A’JA WILSON’S DOUBLE-DOUBLE PROPELS ACES OVER MERCURY
A’ja Wilson scored 19 points with 13 rebounds as the Las Vegas Aces extended their season-best winning streak to nine games with an 83-61 victory over the visiting Phoenix Mercury on Thursday.
Dana Evans scored 17 points, while Jackie Young, NaLyssa Smith and Chelsea Gray each scored 12 as the Aces (23-14) moved past both the Mercury and the New York Liberty into third place in the overall WNBA standings with seven games remaining in the regular season.
Wilson, the reigning league MVP, delivered her 18th double-double of the season and her seventh during the winning streak.
Las Vegas won the season series 3-1 over Phoenix.
Alyssa Thomas scored 17 points and Satou Sabally added 15 as the Mercury (21-14) lost to the Aces for the second time in the past four games. Natasha Mack had 10 rebounds as the Mercury had a 43-37 advantage on the boards.
Phoenix guard Kahleah Copper was held to six points on 2-of-8 shooting and departed for good with 6:24 remaining in the third quarter after sustaining a left side injury while fighting through a screen by Wilson.
The Aces took charge early and cruised to the victory late, getting off to a strong start with a 23-17 lead after one quarter. They took the lead for good on a 3-pointer from Kierstan Bell with 1:44 remaining in the opening quarter.
Las Vegas led by as many as 15 points in the second quarter and led 43-29 at halftime by holding Phoenix to 28.9 percent shooting from the floor over the opening two quarters.
The Mercury pulled within nine points multiple times in the third quarter before the Aces took a 59-46 lead into the final period. Last Vegas cruised to the victory from there by holding Phoenix to 31 percent shooting and a season low in points.
The Mercury’s 61 points were the second fewest by an Aces opponent this season.
DREAM RALLY IN FOURTH QUARTER TO KNOCK OFF FIRST-PLACE LYNX
Allisha Gray scored a game-high 27 points to help the Atlanta Dream post a 75-73 victory over the visiting Minnesota Lynx on Thursday in College Park, Ga.
Rhyne Howard added 16 points for the Dream (23-13), who have won eight of their last 10 games and sit atop the Eastern Conference standings. Atlanta trails Minnesota by 5 1/2 games for the league’s best record.
Bridget Carleton paced the Lynx (28-7) with 16 points. Jessica Shepard had 15 points and 16 rebounds, while Kayla McBride also chipped in 15 points for Minnesota, which lost back-to-back games for the first time this season. Alanna Smith added 10 points and Courtney Williams led the team with nine assists.
Trailing by six entering the fourth, Atlanta scored the first 12 points of the final quarter, taking a 66-60 lead on Te-Hina Paopao’s triple.
Howard’s second 3-pointer later gave the Dream a five-point advantage at the 1:32 mark, before Smith answered with a triple to pull the Lynx within two. After an Atlanta turnover, Gray rebounded Smith’s missed layup and Maya Caldwell knocked down a pair of free throws to give Atlanta a 75-71 lead with 22.4 seconds remaining.
Shepard’s layup then cut Minnesota’s deficit in half, before Atlanta committed its second eight-second violation in the final minute. Ultimately, the Lynx weren’t able to get a shot off at the buzzer en route to a rare loss.
Leading by two points at halftime, Atlanta began the third quarter on a 6-0 run to jump out to a 48-40 advantage. Layups from Williams and Smith were then followed by McBride’s triple to pull the Lynx’s deficit to a point with 7:20 left in the third.
After Brionna Jones’ layup gave Atlanta a 52-47 lead, Minnesota finished the quarter on a 13-2 run to take a six-point lead into the fourth.
After falling behind by nine points early, Atlanta finished the opening quarter on a 10-0 run – including four points each from Brittney Griner and Howard – to grab a 25-24 edge entering the second quarter.
A string of Atlanta triples from Caldwell, Paopao and Gray extended Atlanta’s lead to 42-32 with 3:58 remaining in the second quarter, before McBride and Smith’s layups were followed by Shepard’s consecutive baskets to help the Lynx trim their halftime deficit to 42-40.
SKY STUN LIBERTY TO END FIVE-GAME SKID
Kamilla Cardoso scored 22 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and dished five assists as the Chicago Sky upset the host New York Liberty 91-85 on Thursday to end a five-game losing streak.
The Sky outshot the Liberty 50 percent to 41.7 percent. Chicago outrebounded New York 42-27, and the visitors had a 52-26 advantage on points in the paint.
Angel Reese, in just her second game since returning from a back injury, added 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Sky. Ariel Atkins put up 19 points, and Michaela Onyenwere had 13 points.
Chicago (9-26) had lost 13 of its previous 14 contests.
Jonquel Jones led New York with a game-high 25 points thanks in part to 5-of-11 shooting from 3-point range. Sabrina Ionescu scored 16 points, but she went 0-for-5 from beyond the arc. Natasha Cloud had 14 points.
The Liberty — the reigning WNBA champions — fell to 14-5 at home and 22-14 overall.
Chicago improved to 1-2 against New York this season and 4-13 on the road.
The Liberty were again without seven-time All-Star forward Breanna Stewart, who has been idle since she sustained a bone bruise on her right knee July 26. She has promised to return prior to her 31st birthday on Wednesday.
In the final period, the score remained tight until Chicago scored the game’s final eight points. An Atkins free throw with 1:35 left snapped an 85-85 tie. The only points in the final 95 seconds were three free throws each by Atkins and Reese.
New York, in the final two minutes, went 0-for-4 from the floor and also had a turnover.
New York led 23-22 after the first quarter after Marine Johannes sank two 3-pointers in the final 67 seconds.
The Liberty finished the second quarter strong as well. This time, it was Cloud who made a 3-pointer with 0.7 seconds left to give New York a 46-44 edge at halftime.
New York led 68-65 entering the fourth, making it three straight quarters during which the Liberty outscored the Sky by one point before Chicago outscored New York 26-17 in the fourth quarter.
TINA CHARLES LEADS SUN TO SECOND WIN IN THREE DAYS OVER MYSTICS
Tina Charles scored 12 of her 21 points in the third quarter on Thursday, lifting the Connecticut Sun to a home-and-home sweep of the Washington Mystics with a 67-56 victory in Uncasville, Conn.
Charles made 6 of 8 shots from the floor in the third quarter and finished 9 of 14 for the game. She also had six rebounds for the Sun (8-27), who followed up their 80-69 victory in Washington on Tuesday to record back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
Charles played in her 464th game to move past Tangela Smith into 10th place all-time in league history.
Former Mystic Aaliyah Edwards scored 10 points and Olivia Nelson-Ododa added eight off the bench.
Connecticut benefited from a season-high 15 steals and turned 20 turnovers into 20 points. The Sun also held a 34-27 edge in rebounds and 38-28 advantage in points in the paint.
Sonia Citron scored 15 points and fellow rookie Kiki Iriafen added 13 to go along with 10 rebounds for the Mystics (16-20), who fell two full games behind the Seattle Storm for the eighth and final playoff spot. Washington dropped to 6-12 on the road this season.
Connecticut was nursing a seven-point lead at halftime before Charles sank a pair of mid-range jumpers to start the third quarter. She mixed in an off-balance hook shot with a 19-foot shot on consecutive possessions before adding another pair of mid-range jumpers.
Nelson-Ododa and Edwards each converted a short basket and a free throw to extend the Sun’s lead to 62-47 with 7:07 remaining in the fourth quarter. Connecticut wasn’t seriously challenged the rest of the way.
Stefanie Dolson sank a 3-pointer to trim the Sun’s lead to 21-16 early in the second quarter before Connecticut ignited a 9-0 run. Washington, however, halved its deficit with a 10-3 run to end the quarter.
