Dominique Malonga, who flew from France and arrived in time for the Storm’s exhibition opener, drew a thunderous applause from the Climate Pledge Arena crowd when she appeared on the giant screens above the court.
Malonga, the No. 2 overall WNBA draft pick, watched in street clothes at the end of the bench while Nneka Ogwumike scored a game-high 18 points and Li Yueru added 15 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Storm to a comfortable 79-59 victory against the Connecticut Sun.
Sunday’s game was the lone exhibition for the Storm and provided the first look at a retooled roster that returns four starters and brought in 12 newcomers.
In addition to Malonga, the Storm were without projected starters Ezi Magbegor and Gabby Williams, which forced coach Noelle Quinn to roll out a makeshift lineup that began the game with Ogwumike, Yueru, Skylar Diggins, Erica Wheeler and Alysha Clark.
Yueru, a 6-foot-7 center, appeared unstoppable in spurts while scoring nine points in the first quarter against a short-handed Sun team that was missing Marina Mabrey, Diamond DeShields, Leila Lacan, Aneesah Morrow and Saniya Rivers.
The Storm acquired Yueru in a blockbuster three-team trade that included Jewell Loyd and Kelsey Plum, but the relatively unheralded third-year veteran from China could prove to be a steal if Sunday’s Storm debut is any indication.
“We wanted her because we knew what she had to offer,” Quinn said. “Coming into camp and seeing her on the floor and getting her in our environment, I think it’s good to see that she complements the pieces that we do have.”
With Yueru providing staunch rim protection, the Storm outrebounded the Sun 42-28. Seattle also held Connecticut to 32.3% shooting from the field while connecting on 48.3% of its field goals, including 31.2% on three-pointers.
“I just try to do some easy things,” Yueru said. “Sometimes I feel nervous and my teammates tell me ‘Just do what you want to do and do easy things.’ That made me feel better.”
Yueru made it look easy while converting 6 of 9 attempts and dominating inside.
Meanwhile, Ogwumike had the hot hand from outside and saved the Storm from a miserable perimeter shooting performance. She converted 4 of 5 three-point attempts while the rest of the team sank 1 of 11.
“Noey has labeled me a hybrid,” Ogwumike said. “I can go back to the basket. I can face the basket. A point of emphasis for me this year was shooting of course, so I put up a lot of shots in the offseason. And it matches the aspects of the system that Noey wants to see me in. Yeah, I’m a post player. Yeah, I can roll. But kind of really tapping into her offensive mind of spacing and understanding where I am in space.
“I’m still trying to learn it, and so I’m hoping that will give me, maybe not necessarily more threes, but just more recognition in terms of where I can be a threat in the flow of the system that Noey has.”
The Storm led 24-12 in the first quarter and pulled away late in the second quarter when Clark forced a turnover that allowed Ogwumike to collect a loose ball and pass to Diggins for a highlight fast-break layup and a 39-23 lead.
Soon after, Ogwumike sank a couple of free throws that gave the Storm their biggest lead in the first half at 41-23 with 3:57 left before the break.
Zia Cooke converted a difficult midrange jumper and made the ensuing free throw for a three-point play that put Seattle up 45-30 at halftime.
The Sun, who received a team-high 13 points from Tina Charles, never got any closer in the second half.
Aside from Yueru, Cooke (eight points) and rookie forward Mackenzie Holmes (nine points and eight rebounds) had notable Storm debuts.
The Storm committed 20 turnovers, but Quinn was pleased with the team’s 21 assists on 29 field goals.
“Early on we were super disruptive to start the basketball game,” Quinn said. “There’s synergy between our defense and our offense. Just getting out and playing early is very important. With the veteran group, the translation to the game, the carryover to the game, was there because they are committed to making sure we’re staying locked into what we’ve been emphasizing in camp.”
The Storm resume training camp Tuesday before traveling to Los Angeles for a private scrimmage on Saturday against the Sparks at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion.
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