Storm spoil the Sun’s last home opener; Former MIT women’s coach wins first WNBA game

The former LSU teammates guarded one another for multiple possessions throughout the game. Johnson shot just three of 10 from the field, but she consistently worked her way to the free-throw line, making nine of 10 attempts and finishing with 16 points, six rebounds and a team-high three steals.

“Yeah man, (Morrow) kept hitting me (and) pushing me outside, I was like ‘Bruh, Aneesah stop pushing me!’” Johnson said with a smile. “But I’m just excited to see her flourish, because she was really underrated, especially in college... she can play, she can shoot that thing.”

Seattle’s Lexie Brown delivered in front of her friends and family, scoring a team-high 17 points off the bench. The Boston-native and daughter of former Boston Celtic Dee Brown was on a heater, making six of seven shot attempts from the field, including five of six from beyond the arc.

Brown was drafted ninth overall by the Connecticut Sun in 2018, but the former Blue Devil did not see much playing time as a rookie and was subsequently traded to the Minnesota Lynx at the 2019 WNBA Draft. Her career also included stops in Chicago and Los Angeles before being traded to Seattle prior to last season.

“I didn’t really play that much when I was in Connecticut, but it was my first experience (and) I will always be grateful to the Connecticut Staff for giving me my first WNBA opportunity,” Brown said. “I still have family here, they’re coming to every game, even when I wasn’t playing (or) when I was sick, they’d pull up every time they were in Boston So I’m just really grateful that this organization was able to give me my first taste of the W.

“I am sad that they’re moving, but I’m also excited about going to Houston, not going to lie. But this organization will always have a special place in my heart.”

Storm’s coach and fellow Massachusetts native Sonia Raman was pleased to earn her first win as a WNBA head coach.

“I feel great,” Raman said. “I mean, for me, it’s about the team and the players, all the coaches have put all this work into it, so it’s always fun when things go your way and you can break for that win, but it felt great and really exciting, the players are still up in the locker room.”

Born and raised in Framingham, Mass., Raman played at Tufts University as a walk-on and began developing her coaching abilities as an undergrad. After a six-year stint as an assistant coach for the women’s basketball team at Wellesley College, Raman took over as the head coach of the women’s program at MIT.

Her 152 wins over 12 seasons were the most in program history at the time. The two-time NEWMAC Coach of the Year Award winner then spent the next four years as an assistant coach for the Memphis Grizzlies before joining the New York Liberty last year; she’s the first Indian-American woman to coach in the NBA or WNBA.

“It’s kind of the luck of the draw that (my first win) ends up happening here,” Raman said. “Couldn’t be more happy for that. My family was here, my mom’s here. It’s Mother’s Day, so happy Mother’s Day to her.

“(New England) is a hot bed for basketball. This has been historically a great place for women’s basketball. There’s a lot of history in this building, a lot of really great playoff battles (and) series’. Then you take it all the way through New England, there’s just so much history between the Celtics and a lot of really great college programs in the area as well, so it’s always been a special place.”

The Sun have two more home games this week before embarking on a five-game road trip, with two games against the Las Vegas Aces on Wednesday, May 13 at 8 p.m. and again on Friday, May 15 at 7:30 p.m.

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