A’JA WILSON RACKS UP 37 POINTS, ACES STAVE OFF WINGS’ LATE CHARGE
A’ja Wilson poured in a season-high 37 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to help the Las Vegas Aces hold on for a 90-86 win over the Dallas Wings on Wednesday in Arlington, Texas.
The Aces (11-11) led by six points at halftime and expanded that advantage to 20 after three quarters as Dallas was held to 4-of-20 shooting the period. Wilson scored nine points in the quarter and had 21 of her points in the second and third period combined as Las Vegas outscored the Wings 50-30 over the middle two quarters.
Dallas got back in the game by scoring nine of the first 10 points in the fourth quarter. The Wings trimmed their deficit to two points after Paige Bueckers’ floater with 27 seconds left, but Wilson responded with a layup with 23.9 seconds to play. Chelsea Gray then canned a pair of free throws with 8.4 seconds remaining to cap the victory.
Jewell Loyd added 14 points and Aaliyah Nye had 13 off the bench for Las Vegas, which has won two straight games and is back to the .500 level for the first time since July 6.
Bueckers led Dallas (6-17) with 20 points and eight assists while JJ Quinerly scored 17, Luisa Geiselsoder hit for 14, Haley Jones added 12 and Li Yueru finished with 10. The Wings dropped their fourth consecutive outing and remain in the cellar of the Western Conference.
The game was tied at 22 after the first 10 minutes of play. The Aces quickly moved ahead early in the second quarter and pushed their lead to 39-34 on a basket by Loyd nearly six minutes into the period. Wilson’s jumper with 5.7 seconds left stoked Las Vegas’ advantage to eight points before a layup by Quinerly allowed the Wings to cull their deficit to 47-41 at the break.
Wilson’s 20 points before halftime led all scorers while Geiselsoder paced Dallas with 14 points.
Nye’s 3-pointer at the 4:01 mark of the third quarter expanded the Aces’ lead to 61-48. Wilson knocked down a pair of free throws and a jumper, and Nye followed with another 3-pointer with 1:45 left in the third for a 68-48 margin as Las Vegas built a 72-52 advantage heading into the final quarter.
BREANNA STEWART’S BIG GAME HELPS LIBERTY ROUT CAITLIN CLARK-LESS FEVER
Breanna Stewart scored 24 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out seven assists, and the host New York Liberty pulled away for a 98-77 win over the Indiana Fever on Wednesday night.
Stewart made 10 of 15 shots from the field and added four blocked shots as part of her dominant performance for New York (15-6), which won its third game in a row. Sabrina Ionescu finished with 15 points and nine assists, and Natasha Cloud scored 14.
Kelsey Mitchell scored 16 points on 5-for-11 shooting to lead Indiana (12-11), which saw its four-game winning streak end. Sophie Cunningham contributed 12 points.
New York shot 57.8 percent from the field (37 of 64) and 51.9 percent from 3-point range (14 of 27). Indiana shot 36.8 percent overall (28 of 76) and 25 percent from deep (8 of 32).
Indiana played without All-Star Caitlin Clark, who was ruled out shortly before tipoff because of a groin injury. It marked the 11th game, including the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup final, that she has missed because of injury this season.
The Liberty built a 32-24 lead at the end of the first quarter. Isabelle Harrison sank a 3-pointer and Ionescu made a basket in the final minute to complete their 16-8 run.
In the second quarter, New York outscored the Fever 21-14 to increase their lead to 53-38 at the break.
Kennedy Burke made a 3-pointer to give the Liberty a double-digit lead at 39-28 with 7:04 remaining in the first half. Burke’s shot was part of a 15-4 run as New York increased its advantage to 49-32 on Rebekah Gardner’s basket with 1:35 left in the half.
Indiana kept it closer in the third quarter but still was outscored 21-19 to fall behind 74-57 entering the final 10 minutes.
The Liberty pulled ahead by 20 points when Nyara Sabally knocked down a jump shot to make it 81-61 with 6:36 to play.
New York rested Stewart, Burke and other key players in the final five minutes with the score well out of reach for the Fever.
NNEKA OGWUMIKE GUIDES STORM PAST VALKYRIES
Nneka Ogwumike saved 11 of her game-high 22 points for a tense fourth quarter Wednesday afternoon and the Seattle Storm beat the visiting Golden State Valkyries for the first time this season, holding on for a 67-58 victory in a defensive struggle.
Erica Wheeler chipped in with 15 points and Skylar Diggins had a game-high six assists to complement 10 points for the Storm (14-9), who had lost two previous matchups with the expansion Valkyries, with both of those games having taken place in San Francisco.
After having fallen eight points behind in the second minute of the final period, an interior hoop by Veronica Burton had the Valkyries (10-12) with 56-54 with 4:48 remaining before Ogwumike took control of the game.
She hit one free throw with 3:07 left for a three-point lead, a layup that extended the margin to five with 2:09 to play and two free throws with 1:18 to go that put Golden State in a seven-point hole from which it never recovered.
Wheeler, Ogwumike and Diggins dropped in two late free throws apiece to ice the win, which was Seattle’s fourth in its last six games.
The Storm won despite shooting just 32.8 percent. Ogwumike went 7-for-15, but her teammates were a combined 14-for-49 (28.6 percent).
The Valkyries were no better. They finished at 31.7 percent, with their top scorers – Cecilia Zandalasini (12 points on 3-for-10) and Janelle Salaun (10 points on 3-for-9) going a combined 6-for-19.
Ogwumike also found time for eight rebounds, matching teammate Ezi Magbegor and Golden State guard Veronica Burton for game-high honors.
Ogwumike had totaled just 14 points on 5-for-16 shooting in the earlier games against the Valkyries, who prevailed 76-70 and 84-57 in those contests.
Both teams also struggled from beyond the 3-point arc, with the Valkyries going 7-for-31 (22.6 percent) and the Storm hitting seven of 29 (24.1 percent).
Burton also had eight points and a team-high four assists for Golden State, which will go into the All-Star break on a three-game losing streak.
KAYLA MCBRIDE LEADS LYNX TO CONVINCING WIN OVER MERCURY
New All-Star Kayla McBride had 18 points, Courtney Williams had 12 points and seven rebounds and the Minnesota Lynx beat the Phoenix Mercury 79-66 in Minneapolis on Wednesday afternoon in a game matching teams with the best records in the WNBA.
The league’s leading scorer Napheesa Collier had eight of her 10 points in the second half and Alanna Smith added 11 points for the Lynx, who won three of four in the season series and avenged a 79-71 loss in Phoenix a week ago.
Alyssa Thomas had 12 points and nine assists and DeWanna Bonner and Kalani Brown had 11 points apiece for the Mercury in the final game before the All-Star break. Brown had 11 rebounds and teammate Natasha Mack had 13.
The Lynx have won six of eight and finished the first half 20-4.
The Mercury, who had won nine of 11, were attempting to win consecutive games against the Lynx in the same season for the first time since August 2015.
McBride was added to the WNBA All-Star reserve roster Tuesday to replace injured Atlanta guard Rhyne Howard. McBride had five rebounds and five assists and made all six free throw attempts.
The Lynx were 10-of-23 from three-point range, getting at least one from all five starters and one from reserve Maria Kliundikova. Smith had three, one short of her season high, all in the third quarter.
Jessica Shepard’s tip-in at the buzzer gave the Lynx a 64-49 lead entering the fourth quarter, and they stretched it to 16 on Williams’ 3-pointer with six minutes remaining.
Bonner made her first start for the Mercury in her third game with them since being waived by Indiana. The Mercury played without injured starters All-Star forward Satou Sabally and guards Kahleah Copper and Monique Akoa Makani.
Thomas, who had a career-high 19 points in the Mercury’s victory last week, missed her first six field goal attempts and did not have a field goal until four minutes remained in the first half.
The Mercury shot 35.7 percent from the field. Minnesota has held an opponent under 40 percent shooting in 11 games this season. Phoenix did not lead after McBride’s 3-pointer made it a 7-5 lead two minutes into the game.
DREAM NEVER TRAIL, ROUT COLD-SHOOTING SKY
The Atlanta Dream completed an easy 86-49 road win over the Chicago Sky on Wednesday, despite playing without injured All-Star Rhyne Howard.
The Sky played without All-Star Angel Reese, a late scratch due to a leg injury, and did not score more than 13 points in a quarter.
Atlanta (13-9) never trailed, scoring the game’s first seven points and pulling out to a double-digit lead by the end of the first quarter. A 33-point third quarter demonstrated Atlanta’s dominance as the Dream led by as many as 43 points.
The Dream placed four players in double figure scoring, led by veteran center Brittney Griner, who played under 20 minutes but still managed 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting. Brionna Jones added 14 points and nine rebounds, and Allisha Gray chipped in 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Reserve Te-Hina Paopao added 13 points and fellow reserve Naz Hillmon tallied 10 points off the bench. Every active Dream player scored in the game.
Chicago (7-15) had its fewest points of the season, eclipsing the 52 points they put up in a loss to the Indiana Fever on June 7. The Sky looked lost offensively from the open without Reese and starting guard Ariel Atkins, also out with a leg injury.
A basket in the final minute saved Chicago from the franchise’s lowest scoring effort ever, which remains 48 points against the Detroit Shock in 2006.
Chicago was led by reserve guard Rebecca Allen, whose nine points came on 3-for-7 shooting from 3-point range. Kamilla Cardoso had eight points and 11 rebounds for Chicago.
They Sky shot 18-for-71 overall (25.4 percent) and just 11-for-51 (21.6 percent) on two-point attempts. A 6-for-18 (33 percent) shooting performance in the fourth quarter was the only stanza in which the Sky shot better than 23.8 percent.
Following the All-Star Game on Saturday, the teams return to action on Tuesday. Atlanta will play at Las Vegas, and Chicago will travel to meet league-leading Minnesota.
SPARKS TROUNCE MYSTICS FOR FIRST BACK-TO-BACK WINS OF SEASON
Dearica Hamby poured in 26 points and Rickea Jackson tallied 22 as the Los Angeles Sparks trounced the visiting Washington Mystics 99-80 on Tuesday night, winning back-to-back games for the first time this season.
Kelsey Plum racked up 20 points for the Sparks in the final game before the All-Star break for both teams. Azura Stevens, who collected a team-high eight rebounds, added 15 points and joined Plum with three 3-pointers. Julie Allemand distributed 10 assists while committing only one turnover.
Hamby, a veteran post player, shot 10-for-19 from the floor, while Jackson was 9-for-13. The Sparks (8-14) shot 53.5 percent from the floor in posting their third homecourt victory of the season.
Los Angeles led by as many as 27 points in the second half after building a 59-34 halftime advantage. The Sparks notched a season-high point total, going above the 90-point mark for the fifth time.
Sharika Austin’s 16 points and Sug Sutton’s 14 points pace the Mystics (11-11), who were aiming to rack up their first four-game winning streak of the season. Aaliyah Edwards chipped in with 13 points off the bench.
Washington had been in a bunch of close games, but this one got away from the Mystics in the first half.
Los Angeles ended the half on a 13-0 run, with Hamby scoring the final 10 of those points after Jackson’s three-point play.
It was a huge second quarter for the Sparks, who scored 11 of the first 13 points of the period.
Washington shot 8-for-21 on 3-pointers for the game, with six players hitting at least one shot from beyond the arc. The Mystics were hurt by 17 turnovers and by managing to score only 12 points in the second quarter.
It marked the first matchup of back-to-back meetings between the teams, with the rematch next Tuesday.
