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Despite these numbers, and although the focus is first and foremost on qualifying for the playoffs, the Storm\u2019s belief in their ability to win a championship remains the same as it was to start the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t cherry-pick a season like this because it\u2019s unprecedented,\u201d Storm point guard Skylar Diggins<\/a> told The Next at shootaround on Friday, before a loss to New York. \u201dWe\u2019ve never played this many games before. We\u2019ve never had this type of format. We\u2019ve never been in this situation.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd it\u2019s a lot of parity in the league this year.\u00a0\u00a0\u2026 Every year it comes down to this type of situation, as far as a fight for positions, fight for spots and fight to get in. Obviously, we didn\u2019t anticipate cutting it this close, but we still have [the] opportunity to control our own destiny. I think there\u2019s something to be said about that.\u201d<\/p>\n If the Storm win against the Valkyries on Tuesday, they clinch a playoff spot<\/a>. If they lose, they need the Sparks to lose at least one of their final two games.<\/p>\n Guard Brittney Sykes<\/a> requested a trade from the Mystics midseason because she wanted to compete for a championship<\/a>. That landed her in Seattle, where she said her belief in the team now is the same as when she arrived in early August.<\/p>\n \u201cNothing sways that. Wins and losses, opportunities, doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d Sykes told The Next before Friday\u2019s game. \u201cMy intent is my intention, and this team is intentional on competing for a championship, however that looks. It might be ugly. There\u2019s a lot of champions that have won and that shit did not look cute at all. I mean, it\u2019s all just a part of our story and all a part of our journey to what we all want.\u201d<\/p>\n Sykes added, \u201cIf I\u2019m being very honest, I think people get lost in our losses. Our wins don\u2019t get talked about as much. I feel like \u2026 as soon as we lose one game after three in a row winning, it\u2019s like, \u2018Oh damn, they fucking suck.\u2019 I don\u2019t know how. Everybody in this league is so fucking good. \u2026<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not mad at it. People talk about us because we\u2019re that damn good. So we\u2019re just going to continue to show up the way we do.\u201d<\/p>\n Similarly, head coach Noelle Quinn<\/a> believes strongly in all her players and the team as a whole. But she doesn\u2019t want to look too far ahead.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we\u2019re talking about big picture, we have really good athletes, we have former championship experience, we have a young superstar player who\u2019s in the mix as well, and yeah, bringing Sykes into the fold was positioning us to make a long playoff run,\u201d Quinn told The Next. \u201cSo I think that\u2019s my focus, to make sure we\u2019re continuing to play good basketball to get where you need to be in order to even talk about [a championship].\u201d<\/p>\n Seattle\u2019s strengths<\/p>\n Beyond self-belief, Seattle has plenty of positives working in its favor for a playoff run. First and foremost, it has an incredibly talented roster.<\/p>\n Diggins, a seven-time WNBA All-Star and six-time All-WNBA honoree, is the head of the snake at point guard. Former WNBA MVP Nneka Ogwumike<\/a> is having yet another record-breaking season<\/a> and leads the team in scoring. Center Ezi Magbegor<\/a> set a single-season franchise blocks record and has improved her offense<\/a>. Forward Gabby Williams<\/a> earned her first All-Star nod this year<\/a>; she is having the best offensive season of her career while being a frontrunner for WNBA Defensive Player of the Year<\/a>. Sykes also earned her first All-Star honor this season before the trade and is another defensive menace.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s just the starters.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that we have the pieces and we have the bodies,\u201d first-year Storm guard Lexie Brown<\/a> told The Next. \u201cI think our bench is one of the most talented in the entire league.\u201d<\/p>\n Seattle\u2019s bench doesn\u2019t get the most playing time, but it has provided big boosts. French rookie and No. 2 overall pick Dominique Malonga<\/a> brings immense offensive contributions despite her youth and has improved defensively. Veteran guard Erica Wheeler<\/a> is having a career year and always provides a spark with her energy<\/a>. Guards Tiffany Mitchell<\/a>, Zia Cooke<\/a> and Brown and forward Mackenzie Holmes<\/a> play less consistently but have each contributed in their own way throughout the season.<\/p>\n Related reading: Can Dominique Malonga, Storm bench complete Seattle title push?<\/a><\/p>\n Additionally, Seattle\u2019s roster boasts valuable playoff experience. Ogwumike leads the pack\u00a0with 36 career playoff appearances<\/a>\u00a0and a WNBA championship in 2016. Diggins has played in\u00a017 playoff games<\/a>, advancing to the WNBA Finals with Phoenix in 2021. Magbegor has\u00a014 playoff appearances<\/a>, six of which came when Seattle won its last championship in 2020. Williams\u00a0has nine<\/a>, most of them with Seattle. Sykes has eight<\/a>. Brown also\u00a0has eight<\/a>, including a championship in Chicago. Wheeler\u00a0has six<\/a>\u00a0and Mitchell\u00a0has four<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThey know what it feels like. They\u2019ve been through it,\u201d Quinn said. \u201cThis team hasn\u2019t been through it multiple seasons, as some teams have, as a unit. But to have elite players in certain positions \u2026 who you know can carry a lot of what that feels like and show it and produce within that environment, it\u2019s very important.\u201d<\/p>\n Although most teams want to finish the season high in the standings to secure home-court advantage during the playoffs, Seattle has played particularly well on the road this season. The Storm are 9-11 at home and 13-9 on the road.<\/p>\n They\u2019ve also shown how well they can play in spurts. More often than not, when they lose games, it\u2019s because of poor individual quarters rather than all-around bad performances.<\/p>\n \u201cOur transition, turning teams over, our efficiency from three \u2014 these are the things that we\u2019re going to continue to build upon,\u201d Quinn said. \u201cDefensively, we have to be better with keeping things out [of] the paint and rebounding. But \u2026 overall, the things that we\u2019ve done within the last five, six games, that will give us the momentum of what we need to continue to build.\u201d<\/p>\n Want even more women\u2019s sports in your inbox?<\/p>\n Subscribe now to The IX Sports<\/a> and receive our daily women\u2019s sports newsletter covering soccer, tennis, basketball, golf, hockey and gymnastics from our incredible team of writers. That includes Basketball Wednesday from founder and editor Howard Megdal.<\/p>\n Readers of The IX Basketball now save 50% on their subscription to The IX.<\/p>\n What it takes to win a championship<\/p>\n The prevailing sentiment in Seattle is that the Storm are not far off from being able to contend for a title.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course there\u2019s little things that you can change, [but] there\u2019s nothing drastic,\u201d Sykes said. \u201cIt\u2019s all internal. It\u2019s all in-game decisions, inward shit. \u2026 It\u2019s just little tweaks that everybody is doing right now. All these teams are getting stronger. They\u2019re getting more confident in their possessions. So we\u2019re doing the same.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere are moments where we see who we can be,\u201d Quinn told reporters after the home loss to New York. \u201cWhether it\u2019s matchups, whatever the case is, there just hasn\u2019t been this fortitude that we need through moments and stretches of the game. This team hasn\u2019t been together long, though talented. \u2026\u00a0\u00a0So there is some growth that is happening in real time that this group hasn\u2019t had together, and we\u2019re just taking the lumps and the bruises.\u201d<\/p>\n The biggest way those \u201clumps and bruises\u201d have shown up is in inconsistency, both within games and throughout the season. Seattle\u2019s most recent losses, against Los Angeles and New York, were examples of failing to \u201cput together 40 minutes of consistent basketball,\u201d Ogwumike said.<\/p>\n The solution is implementing a lesson that the Storm have learned time and again this season and that Ogwumike said is imperative for playoff success.<\/p>\n \u201cI think just taking every possession, every moment, as seriously as the rest, making the small moments as imperative as the big ones,\u201d Ogwumike explained. \u201cI mean, it\u2019s something that I\u2019ve had perspective on in the beginning of the season, [and] I think a lot of us have had. And the season can be long, and so understanding how to weather the different types of challenges that come with that and not lingering too long. Because at the end of the season, when you\u2019re trying to fight for position, and in the playoffs, you don\u2019t have a lot of time to kind of dwell.\u201d<\/p>\n Rather than simply needing a full change, Ogwumike said the Storm also need to refocus. \u201cWhen you refocus, I think things will change,\u201d Ogwumike said.<\/p>\n There is no simple formula to consistency. It is made up of a wide variety of elements.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot goes into consistency: Your habits, your work, your preparation before getting onto the floor,\u201d Quinn said postgame. \u201cUnderstanding moments in the game and how to conquer those moments. Attitude-wise, not being too high [or] too low, having mental fortitude in that capacity. There are a lot of things that go into play \u2014 not just schematically, X\u2019s and O\u2019s. There are things that, as an individual, we have to conquer, and as a group that we have to conquer as well. So that\u2019s part of it.<\/p>\n \u201cOur team has changed from the beginning of the season until now. Part of that is finding some consistency with one another \u2014 minutes, reps, all of those things. So a lot of different iterations of ourselves this year. Just trying to focus on when we do have good moments, have good games, just trying to mimic those. Sometimes even in the games \u2026 just staying sharp and locked into those moments.\u201d<\/p>\n Most of all, the Storm\u2019s focus is on themselves.<\/p>\n![\"Gabby](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/54751754513_9d657b5336_4k.jpg\")
Seattle Storm guard\/forward Gabby Williams (5) blocks Minnesota Lynx center Alanna Smith\u2019s shot during a game at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn., on Aug. 28, 2025. (Photo credit: John McClellan | The Next)<\/p>\n![\"Seattle](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/54751878030_a54b494596_5k.jpg\")
The Seattle Storm huddle after a game against the Minnesota Lynx at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn., on Aug. 28, 2025. (Photo credit: John McClellan | The Next)<\/p>\n
![\"Minnesota](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/54751882125_f0a0ab3d20_k.jpg\")
(From left to right) Seattle Storm guard Lexie Brown and forward Nneka Ogwumike defend Minnesota Lynx center Alanna Smith and guard Natisha Hiedeman during a game at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn., on Aug. 28, 2025. (Photo credit: John McClellan | The Next)<\/p>\n![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1757367553_106_Untitled-design-13.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Dana](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/51521756046_6d6ec1d149_k.jpg\")
Chicago Sky guard Lexie Brown (in black) cheers during a playoff game at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn., on Sept. 26, 2021. (Photo credit: John McClellan | The Next)<\/p>\n