Alysha Clark, Gabby Williams make Storm’s defense even tougher

Clark is returning to the city where she spent nine years of her career and won WNBA championships in 2018 and 2020. Though she came out of college leading the nation in scoring, Clark eventually found her spot in the league as a lockdown defender, leading Storm fans to affectionately call her “The Eraser.” The 5’11 guard was named to the WNBA All-Defensive first team in 2020 and the second team in 2019. On her way to another WNBA championship with the Las Vegas Aces in 2023, Clark was named WNBA Sixth Player of the Year.

In both years that Clark was named to a WNBA All-Defensive team, she led the league in 3-point percentage, at 48.1% in 2019 and 52.2% in 2020. The 37-year-old is also generally efficient from the floor, shooting 48.5% from the field for her career.

“Alysha’s ability to influence the game on both ends of the court is rare. She is an experienced leader and brings an unmatched level of defensive strength and skill. Not to mention, she’s won three championship titles, so she knows what it takes to compete and win,” Storm head coach Noelle Quinn said in the press release announcing Clark’s return. “Her connection with Seattle is special, and I know our fans and community are excited to welcome her back.”

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Williams is returning to the franchise that cored her in January after she won an Olympic silver medal last summer and then posted the best numbers of her WNBA career. The French star has always been known as a brilliant and athletic defender. But after the Olympics and taking a few games to adjust to her new Storm teammates, Williams also found her scoring touch.

In previous years, Williams joined the Storm late, either because her European club team’s season ran into the WNBA season or, as was the case last year, because she was with the French national team preparing for the Paris Olympics. But after playing for Fenerbahçe in the Turkish Super League instead of in France this offseason, Williams will be able to report on time this season. That will allow Williams to develop chemistry with her teammates in preseason instead of being thrown into the fire midseason.

Both Clark and Williams are capable scorers who can play as guards or undersized fours while being some of the league’s all-time best defenders. Considering the rest of Seattle’s roster, the Storm could boast the best defense in the WNBA in 2025.

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Alongside Williams and Clark, the Storm have past Defensive Player of the Year candidate Ezi Magbegor; seven-time WNBA All-Defensive team honoree Nneka Ogwumike; point guard Skylar Diggins-Smith, who ranked sixth in the WNBA in 2024 with 1.7 steals per game; and the 6’7 post presence of Li Yueru.

Defense was a strong suit for the Storm last season as well. Quinn recognized that and made it a focal point of the team’s play.

“What I’ve seen with Noey this year is an absolute masterful job of playing to her … team’s strengths,” former Storm head coach Dan Hughes told The Next ahead of the 2024 playoffs. “We have strengths as coaches — Noey is very good offensively — but she has recognized that this team has some defensive gifts, and she has really brought that out in this 2024 team.”

Quinn will have a similar task ahead of her in 2025, getting the best out of her team’s defensive abilities while finding ways to score outside of transition opportunities.

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Unfortunately for Seattle, its defensive Energizer Bunny off the bench, forward Jordan Horston, suffered an ACL injury in an Athletes Unlimited game on Friday, according to Rodrigues. Horston will likely miss the entire WNBA season. Her injury makes Williams’ return all the more important, as they play very similarly.

Even before Horston’s injury, the Storm still had several roster spots to fill. Assuming point guard Nika Mühl misses the season after her own offseason ACL tear and Horston is out, too, Seattle has six players who are healthy and under contract so far: Diggins-Smith, Williams, Clark, Ogwumike, Magbegor and Li. The league requires at least 11 players on the roster and a maximum of 12.

Williams can play point guard, but the Storm will still want someone available to back up Diggins-Smith, who is currently the only healthy full-time guard on the roster. After trading away starting shooting guard Jewell Loyd, there is also a large hole to fill there. And if Quinn hopes not to play Williams or Clark at the four because they are undersized, she will also want a player to back up Ogwumike, with Magbegor and Li at the five.

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Seattle still has the Nos. 2, 21, 29 and 34 picks in the 2025 WNBA Draft and the rights to 6’3 forward Mackenzie Holmes, who was a third-round pick in 2024, to help fill out the roster.

How the Storm fill their remaining roster spots will likely determine how much success they find in 2025. But Seattle is already well positioned to wreak defensive havoc on the league.