Valkyries player Miela Sowah's shot looks weird. It works anyways.

Miela Sowah releases the ball from unusually low for the WNBA, pushing it upward from her chest with a wrist flick that sends shots high over her head. Her form has been consistent since early development, and coaches stopped trying to change it once it proved effective. She made multiple half-court shots during Valkyries preseason practice, showing confidence and range. Sowah played college basketball at Duke from 2018 to 2022, where she was known as a reliable shooter, including 38.2% from three-point range and 8.7 points per game. After returning to Australia for professional play, she joined Valkyries training camp, her first WNBA look, while Duke coach Kara Lawson noted steady yearly progression without altering her unique shot.

"When Miela Sowah lets go of the ball, it has a long way to go. At 5-foot-11, she isn't short for WNBA standards, but she releases the ball from lower than nearly any player in the league. Sowah lets it fly from her chest, pushing the ball upward before a flick of the wrist high over her head, the shot soaring (perhaps over Seattle's Zia Cooke). It's something the Valkyries have seen before, like at the late preseason practice at the Chase Center when Sowah made three consecutive half-court shots, to the joy of head coach Natalie Nakase."

"Sowah has always been a shooter. She doesn't remember when her unique form took hold, but it's something coaches stopped trying to alter when she started her college career. Simply, there was no reason to fix what wasn't broken. "It might be foreign to somebody else," said her college coach, Kara Lawson, who is the head coach of Duke women's basketball and also the head coach for the Team USA women's squad. "But it's regular for her.""

""I used to shoot lower when I was younger," Sowah said. "When I was 15, a coach said I need to move it up." She complied, a little. In college, Sowah - who went by her maiden name, Miela Goodchild - was known as a shooter. She shot 38.2 percent from three-point range in college while scoring 8.7 points per game and starting more often than not."

"Sowah played for Duke from 2018 to 2022 before returning to Australia to play professionally. She was invited to Valkyries training camp this year, her first look by a WNBA squad. Lawson watched Sowah grow from across the globe. "She's progressed every year." And she did it without changing what made her unique: her shot. "I liked her, and I thought she would be an overseas player, for sure," Lawson said. "But to become a WNBA player, I didn't think at the time.""

Read at Mission Local