DEARICA HAMBY, SPARKS OUTLAST STORM IN 2OT THRILLER
Dearica Hamby was one of four Los Angeles scorers with at least 21 points, notching her final two on what proved to be the game-winner for the Sparks in their 108-106 defeat of the host Seattle Storm in double overtime on Friday.
Hamby muscled through a double-team to put in a layup with 4.7 seconds remaining, set up by a one-handed bounce pass from Kelsey Plum. The dish was the last of seven assists for Plum, whose 22 points were crucial for Los Angeles (12-15).
As critical to the Sparks scoring their sixth win in the last seven games was Plum’s defense of Skylar Diggins. She forced Diggins to miss at the buzzer, avoiding a third overtime.
The closing stop capped a back-and-forth affair highlighted by a variety of standout performances and heroics. Rickea Jackson scored a team-high 27 points for the Sparks, and she was huge down the stretch of regulation to lead Los Angeles to the first extra frame with a pair of game-tying scores in the final minute.
Jackson’s performance, which included nine rebounds, helped Los Angeles weather a 37-point effort from Seattle’s Nneka Ogwumike. She finished one point shy of matching her career high while also grabbing 12 rebounds for the Storm (16-12).
Diggins added 18 points, Erica Wheeler scored 15 points and each dished six assists. Gabby Williams chipped in another 14 points to go with eight assists and five steals.
As balanced as Seattle was behind Ogwumike’s explosive scoring night, Los Angeles answered with significant contributions from Azura Stevens, who scored 21 points and shot 3-of-5 from 3-point range. The last of her triples came on a sequence in the second OT that began with Plum penetrating into the lane off the dribble, finding an open Julie Allemand on the wing, and Allemand hitting Stevens in the corner with a perfectly placed touch-pass as the Storm defense rotated.
Stevens sank the 3-pointer to give Los Angeles a 106-101 cushion, providing some key breathing room before the Storm rallied to tie it on Williams’ 3-pointer with 16.4 seconds left.
That set the stage for the game-winner from Hamby, who also had a game-high 13 rebounds.
MARINA MABREY, SUN HAND LIBERTY FOURTH STRAIGHT LOSS
Marina Mabrey racked up 18 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists as the Connecticut Sun extended the New York Liberty’s misery with a 78-62 victory Friday night in Uncasville, Conn.
The defending champion Liberty dropped their fourth straight game and set a season low for points scored. It is their longest losing streak since 2022. Sabrina Ionescu scored 23 points, but New York (17-10) shot just 33.9 percent from the field and committed 23 turnovers.
It was the worst loss yet for the Liberty, considering it came against the last-place team in the league, the Sun (5-21), who entered the night in a 1-5 rut.
Olivia Nelson-Ododa and rookie Leila Lacan had 16-point games off the bench for Connecticut, each shooting 6-of-8 from the floor. Tina Charles added 15 points.
An off-balance 3-pointer by Lacan lifted the Sun to a 67-55 advantage with 7:28 in the fourth quarter. A tip-in by Aneesah Morrow off Charles’ miss gave the Sun a 69-57 lead.
The Liberty trimmed the deficit to seven with 5:08 remaining after a 3-pointer by Jonquel Jones and a driving layup from Stephanie Talbot. The Sun regained control down the stretch with nine combined points from Nelson-Ododa and Mabrey.
A Mabrey transition 3-pointer gave the Sun a 56-46 lead with 3:36 to go in the third quarter. Jones blocked Charles but she recovered for an offensive rebound and layup, plus the ensuing free throw, to put the Sun up 63-53 with 2:05 in the third.
The Liberty led 20-15 at the end of the first quarter, but the Sun went on a 14-2 run, capped by a buzzer-beating jumper by Charles, to take a 44-37 lead into halftime.
The Liberty came into the contest 10-1 in their last 11 games vs. the Sun, most recently a 100-52 victory on June 1.
The Sun controlled the glass as they outrebounded the Liberty by 13.
KELSEY MITCHELL LEADS BALANCED ATTACK AS FEVER BEAT WINGS
Kelsey Mitchell poured in 23 points to lead a balanced attack as the visiting Indiana Fever pulled away from the Dallas Wings in the second half for an 88-78 win on Friday.
The Fever (16-12), playing their sixth straight game without injured star guard Caitlin Clark, won their fourth consecutive outing. Indiana led by six points at halftime, by 13 after three and never let Dallas closer than six points in the fourth quarter.
After Paige Bueckers’ floating bank shot with 5:33 to play pulled the Wings to within 75-69, Indiana answered with a 5-0 run and was never threatened down the stretch. The Fever outshot the Wings 45.2 percent to 40.6 percent and made 12 3-pointers to Dallas’ two.
Aari McDonald added 15 points for the Fever while Aliyah Boston (12 points and 11 rebounds) and Natasha Howard (11 points, 16 rebounds) both had double doubles.
Bueckers led the Wings (8-21) with 22 points. Dallas has dropped two in a row and four of its past five games.
The Fever led for much of the first quarter before Dallas rallied to tie the game at 17 when DiJonai Carrington hit a layup at the 2:07 mark. The game was tied at 22 at the end of the period, with the Wings getting back into the game by outscoring Indiana 8-0 at the free-throw line.
After a ragged start by both teams in the second quarter, Indiana regained its stride, reeling off a 7-2 run capped by Chloe Bibby’s 3-pointer with 5:40 to play to go up 33-28. The Wings stretched the margin to eight points after McDonald’s three with 2:27 remaining and settled for a 48-42 lead at the break.
Bueckers led all scorers with 15 points before halftime while Mitchell and Howard had nine points apiece to pace the Fever.
Indiana expanded its advantage to 68-55 on a Lexie Hull steal and layup with 1:49 to play in the third quarter and led 70-57 heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
The game was played at the Mavericks’ American Airlines Center rather than the Wings’ usual home in Arlington, Texas.
VALKYRIES WIN ON BACK-TO-BACK DAYS WITH VICTORY OVER SLIDING SKY
Veronica Burton scored 18 points and Janelle Salaun added 16 as the visiting Golden State Valkyries turned up their defensive pressure in the fourth quarter to earn a 73-66 victory over the Chicago Sky on Saturday.
Iliana Rupert had 14 points and Carla Leite added 11 for the expansion Valkyries, who played on consecutive days for the first time and won both games after facing Washington on Thursday.
Golden State (14-13) shot just 36.9 percent from the floor and still won for the fourth time in five games while moving above .500 for the first time since July 9.
Elizabeth Williams scored 15 points while Kamilla Cardoso had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Sky (7-20), who saw their season-long losing streak reach seven games. Rachel Banham also had 14 points, while Kia Nurse added 10.
The injury report was extensive with the Valkyries without leading scorer and rebounder Kayla Thornton (knee) and second-leading scorer Tiffany Hayes (leg), as well as Monique Billings (ankle) and Cecilia Zandalasini (foot).
The Sky were without leading scorer and rebounder Angel Reese (back) for the fourth time in six games. Ariel Atkins (back) and Hailey Van Lith (ankle) also were out, while Courtney Vandersloot (knee) is done for the season.
In her Valkyries debut, Kaila Charles scored five points with five rebounds, while Sevgi Uzun scored five points with four rebounds in her Sky debut.
The Sky led by as many as eight points in the third quarter and went into the fourth with a 54-52 lead. The Valkyries opened the final quarter on a 12-2 run to take a 64-56 lead with 5:01 remaining.
Chicago pulled within 67-66 on a layup by Cardoso with 2:23 remaining. Salaun scored for Golden State with 2:13 remaining for a 69-66 lead before the Valkyries forced Nurse into a turnover with 44.3 seconds left. Burton made two free throws with 34.6 seconds left for a 71-66 lead.
The Valkyries shot just 35.3 percent in the first half to 48.3 percent for the Sky but were even on the scoreboard 37-37 at the break.
DREAM POUR IT ON EARLY AS THEY ROUT MERCURY
Allisha Gray scored a game-high 26 points on 7-for-9 shooting from 3-point range on Friday to help the Atlanta Dream post a 96-72 victory over the visiting Phoenix Mercury in College Park, Ga.
Naz Hillmon added 18 points and nine rebounds for Atlanta (17-11), which won for the fourth time in five games. Brionna Jones chipped in 16 points and eight boards, Maya Caldwell had 14 points, and Jordin Canada led the team with 11 assists.
Phoenix (16-11) dropped its fifth game in six tries and trailed by as many 35 points on Friday. Kahleah Copper led the team with 19 points, while Alyssa Thomas added 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Leading by 16 at halftime, the Dream’s commanding advantage ballooned to 23 on Hillmon’s consecutive layups and Gray’s 3-pointer, forcing a Mercury timeout with 7:24 remaining in the third.
Atlanta held Phoenix scoreless the final 2:43 of the third while scoring the final eight points of the quarter to take an 84-50 lead into the fourth. After Phoenix was outscored 26-8 in the third, DeWanna Bonner scored seven points and Kalani Brown had six in the final quarter that saw the Mercury take by a 22-12 margin.
After the Mercury jumped out to an early 15-7 lead, the Dream answered with 13 straight points, including Caldwell’s back-to-back 3-pointers, giving Atlanta a 20-15 edge with 4:25 left in the first quarter.
Te-Hina Paopao’s triple and Caldwell’s third 3-pointer of the opening quarter extended Atlanta’s lead to 34-23 entering the second.
Thomas’ layup pulled Phoenix within eight at the 6:44 mark of the second before an 8-0 Dream run gave Atlanta its largest lead to that point at 48-32.
After Jones’ hook shot pushed the advantage to 18, Sami Whitcomb’s layup cut the Mercury’s halftime deficit to 58-42. Gray led all scorers with 16 first-half points, while Caldwell added 14 as the duo combined to make 8 of 9 3-point attempts.
