seattle went 13-of-28 from 3 while the Mystics went 4-of-20, a 27-point gap in a game decided by 12. The foul line couldn't close it, either, because the Storm were nearly perfect there, too, going 32-of-34 against Washington's 35-of-41.

That's why those two third-quarter runs were fatal. Once the lead hit 20-plus, Washington had no way to answer a 3 with a 3. All it could do was keep getting fouled, and free throws are a slow way to erase 26 points. The Mystics scored 31 in the fourth and still never made anyone in Seattle nervous, which tells you how much damage had already been done.

The Receipts

• 39-12: Points from 3-point range, Seattle's way.
• 67-of-75: Combined free throw shooting, with Washington taking 41 of the attempts.
• 36-18: Washington's edge in the paint, which bought it very little.
• 27-17: Seattle's third quarter, the one that decided the game.
• 3-3, 2-2, 8-8: Dolson's shooting splits. Frame them.

Where Everybody Stands

Seattle climbs to 3-4 and 2-2 at home, with two straight wins since Friday's 77-59 victory over Connecticut ended a three-game skid. Washington drops to 2-3 and 2-2 on the road, its second straight loss after a 92-69 defeat in Dallas.

Nobody gets long to sit with this one. The same two teams meet again on Wednesday in Seattle, so the Mystics' adjustment list has a very short shelf life and a very obvious first item: guard the 3-point line, or start making some of your own.

Onboarding Complete

Most people spend their first 48 hours at a new job hunting for the bathroom and resetting a password. Fam showed up on Friday, and by Sunday she had a WNBA debut, 10 points and a win on a day her team was missing its top scorer. Hiedeman gets the headline, Dolson gets the math award, and the officials get credit for their step count. But the thing Seattle will take out of this one is simpler. The new kid already knows where the rim is.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game context as reported by the Associated Press.