Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis entered the 2015 WNBA Draft with an impeccable resume.

She was the NCAA’s all-time leader in three pointers made, had three national titles to her name, and was named to the All-NCAA Tournament Team three times. And that was just the tip of the iceberg.

The Storm then took her with the third overall pick, one of two to three picks for Seattle with Jewell Loyd (No. 1) being the other.

There was a youth movement in Seattle and Mosqueda-Lewis was right in the middle of all of it.

“At the beginning of the season, I was nervous and unsure of what I was going to be able to do, if I was going to be able to make a big impact,” she said. “Now being the end of the season, having more minutes, towards the end, I have more confidence in myself and a lot more confidence in my ability to contribute on the court every night.”

But it took some time for her to find her role. The 5-11 forward had a difficult time adjusting early on and saw more than 10 minutes only once through her first 13 games. That is until she began to figure everything out.

With the help of Assistant Coach Ryan Webb, Mosqueda-Lewis continued to work hard at her game. Staying late at practice, showing up early for shootarounds, and working her body into WNBA shape.

Then she had a mini breakout. She played 18 minutes at Phoenix, including the entire fourth quarter, and scored a then-career-high nine points and hit 3-for-4 from distance.

After going back to playing sparingly for about four games, her opportunity came when she returned home to her native Southern California to face the Sparks. She scored 15 points in 12 minutes, with 12 of the points coming in the second quarter as the Storm went onto win 85-77.

The next day she threw in 14.

Her confidence was growing and so was her role as the second unit’s top scorer. In the season’s last two games, she set back-to-back career highs with 16 and 19 points.

She was also sharing the court with a group who were all still finding its footing in the WNBA. Along with third-year guard Angel Goodrich, second-year center Markeisha Gatling, and Quanitra Hollingsworth, the quartet played heavy minutes and led the charge that resulted in a win over eventual-WNBA champion Minnesota.

“Towards the end everybody got used to the system, knew what they were supposed to do, where they were supposed to be, how they were supposed to contribute on the team, and just getting comfortable with one another and knowing each other’s tendencies, and really buying in what we’re trying to do here,” she said.

“I’m a firm believer in you can’t really adjust and learn until you’re thrown out there, until you’re actually in it,” Mosqueda-Lewis continued. “Getting more minutes and getting more comfortable and familiar with the players and the way the game is played at this level made a difference.”

Mosqueda-Lewis’ ability to put the ball in the basket was among the league’s best. She finished the season averaging 18.7 points per 40 minutes, which not only was the best among all rookies but was 13th in the league, one spot behind All-WNBA Second Teamer DeWanna Bonner.

That number got even better after the All-Star Break and improved to 19.9 per 40 minutes.

Mosqueda-Lewis’ comfort level continued to grow as the season wore on and the experiences this group had together with a new head coach, new system, with a whole batch of new players should translate heading into 2016.

“It made a huge difference to know that we were all in the same thing together,” she said. “We all were learning new things, we all were in a new system, we all were trying to transition. If our team wasn’t as close knit and as great as it was, that helped that we all needed each other and had each other’s backs.”