The Seattle Storm brought a nine-game losing streak into Saturday’s meeting with the Phoenix Mercury, a skid that had left Seattle at 3-13 before tipoff. Phoenix arrived with its own problems at 4-12 after four straight losses, but the rematch still carried a simple question: which struggling team would finally stop the bleeding?
Natisha Hiedeman is a big reason that question matters. She was back in Seattle as a starter after two seasons coming off the bench in Minnesota, and her numbers have jumped with the role. She was averaging 15.0 points, 2.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists, production that has made her one of the most reliable scoring options in this matchup.
The search for Hiedeman is happening now because she has been beating one benchmark almost every night. She had gone over 21.5 PRA in six straight games and in seven of her last eight, a run that says more than a hot shooting night. PRA combines points, rebounds and assists, so a player can clear it with scoring, playmaking or steady work on the glass. That is why a 15-point scorer can still look even more valuable when the rest of her line keeps filling out.
There is, though, a reason the rematch did not read like a simple repeat of the first meeting. Phoenix beat Seattle 72-68 in Seattle on June 3, a game in which the Mercury failed to cover the -7.5 spread, and Hiedeman finished with 23 PRA. So even with Phoenix’s earlier edge, the market still leaned the other way on her PRA number for Saturday, a sign that recent usage and volume were carrying more weight than the final score from the first game.
The wider picture is bleak for both teams. The article framed the game as a meeting between two of the worst teams in the WNBA, with Seattle’s nine straight losses sitting beside Phoenix’s four-game slide. That is what made the matchup feel bigger than a mid-June regular-season game: one side was trying to end a collapse, the other was trying to avoid being pulled deeper into one.
For Seattle, Hiedeman’s role is the clearest thing working in its favor. For Phoenix, the previous win over Seattle showed it can still handle this opponent, but the numbers before Saturday pointed to a game where form mattered more than memory. If one of these teams was going to change its season, this was the night to start.
