BIG FOURTH QUARTER PROPELS MYSTICS PAST STORM
Washington tallied 27 fourth-quarter points and overcame a poor shooting night from distance to knock off Seattle 74-69, climbing over the .500 mark for the first time since May.
Led by rookie All-Star Kiki Iriafen, Shakira Austin and leading scorer Brittney Sykes (17.5 points per game), Washington held down the paint. The Mystics outrebounded the Storm 36-29 and outscored them 48-30 in the paint to claim their third win in a row, matching a season-high.
Ezi Magbegor led Seattle with a season-high 19 points.
The Mystics entered the fourth quarter down by 10 before outscoring Seattle 27-14 in the final frame.
Washington’s second rookie All-Star, Sonia Citron, went on a personal 5-0 run to help snatch the lead from Seattle and take a 62-61 advantage with 4:28 left in the game. She finished the game with 17 points.
Sykes, who tallied a team-best 19 points, converted a layup to put Washington up by three with about 20 seconds left. Facing a 72-69 deficit, Skylar Diggins caught a pass in the corner, but narrowly stepped out of bounds and turned it over to effectively seal the game.
Diggins, who leads Seattle in points and assists per game, had a quiet shooting night, going 4-for-14 from the field and scoring only 10 points.
The third frame swung the game in Seattle’s favor, as it outscored Washington 27-16 and took an eight-point lead.
Washington’s offense looked anemic for most of the third quarter. After Stefanie Dolson made a three at the 9:28 mark, the Mystics didn’t convert another field goal for almost eight minutes. They notched only four paint points in the quarter, and their shooting remained cold.
The visitors misfired on 11-of-14 shots from behind the arc for the contest.
In the first quarter, Washington’s defensive tenacity seemed to roll over from their 70-68 win over the Las Vegas Aces on Thursday. Seattle started the game 3-for-18 from the field, with two of their made attempts being 3-pointers from forward Nneka Ogwumike.
Still, the Storm only found themselves down 16-10 after one quarter.
Seattle’s offense shook off the slow start in the second quarter, taking a 22-20 lead on a Gabby Williams layup at the 6:41 mark. Despite poor shooting, the Mystics rallied and led 31-28 at halftime Washington went 0-for-7 from three and 5-for-11 on free throws in the first half.
Both teams struggled with turnovers in the first half, committing eight each.
SPARKS NOTCH ONLY SECOND HOME VICTORY AT SUN’S EXPENSE
Kelsey Plum scored 23 points and Azura Stevens added 21 points with 11 rebounds as the Los Angeles Sparks turned an offensive surge near halftime into a rare home victory by coming out on top 92-88 against the Connecticut Sun on Sunday.
Rickea Jackson scored 19 points and Dearica Hamby had 17 points with seven rebounds for the Sparks (7-14), who ended a six-game home losing streak to win in their own building for the second time this season and first since May 25.
Los Angeles went on a 6-0 run to close out the first half and put together a 10-1 run to open the second half while ending its 13-game losing streak to Connecticut.
Bria Hartley scored a game-high 25 points and Saniya Rivers added 20 points for the Sun (3-18), who lost for the 12th time in their last 13 games. Connecticut leading scorer Tina Charles was held to nine points on 3-of-10 shooting.
The Sun was playing without Marina Mobley (knee) for the eighth consecutive game.
Plum gave the Sparks an 88-85 lead with 2:08 remaining on a step-through left-handed layup. After a Sun turnover, Plum made a pair of free throws for a 90-85 lead with 1:28 on the clock.
Rivers made just one of two free throws for Connecticut with 47 seconds remaining, while Leila Lacan missed a fastbreak layup attempt with 6.4 seconds remaining while under pressure from Hamby.
Connecticut got off to a hot start, shooting 54.5 percent from the floor in the first quarter to take a 30-27 lead. The Sun increased their advantage to as many as eight points in the second quarter before taking a 49-47 lead into halftime.
Jackson led all scorers in the first half with 17 points for the Sparks, while Hartley scored 12 points for the Sun.
Plum moved into sole possession of 15th on the all-time list of 3-pointers made at 537 with a shot from long range in the first quarter. She made 3 of 7 from distance for the game.
Both teams have one game remaining before the All-Star break.
LEONIE FIEBICH HELPS LIBERTY RALLY PAST DREAM
Leonie Fiebich scored a game-high 21 points on 8-of-9 shooting as the host New York Liberty rallied from a 19-point, first-half deficit to defeat the Atlanta Dream 79-72 on Sunday afternoon.
Breanna Stewart had 18 points, 10 rebounds and four assists for New York. She was also clutch. After Atlanta put together a 6-0 run late in the fourth quarter to cut its deficit to four points, Stewart had two assists and two buckets in New York’s next four possessions.
The Liberty – the reigning WNBA champions – have won two straight games and three of their past four.
Atlanta has done the opposite, losing two straight and three of four.
Through three quarters, Fiebich had a game-high 16 points on 6-for-6 shooting, including 4 for 4 on 3-pointers. She finished the game 4 of 5 on 3-pointers.
Liberty All-Star guard Sabrina Ionescu – who was coming off a 28-point game – was held to just nine points on 3-for-20 shooting, including 0-for-7 from deep. She missed her first nine shots.
Allisha Gray led Atlanta with 16 points, but she made just 3-of-13 shots, including 1-of-7 from deep.
Brittney Grinter had a double-double for Atlanta with 10 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks.
The Liberty got two players off the injured list for this game: Natasha Cloud (hip) and Isabelle Harrison (knee). Cloud had two points, four assists and two steals. Harrison scored nine points and six rebounds off the bench.
However, Liberty star center Jonquel Jones (ankle) missed her 11th game of the season.
Early in the game, New York raced to a 9-4 lead. But Atlanta stormed back to take a 26-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Dream stretched their lead to 19 points in the second quarter, but Atlanta settled for a 42-31 lead at halftime.
At the start of the third quarter, New York cut its deficit to 43-38, forcing a Dream timeout.
New York finally caught Atlanta as Marine Johannes nailed a 3-pointer to tie the score 49-49 with 2:42 left in the third. Then, with 57 seconds left in the third, Fiebich hit a 3-pointer to give New York a 52-51 advantage – its first lead since the first quarter.
The Liberty entered the fourth quarter with a 55-53 lead. A 3-pointer by Nyara Sabally stretched New York’s lead to 70-60 with five minutes left, and Atlanta never got closer than a four-point deficit the rest of the way.
EXPLOSIVE SECOND QUARTER CATAPULTS FEVER PAST WINGS
Kelsey Mitchell scored 20 points and Indiana relied on a 36-point second quarter and a strong all-around game from Caitlin Clark to race past the Dallas Wings 102-83 on Sunday in Indianapolis.
The Fever’s 64 first-half points was a league best for the season. Indiana shot 16-for-21 (76.2 percent) in the second quarter and 27-for-42 (64.3 percent) for the first half. Slightly more pedestrian was their 40-for-77 mark (51.9 percent) for the game.
Dallas actually took a 16-11 lead midway through the first quarter on a Paige Bueckers 3-pointer and trailed just 28-27 after the first quarter. But Indiana ran away with its second-quarter barrage (including 10 points from Natasha Howard) and never looked back.
The Fever lead stretched as far as 76-47 in the middle of the third quarter. Dallas never pulled closer than 16 points for the rest of the game.
Indiana (11-10) placed five players in double figures. In her third game back after a groin injury, Clark scored 14 points, dished a season-best 13 assists, and tied a career-high with five steals. All-Star guard Mitchell was 8-for-12 shooting. Also reaching double figures were Howard with 18 points on 8-for-9 shooting, Aliyah Boston with 17 points and reserve Sophie Cunningham with 13 points on 5-for-6 shooting.
Indiana’s 102 points tied a season best, two games after the Fever were held to 61 points by the Golden State Valkyries.
Dallas (6-16) got a strong game from star rookie Bueckers, who tallied 21 points on 9-for-15 shooting. Center Lu Yueru added 16 points and rookies JJ Quinerly (13 points) and reserve Aziaha James (11 points) also scored in double figures.
The Wings got little help from returning star Arike Ogunbowale, who had been sidelined with a thumb injury. She shot 0-for-10 from the floor and scored just two points in her return to action. The Wings committed 18 turnovers.
Indiana will next be in action on Tuesday against host Connecticut. Dallas will host Las Vegas on Wednesday ahead of Saturday’s All-Star game.
