\u201cIt was really, really helpful because I just knew them already,\u201d Malonga said. \u201cSo it was super natural to get into this new environment altogether. I love them all, so I\u2019m just really happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
We are excited to announce the launch of TWO new podcasts for all the women\u2019s sports fans out there looking for a daily dose of women\u2019s sports news and analysis. Stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or anywhere you listen to podcasts, and make sure to subscribe!<\/p>\n Quinn noted that Malonga spent a lot of on-court time with Tibbs during the Storm season, so using Unrivaled\u2019s player development time to continue to grow upon that work has been beneficial. But Quinn is also a significant part of that development and has drawn praise from Malonga and her teammates.<\/p>\n \u201cI just love how she just has a perfect balance of seriousness but also letting us be free and be elite in our respective roles,\u201d Breeze BC forward Rickea Jackson<\/a> told The IX Basketball. \u201cThis time is so versatile. Everyone can play multiple positions \u2026 and I feel like that\u2019s why our chemistry has gotten so good. But that also goes into the account of Noelle. Like the offense she put in, it just allows us to make reads. \u2026 And I feel like that\u2019s just going to continue to grow our mental game as well.<\/p>\n \u201cBut just playing for her and the things that she says to us, we definitely respect her a lot,\u201d Jackson continued. \u201cShe is a very, very smart-minded basketball coach. So to play for her has been, honestly, fun. I love playing for Coach Noelle, and I feel like we just want to win for her.\u201d<\/p>\n Malonga is also surrounded by peers who are close in age. Even though the 20-year-old is the youngest player on her Unrivaled team, Breeze BC, they are the youngest club in the league this season. Teammates Paige Bueckers<\/a>, Cameron Brink<\/a> and Jackson are all still 24 years old, while Kate Martin<\/a> is 25, and Aari McDonald<\/a> is the oldest at just 27. This stands in stark contrast to the veteran-heavy 2025 Storm team that boasted 35-year-olds Nneka Ogwumike<\/a> and Skylar Diggins<\/a> and 34-year-old Erica Wheeler<\/a> as the oldest players. However, Malonga does not think her team\u2019s youth affects how they learn and grow.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the day, no matter the age, we\u2019re still pros. I think here, everybody\u2019s just doing the work,\u201d Malonga said. \u201cYeah, of course, the vets have a lot of experience, and you can tell that they\u2019re in this game for years. But even the young ones, I feel like we\u2019re just professional and we\u2019re just coming in and doing the work. \u2026 Like we\u2019re just really motivated when we come here. We just want to get the job done. So I think being young doesn\u2019t mean that we just doing less, like we\u2019re really lucky and we just love being here.\u201d<\/p>\n Quinn agrees, and she does not feel she has to act as a veteran voice for her young players, just as she never had to act as a veteran voice when leading a more experienced team. To Quinn, coaching a young team not so different from coaching Vets \u2014 she just makes sure to hit on every little detail, not skip over A and B to get to C. Per Quinn, though, Malonga and the other Breeze players are extremely smart, wise beyond their years.<\/p>\n Strong performances draw praise<\/p>\n Malonga\u2019s first WNBA season demonstrated her immense potential, and Unrivaled has continued to show that off. In her first two games for Breeze BC, Malonga became the first player to record back-to-back double-doubles in their first two games, with 15 points and 14 boards in the opener and 15 points alongside 13 rebounds the next game. The 6\u20196 forward also recorded an Unrivaled career-high of 20 points in only 12 minutes against Rose BC on Jan. 11. She is averaging a double-double of 15.8 points and 11.4 rebounds, plus 1.2 blocks per game.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s a monster,\u201d Jackson praised. \u201cShe\u2019s just so versatile and able to affect other people\u2019s shots, and her ability to dunk \u2026 I feel like that\u2019s where she\u2019s so scary \u2026 but she\u2019s gonna continue to grow. She just turned 20, but she\u2019s so young and already affecting the game in ways that she has already. So I feel like, as she does continue to grow, she\u2019s just gonna get better and better, and it\u2019s just gonna be scary, honestly.\u201d<\/p>\n The IX Soccer is here! <\/strong><\/p>\n In case you missed it, The IX Sports introduced a new women\u2019s soccer-specific vertical called The IX Soccer<\/a>!<\/p>\n Just like The IX Basketball, this will be your destination for 24\/7 women\u2019s soccer coverage, including exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes looks at your favorite teams and leagues, as well as news from around the world. <\/p>\n Follow the link below<\/a> and bookmark the page to stay up to date on the latest headlines in women\u2019s soccer.<\/p>\n Malonga also draws praise from her opponents. After squeaking out the win for Rose BC, Azur\u00e1 Stevens<\/a>, who played against Malonga overseas several years before she was drafted into the WNBA, applauded the young talent.<\/p>\n \u201cDom\u2019s potential is incredible, and she\u2019s already really good at such a young age,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cJust her ability to really exploit in the pick and roll, and she does a really good job of keeping the ball up really high, so it\u2019s hard to contest that. She\u2019s long, she\u2019s athletic. She got a little frustrated when we pressured her, but, you know, she\u2019s young, she\u2019ll learn.\u201d<\/p>\n Her new teammates can also clearly see why her Storm teammates called her a future league MVP. Martin, who played with four-time MVP A\u2019ja Wilson<\/a> in Las Vegas and another potential future MVP in Caitlin Clark<\/a> throughout her college career at Iowa, sees the parallel in how hard she works. <\/p>\n \u201cHer work ethic is phenomenal. She comes in, she gets her work done, she gets a lot of extra shooting in. She\u2019s very intentional when she\u2019s at practice. She asks the right questions. She notices things, and she\u2019s just a smart, high-IQ basketball player,\u201d Martin told The IX Basketball. \u201cI mean, coach Quinn said it the other day, she has no ceiling, we all have no ceilings. And so I really would never put a limit on anybody. I just think she has a lot of potential, and I\u2019m excited to see where she\u2019ll be even next year, or even in the next five years.\u201d<\/p>\n Development through competition<\/p>\n Two of Malonga\u2019s teammates could serve as examples for the kind of development she will experience playing at Unrivaled. Both Los Angeles Sparks<\/a> forward Jackson and Golden State Valkyries<\/a> guard Martin played in Unrivaled last year after their rookie seasons in the WNBA and felt that the experience made them better players when they returned to the WNBA for their second pro seasons. In particular, they say they utilized the ball screen reads that they performed consistently with Unrivaled, as well as the reps of one-on-one and ball-screen defense.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s just game-like reps, and anytime you\u2019re getting game-like reps and practicing at game speed, it\u2019s going to be beneficial,\u201d Martin said. \u201cIf you go half speed at something and just practice it, not live, you might not get better at it. But if you\u2019re doing it game speed against the best competition in the world, I think that it will translate for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n Beyond the 3\u00d73 format, what also helps Unrivaled be such a great place for development is the environment itself.<\/p>\n \u201cI would say we all take it seriously, we all care about this, but also at the same time, I think we know that we\u2019re in Miami and you\u2019re supposed to have fun,\u201d Martin said. \u201cYou\u2019re with a different team. It is a different format. This isn\u2019t the W, so you might as well take advantage of that and just work on the things that you\u2019ve been working on, and try to work out some kinks or weaknesses that you\u2019ve had, and try not to be too hard on yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n Even Quinn feels it is a looser environment where you can make what you want out of it, which is something she is personally committed to, along with just enjoying the experience. <\/p>\n \u201cI think that Unrivaled does a really good job of providing everything that we need,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cIn my second year, I\u2019ve seen a lot of changes that they\u2019ve made, and a lot of those were from recommendations from players. So, as a player, you feel really good when you know owners and GMs are listening to what you\u2019re saying and then applying that change immediately. So we have everything we need here to continue to grow and get better, and that\u2019s what it\u2019s about in the offseason.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you have all the tools to be successful, it\u2019s just on you to show up and put in the work. And that\u2019s what we\u2019re all trying to do here.\u201d<\/p>\n As a fellow frontcourt player \u2014 though at 6\u20192 the forward also plays guard \u2014 Jackson thinks that the biggest aspect of the game Unrivaled will help Malonga with her physicality.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like for Dom, she\u2019s already so finessed. She already has the fade, you know, so I feel like this would just make her be more physical if anything,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cBecause sometimes you have to get your shot off by bumping someone first, or they\u2019re not going to call it. So I feel like she\u2019s growing in that. She\u2019s learning that. And the more and more she just continues to play in this environment, she\u2019s just going to naturally get it because she learns so quickly. She has a very high IQ, so for her to be able to do what she\u2019s doing already has been amazing, but I feel like this league is just probably going to make her more physical.\u201d<\/p>\n Malonga admitted that the physicality of Unrivaled has been one of the biggest and hardest adjustments for her to make. She is also adjusting to how much space she has to cover, how to keep the ball in her hands and make good decisions within the differentiated format. Even if she struggles through these challenges, she know they will make her a better player. <\/p>\n Order \u2018Rare Gems\u2019 and save 30%![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/38898935_20260105_BreezeVPhantom_KEES1-5722_jpg_Kees_Kees_20260106_042347-e1768900097839-1024x736.jp.jpeg\")
Breeze BC head coach Noelle Quinn addresses Dominique Malonga, Paige Bueckers and Kate Martin sitting in front of her during a timeout in a game against Phantom at Sephora Arena in Medley, Fla., on Jan. 6, 2026. (Photo credit: Unrivaled Basketball)<\/p>\n![\"Players](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/76f021a7-9ea9-497a-a678-1f2ea58cf44620260111_BreezevRose_HK9860-Large.jpeg\")
Breeze forward Dominique Malonga and Rose forward Azur\u00e1 Stevens jump up for the ball at tipoff at Sephora Arena in Medley, Fla., on Jan. 11, 2026. (Photo credit: Unrivaled Basketball)<\/p>\n![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/39000015_20260109_BreezeVsHive_Retro23_jpg_Retro_\ud83d\udc51_20260110_032736.jpg\")
Breeze forward Dominique Malonga shoots over Hive forward Ezi Magbegor in a game at Sephora Arena in Medley, Fla., on Jan. 9, 2026. (Photo credit: Unrivaled Basketball)<\/p>\n
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Howard Megdal, founder and editor of The IX Basketball and The IX Sports, wrote this deeply reported book. \u201cRare Gems\u201d follows four connected generations of women\u2019s basketball pioneers, from Elvera \u201cPeps\u201d Neuman to Cheryl Reeve and from Lindsay Whalen to Sylvia Fowles and Paige Bueckers.<\/p>\n
![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/39000023_20260109_BreezeVsHive_Retro31_jpg_Retro_\ud83d\udc51_20260110_032741.jpg\")
Breeze BC teammates Paige Bueckers and Dominique Malonga in a game against Hive BC at Sephora Arena in Medley, Fla., on Jan. 9, 2026. (Photo credit: Unrivaled Basketball)<\/p>\n