The Seattle Storm dropped their first game back from the FIBA World Cup break, 114-77, but rookie star Flau’jae Johnson made things a little bit interesting in the second half as she caught fire and gave the home crowd something to cheer about.

Following the Storm’s loss, Flau’jae Johnson actually credited Aces All-Star Jackie Young for being the inspiration behind her big second half, and expressed her desire to workout with Young during the offseason.

“If you look in the third quarter, I started using Jackie Young’s hostage dribble, and I started scoring. I was like, ‘I have to use this s**t,’” Johnson joked. “It helps you as a defender as well … I even told her, ‘you’re going to Unrivaled, right?’ I’m training with you. It’s adjustments. We got to be able to make those adjustments. In game, that’s like being cognitive of what’s going on … they’re great players, they’re the best players in the world so if you’re not taking notes, you’re trippin.”

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Johnson finished with a team-high 25 points, just three shy of her career high. She shot 9-of-21 and 3-of-11 from the 3-points line overall, but in the second half she was 8-of-11 from the field and hit her first five shots of the third quarter. She also added two rebounds and one assist in 32 minutes.

The No. 8 overall pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft, Johnson has appeared in 39 games at a little over 28 minutes per game. She’s been averaging 14.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.3 steals with splits of 40 percent shooting from the field, 28.3 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 80.7 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

The Storm have been eliminated from playoff contention, however, and the team has three games remaining on their regular season schedule.