SEATTLE STORM ACQUIRE ALL-STAR GUARD BRITTNEY SYKES IN TRADE WITH WASHINGTON MYSTICS
SEATTLE (AP) — The Seattle Storm acquired All-Star guard Brittney Sykes from the Washington Mystics on Tuesday for Alysha Clark, Zia Cooke and a first-round pick in the 2026 draft.
Sykes averaged 15.4 points, 4.3 assists and 1.2 steals for the Mystics this season to earn her first All-Star selection. She’ll join a strong lineup that features Skylar Diggins, Nneka Ogwumike, Gabby Williams and Ezi Magbegor. Seattle (16-13) is currently in sixth place in the standings.
Clark has played more than 300 games for the Storm in two stints with the team and helped the franchise win two WNBA championships in 2018 and 2020.
This season she’s averaging just 3.5 points and 2.4 rebounds. Clark has been impactful off the court over the years in the city starting the organization’s annual toy drive benefiting Seattle Children’s Hospital.
Cooke averaged just over 10 minutes a game this season and has shot a career-best 38.2% from behind the 3-point arc. She was the No. 10 pick in the 2023 draft by Los Angeles. She spent two seasons there before coming to Seattle.
Washington (13-15) is a game out of the playoffs at the moment.
SATOU SABALLY GETS SURPRISE START, LEADS MERCURY PAST SUN
Phoenix Mercury All-Star forward Satou Sabally, reportedly out indefinitely because of personal reasons after missing Sunday’s game at the Chicago Sky, played Tuesday night against the visiting Connecticut Sun and finished with 23 points to spark an 82-66 victory.
Alyssa Thomas, in her first year with the Mercury after playing the first 11 years of her career with the Sun, recorded a triple-double for the second consecutive game. She has a WNBA-record 18 in her career (regular season and playoffs).
She had 13 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists after tallying 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in the 83-67 win against the Sky.
DeWanna Bonner had 18 points and seven rebounds off the bench and Kahleah Copper finished with 15 points.
Connecticut (5-23) is now 1-12 on the road this season.
The Sun were led by Marina Mabrey (18 points) and Tina Charles (16 points).
Phoenix (18-11) never trailed.
The Mercury went on a 16-2 run to close the first quarter to take a 26-6 lead.
Phoenix made 10 of 20 shots from the field, 5 of 9 from 3-point range, in the first quarter, while Connecticut was 2 of 16 from the field and failed to make a 3-pointer in six attempts.
The Sun also had six turnovers in the quarter.
Bonner, who played the previous five seasons with the Sun, outscored Connecticut in the first quarter with nine points after making all three of her 3-point attempts.
A 12-2 run by Connecticut, fueled by seven points from Mabrey, cut the lead to 30-22 with 4:34 remaining in the second quarter.
Phoenix led 44-28 at halftime behind Bonner’s 13 points, Sabally’s nine points, and Thomas’ eight points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
The Mercury pulled away to a 60-32 lead with 5:40 left in the third quarter following a 14-2 run.
Connecticut rallied back, outscoring Phoenix 18-4 to cut the lead to 64-50 with 9:02 remaining.
The Sun would not get closer than 14 points the rest of the game.
Thomas surpassed 10 points, giving her the triple-double, on a layup that put Phoenix ahead 76-56 with 3:44 left.
COURTNEY WILLIAMS, LYNX HANG ON FOR WIN OVER STORM
Courtney Williams capped her 20-point effort by sinking an important 3-pointer in the final minute, and the Minnesota Lynx held on for a 91-87 win over the host Seattle Storm on Tuesday night.
Jessica Shepard tallied 13 points and 13 rebounds for Minnesota (25-5), which won its third game in a row. Kayla McBride finished with 14 points and made all nine of her free-throw attempts.
Nneka Ogwumike scored 23 points on 8-for-12 shooting to lead Seattle (16-14), which lost its third game in a row. Erica Wheeler finished with 19 points.
Minnesota prevailed in its first game without All-Star forward Napheesa Collier, who is sidelined because of a sprained right ankle. She is expected to miss a minimum of two weeks.
DiJonai Carrington made her Lynx debut and finished with 13 points in 18 minutes off the bench. Minnesota acquired Carrington from the Dallas Wings on Sunday.
Before the game, the Storm bolstered their roster by acquiring All-Star Brittney Sykes from the Washington Mystics for Alysha Clark and a 2026 first-round pick. Sykes, who is averaging 15.4 points, did not play. She could make her team debut Friday night at Las Vegas.
The Lynx outscored the Storm 56-44 in the second half.
Williams made a 3-pointer to increase Minnesota’s lead to 85-78 with 33.6 seconds to go.
Ogwumike answered with a 3-pointer to pull Seattle within four with 31.4 seconds left.
McBride made two free throws to put the Lynx on top 87-81 with 29.5 seconds remaining, but Seattle refused to concede. Skylar Diggins knocked down a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 87-84 with 22.2 seconds left.
Two more free throws by McBride made it 89-84 with 19.3 seconds remaining.
Wheeler hit a 3-pointer with 7.3 seconds to go. That cut the Storm’s deficit to two, but McBride added two free throws to finish the scoring.
The Storm relied on a strong finish to the second quarter to seize a 43-35 lead at the half.
The Lynx pulled within 34-33 when Williams drained a pull-up jump shot with 1:54 remaining in the second quarter.
The Storm closed the half on a 9-2 run to go on top by eight points.
Minnesota led 20-19 at the end of the first quarter.
RICKEA JACKSON, KELSEY PLUM STEER SPARKS PAST FEVER
Rickea Jackson poured in 25 points, Kelsey Plum added 25 points and 11 assists and the host Los Angeles Sparks snapped the Indiana Fever’s five-game winning streak with a 100-91 decision on Tuesday.
Azura Stevens scored 19 points and went 5-for-5 from 3-point range while Dearica Hamby scored 16 points for the Sparks (13-15), who have won seven of eight.
Los Angeles shot a torrid 56.1 percent from the field (37 of 66), just shy of its season high, and 50 percent from 3-point range (13 of 26). Cameron Brink didn’t score for the Sparks but contributed five blocked shots in just 16 minutes of action.
Kelsey Mitchell scored 21 of her 34 points in the second half to guide Indiana’s attempted comeback. Natasha Howard had 17 points and seven rebounds, Aliyah Boston posted 15 points and nine rebounds and Aari McDonald chipped in 15 points and six assists for the Fever (17-13).
Caitlin Clark (groin) remained out for Indiana.
The Fever trailed 76-64 entering the fourth quarter and quickly cut the margin to 10. The Sparks responded as Plum, Jackson, Julie Allemand and Rae Burrell contributed to a 9-0 run.
Boston put in a layup for the Fever, but Jackson went back to work for Los Angeles. She made a putback of her own miss, then Burrell stole an Indiana lob pass and set Jackson up for a 3-pointer that made it 90-68 at the 6:23 mark.
Indiana stormed back thanks to the hot hands of Mitchell, who knocked down two 3-pointers and another jumper, and McDonald, who sank back-to-back 3-pointers to cut it to 95-89 with 2:09 to play. however, Stevens answered with a triple with 1:17 left, and the Sparks held on.
The Sparks made their first three 3-point tries of the game. The Fever cobbled together a 10-point run to take a 21-15 lead, but they led only 27-26 after one quarter.
Hamby dominated in the paint during a second quarter that saw the Sparks make 11 of 17 shots from the field. Los Angeles went ahead 49-38 with 2:57 left in the half, the first double-digit margin of the game.
Play was briefly stopped late in the first half when a spectator threw a sex toy onto the court, the third such instance in the WNBA in recent weeks.
HOT-STARTING SKY SNAPS 8-GAME SLIDE, OUTLASTS MYSTICS
Elizabeth Williams had 18 points with 10 rebounds, while Kamilla Cardoso added 16 and 13 rebounds, as the Chicago Sky snapped an eight-game losing streak with Tuesday night’s 78-64 victory over the Washington Mystics.
Washingon had traded Brittney Sykes, their leading scorer at 15.4 points per game, to Seattle for Alysha Clark and a 2026 first-round draft pick earlier in the day.
While injured Chicago star Angel Reese (back) sat for the sixth time in eight games, teammate Ariel Atkins returned to action and scored 15 in 24 minutes, including a key 3-pointer with under two minutes remaining when the Mystics got within nine points. Atkins had missed the last seven games with a leg injury.
The Sky scored 52 points in the paint and distributed 22 assists.
Sonia Citron had 13 points and Kiki Iriafen scored 10 for Washington, which was held to 41.5-percent shooting and went 2-of-15 from 3-point range. The stellar rookie pair weren’t nearly as potent on Tuesday as when they combined for 50 points during Washington’s 103-86 rout of Chicago on July 29.
The Mystics (13-16) lost for the sixth time in eight games.
Williams and Michaela Onyenwere (12 points) helped the Sky build a 35-28 halftime lead. The pair combined for nine points during a third quarter where Chicago did not commit a turnover and outscored Washington 26-18.
Washington’s Shakira Austin scored the first field goal of the game, then Chicago reeled off the next 14. Williams and Onyenwere combined for 10 points during that run.
Cardoso had eight rebounds during a first quarter where Chicago shot 12-of-19 and scored 22 points in the paint to lead 25-10 entering the second period.
However, the Sky got sloppy by committing nine turnovers in the second quarter. Washington took advantage, outscoring Chicago 18-10 in the period, despite Cardoso recording 12 points and 10 rebounds.
BALANCED LIBERTY ATTACK SINKS WINGS AS JONQUEL JONES POSTS DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Jonquel Jones collected 15 points and 10 rebounds as the host New York Liberty withstood a quiet showing from Sabrina Ionescu and earned an 85-76 victory over the Dallas Wings on Tuesday night.
The Liberty won for the second time in five games since losing Breanna Stewart to a right leg injury on July 26 and used a balanced effort to avenge last week’s loss in Dallas.
Jones shot 6-of-12 from the floor and the Liberty (19-10) improved to 8-0 when the center posts a double-double this season.
Leonie Fiebich added 14, including a clutch 3 that gave New York a 15-point lead with about three minutes left. Emma Meesseman added 13 in her home debut for the Liberty, who shot 47.7 percent.
Reserve Stephanie Talbot contributed 13 and Natasha Cloud finished with 12 as the Liberty got 22 points from the bench and shot 50 percent (12-of-24) from 3-point range
New York’s balanced effort occurred on a night when Ionescu could never get into a rhythm and was held to nine points on 2-of-9 shooting.
Paige Bueckers scored 21 for her fourth straight 20-point showing but the Wings (8-22) lost for the ninth time in 11 games. Bueckers briefly headed to the locker room in the fourth to get her back checked out but finished 8-of-15 from the field and grabbed eight rebounds.
Arike Ogunbowale added 14 as Dallas shot 37.2 percent and took the loss despite a 45-35 rebounding edge. Maddy Siegrist added 13 off the bench for the Wings, who shot 6-of-27 (22.2 percent) from 3-point range.
The Liberty ended a strong opening quarter with a 24-15 lead after Rebekah Gardner capitalized on a Dallas turnover and sank a 3-pointer with 24.6 seconds left. New York took its first double-digit lead in the opening minute of the second quarter when Meesseman sank a floater for a 26-15 edge and held a 37-34 lead by halftime.
Bueckers sank a 3 in the opening minutes of the third for a 38-37 lead and Ogunbowale’s 3 put Dallas up 41-39 with 7:39 left. Bueckers hit a 19-footer to get Dallas within 49-46 with 4:50 left and New York ended the third with a 60-53 lead.
Talbot’s 3 opened a 70-57 lead with 7 1/2 minutes left and two free throws by Ionescu opened a 15-point lead about a minute later. Fiebich hit a triple for a 79-64 lead with 3:05 left to clinch it.
