ARLINGTON, TX — The Seattle Storm defeated the Dallas Wings on Friday night, earning a 95-60 victory. The Wings had no answer for Dominique Malonga — the No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft — who scored 22 points on 10-12 shooting from the field. She added nine rebounds. The Wings had no answer for the rookie, especially since center Li Yueru recently suffered a season-ending injury. With minimal center depth on the Wings' roster at the moment, Malonga was able to get to her spots while finishing at the basket without too much trouble.
“She's gonna be really good… Her size and length and speed up and down the floor,” Wings head coach Chris Koclanes said of Malonga. “It was in transition a lot early, you know, and then when she got going, now she's catching on rolls and they're posting her up. We really, you know, couldn't push her out enough. We came with some doubles, but… when she can get deep catches like that and just turn and score quick, she can turn over top of our smaller defenders.
“So, she had a great night. She's a good player, but, you know, we can do a better job just with early physicality, ball pressure on the perimeter and then being more aggressive when we do send two bodies to help our under-sized posts.”
Malonga, who stands 6'6″ and has a 7'1″ wingspan, entered the game averaging 6.8 points per game on 53.3 percent field goal shooting. She had only recorded 12.7 minutes per outing, though. Malonga clearly has the ability to find success in the WNBA, something the Wings certainly discovered on Friday night.
“Yeah, she's a really good young player,” Diamond Miller said of Malonga. “You could just tell just by how she's doing right now she's going to be really good in the future. That's just a testimony to her and everything she has put in. She's gonna be in the league for a very, very long time.”
The Wings have the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft on their roster in Paige Bueckers. The WNBA's future is bright with young stars such as Malonga and Bueckers in the league.
Friday's contest represented the first of a three-game homestand for Dallas. The Wings' next game is scheduled for Sunday afternoon against the Golden State Valkyries before finishing the homestand on Wednesday night in a matchup with the Connecticut Sun. Dallas will attempt to bounce back in their next two games following Friday's defeat.
