Category: Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA)

Brionna Jones scored nine of her 18 points in the fourth quarter as the visiting Connecticut Sun took control in the final period and pulled away for an 89-77 victory over the Atlanta Dream Sunday afternoon in College Park, Ga.

The Sun (8-2) won for the fifth time in six games and earned their second straight double-digit win by using a 13-0 run that bridged the third and fourth quarters.

Alyssa Thomas nearly posted a triple-double for the Sun by contributing 17 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists while also overcoming seven turnovers. DeWanna Bonner followed up her franchise-record 41-point showing from Thursday against Las Vegas by chipping in 15.

Tyasha Harris contributed a season-high 15, including a pair of baskets in the final seconds of the second and third quarters. The Sun shot 43.8 percent, survived missing 11 of 15 3-point tries and withstood 16 turnovers.

Cheyenne Parker scored 20 points to lead all scorers but Atlanta (2-5) lost its third straight game. Allisha Gray added 18 points and Rhyne Howard contributed 16 for the Dream, who shot 41.9 percent and missed 14 of 19 3-point tries.

Thomas scored 10 points as the Sun overcame an early 10-point deficit for a 25-24 lead after the opening quarter.

Bonner’s jumper gave the Sun a 46-40 lead with 49.2 seconds left and Connecticut took a 48-44 lead into halftime on a jumper by Harris right before the buzzer.

A layup by Natisha Hiedeman staked the Sun to a 52-44 lead less than two minutes into the third quarter, and a basket by Jones made it 55-48 with 5:03 left. AD Durr hit two buckets in a span of 49 seconds to get Atlanta within 60-58 before Parker’s putback forged a 60-60 tie with 99 seconds left.

But the Sun took a 65-60 lead into the fourth after Harris hit a 3-pointer with two seconds left. The Sun extended their run to 13 when Jones converted a three-point play for a 73-60 lead with 8:02 left in the game.

Atlanta got within 77-68 on a 3-pointer by Nia Coffey with 5:18, but a jumper and a 3-pointer by Bonner pushed the lead to 84-70 with 2:36 left to essentially finish it off.

–Field Level Media

Los Angeles Sparks guard Layshia Clarendon sustained a partial tear of the plantar fascia in her right foot and will miss approximately four to six weeks, the team said Sunday.

Clarendon was apparently injured during Friday’s 77-62 victory over the Chicago Sky when she played a season-low 10 minutes.

Clarendon, 32, is averaging 7.8 points and 3.7 assists in six games (all starts) in her first campaign with Los Angeles.

Clarendon has averages of 7.6 points, 3.2 assists and 2.7 rebounds in 245 games (133 starts) over 10 seasons with six teams. She was an All-Star in 2017 when she was a member of the Atlanta Dream.

The Sparks visit the Minnesota Lynx on Sunday night.

–Field Level Media

Natasha Cloud scored 19 points as the visiting Washington Mystics spoiled Sue Bird’s jersey retirement ceremony by recording a 71-65 victory over the Seattle Storm on Sunday.

Cloud made 4 of 6 shot attempts from 3-point range for the Mystics (5-3), who quickly built a 28-point lead before seeing the Storm (1-6) nearly make a spirited comeback. Seattle scored 17 straight points to begin the fourth quarter and whittled its deficit to three with 2:48 remaining.

Ariel Atkins made a technical free throw to put Washington up 69-65 after the Storm’s Kia Nurse was whistled for a hostile foul.

Cloud added two more from the charity stripe to send Washington to its second victory over Seattle in the last three days. The Mystics recorded a 73-66 win over the Storm on Friday.

Atkins finished with 12 points and Shakira Austin collected 11 points and nine rebounds for the Mystics, who played without former WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne (neck tightness).

Seattle’s Jewell Loyd scored 16 points in her return from a one-game absence due to a foot injury.

Ezi Magbegor scored 13 points, Nurse had 12 and Jordan Horston added 10 for the Storm, who retired Bird’s No. 10 jersey after the game. The 13-time All-Star and four-time WNBA champion joined Lauren Jackson — who was in attendance — as the lone players to see their respective jersey numbers retired by the franchise.

Loyd drained a 3-pointer to trim Washington’s lead to 12-10 with 4:44 remaining in the first quarter before Atkins answered from beyond the arc to ignite a 30-4 run. Cloud sank all three of her 3-point attempts in the first quarter to finish with 11 points.

The Mystics kept their foot on the gas to seize a 42-14 lead in the second quarter.

The Storm made a modest run to trim Washington’s advantage to 46-21 at halftime.

–Field Level Media

A’ja Wilson scored a game-high 21 points to lead five Aces in double figures as Las Vegas cruised to a 93-80 victory over the visiting Chicago Sky on Sunday.

Wilson, the league’s reigning MVP, shot 8 of 15 from the field to go along with a game-high 10 rebounds. Chelsea Gray scored 19 points on 8-for-9 shooting from the field, including a perfect 3 of 3 from beyond the arc.

Kelsey Plum added 16 points, with Jackie Young finishing with 14. Candace Parker chipped in 10 points, seven assists and six rebounds against her former team and also had a season-high five steals for the Aces.

The Aces (8-1), who led by as many as 29 points in the fourth quarter, shot 38 of 65 (58.5 percent) from the field, including 6 of 16 (37.5 percent) from 3-point range. Las Vegas outrebounded the Sky 33-27 in the wire-to-wire victory.

Chicago (5-5), which has dropped four of its past six games, was led by Marina Mabrey’s 20 points.

Kahleah Copper finished with 18 points and six rebounds, while Dana Evans added 10 points and eight assists.

The Sky shot 30 of 70 (42.9 percent) from the field, including 7 of 21 (33.3 percent) from beyond the arc.

The Aces dominated the Sky, outscoring them 16-5 on the fast break and 50-28 in the paint.

The Aces took control from the start, jumping out to a 25-14 lead after the first quarter that they stretched to a 56-39 halftime advantage.

Plum had 14 points, Wilson added 12 and Gray chipped in 11 in the first half for Las Vegas. The Aces shot a blistering 22 of 31 (71 percent) from the field, including 3 of 6 (50 percent) from beyond the arc.

The Sky were led by Mabrey’s 13 first-half points, while Copper added 11.

Chicago shot 17 of 41 (41.5 percent) from the field, including a 3 of 9 (33.3 percent) from distance, prior to halftime.

–Field Level Media

Washington Mystics star forward Elena Delle Donne has been ruled out for Sunday’s game against the host Seattle Storm due to neck tightness.

Delle Donne is averaging a team-best 18.6 points per game to go along with 7.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists in seven games (all starts) for the Mystics (4-3).

A two-time WNBA MVP and six-time All-Star, Delle Donne has contributed 19.8 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 225 career games (218 starts) with the Chicago Sky (2013-16) and Mystics.

–Field Level Media

Breanna Stewart recorded 32 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots to lead the New York Liberty to a 102-93 victory over the visiting Dallas Wings on Sunday.

Sabrina Ionescu scored 19 of her 22 points in the second half and also had six rebounds and six assists for New York (6-2), which won for the sixth time in the past seven games. Courtney Vandersloot added 15 points and 10 assists and Marine Johannes had 12 points on four 3-pointers off the bench.

Stewart made 15 of 20 field-goal attempts as the Liberty scored 100 or more points in back-to-back games for the first time in franchise history. New York also topped the mark in Friday’s 106-83 win over the Atlanta Dream.

Arike Ogunbowale had 25 points, seven assists and six rebounds for the Wings (5-4), who had a two-game winning streak snapped. Satou Sabally recorded 17 points and 11 rebounds, Natasha Howard added 14 points and Kalani Brown had 10 for Dallas.

New York shot 55.7 percent from the field, including 13 of 28 from 3-point range. Betnijah Laney added 10 points for the Liberty.

The Wings made 39 percent of their shots and were 6 of 23 from behind the arc.

The Liberty outscored Dallas 34-17 in the third quarter to turn a six-point halftime deficit into a 79-68 lead. New York made 13 of 17 shot attempts in the period.

Stewart scored three straight baskets during a 9-2 run to start the second half to give the Liberty a 54-53 edge with 7:38 left in the third quarter. Later, Stewart scored two baskets in 41 seconds as New York held a 66-60 lead with 3:36 left.

Ionescu and Johannes each drained a 3-pointer during a 10-0 spurt as the Liberty increased their lead to 79-65 with 40.2 seconds left in the period.

Dallas was within eight with 6:04 remaining before Stewart scored two baskets and Ionescu drained a trey as New York stretched the score to 93-79 with 4:04 left en route to sealing the win.

Ogunbowale scored 13 first-quarter points and the Wings later ran off 12 straight points in the second quarter to hold a 39-30 lead with 4:13 left in the half. Dallas led 51-45 at the break.

–Field Level Media

The WNBA condemned harassment that Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner apparently endured from a social media personality on Saturday morning at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

Alex Stein, a Dallas-area YouTube personality, professed to be the person filming Griner at the airport. He posted a photo on Twitter, saying “I just met my favorite WNBA player Brittney Griner. Video coming soon,” and later posted an 11-second video of him shouting toward Griner as she walked through the concourse.

“Do you still want to boycott America, Britney?” Stein asks Griner as she walks by. Some men get physical with Stein at this point before he asks, “What about the merchant of death, Brit?”

Stein, 36, said he will air the video on YouTube on Sunday.

Griner spent 10 months in a Russian jail after being detained for marijuana possession in February 2022. In December, she was released in a deal in which the United States agreed to release imprisoned Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

The WNBA released a statement criticizing Stein well before the video snippet was released.

“As we gather additional information about today’s incident at the Dallas airport, it has come to our attention that this was orchestrated by a social media figure and provocateur. His actions were inappropriate and unfortunate,” the league said in a statement. “The safety of Brittney Griner and all WNBA players is our top priority. Prior to the season, the WNBA worked together with the Phoenix Mercury and BG’s team to ensure her safety during her travel, which included charter flights for WNBA games and assigned security personnel with her at all times. We remain steadfastly committed to the highest standards of security for players.”

Brianna Turner of the Mercury provided some context of what happened at the airport.

“Player safety while traveling should be at the forefront,” Turner said on Twitter. “People following with cameras saying wild remarks is never acceptable. Excessive harassment. Our team nervously huddled in a corner unsure how to move about. We demand better.”

The WNBA players union said the league needs to do a better job of providing charter flights.

“As we continue to hear from our members throughout the start of the season and particularly today with the situation involving the Phoenix Mercury at the Dallas airport, we are quite clear that the matter of charter travel is NOT a ‘competitive advantage’ issue,” the union said in a statement. “We cannot help but wonder if the league and teams preclude more reasonable and flexible rules regarding charter travel in 2023 in order to seek leverage on this issue at the bargaining table.

“What BG and all of her Phoenix teammates experienced today was a calculated confrontation that left them feeling very unsafe. Everyone who was paying attention knew this would happen. We could have and should have been more proactive.”

The Mercury lost Friday night in Dallas and were travelling for Sunday’s road game against the Indiana Fever.

–Field Level Media

Sabrina Ionescu is fresh off the best shooting game of her WNBA career and Arike Ogunbowale is right behind her on the 3-point sharpshooting list.

The star guards will look to put on a show when Ionescu’s New York Liberty host Ogunbowale and the Dallas Wings on Sunday afternoon.

Ionescu scored a career-high 37 points and set a franchise record with eight 3-pointers — another career best — as New York (5-2) routed the host Atlanta Dream 106-83 on Friday night.

Ionescu averaged 4.5 points on 3-of-16 shooting — including 1 of 9 from 3-point range — over the previous two games before breaking out big. She was 8 of 13 from behind the arc while falling one shy of Kelsey Mitchell’s WNBA single-game record of nine, set in 2019.

“My teammates got me the ball,” Ionescu said. “I was just thankful we won at the end of the day. I was just making the reads and shooting if I’m open.”

Ionescu, who is averaging 15.7 points per game, led the WNBA entering Saturday’s play with 24 3-pointers. Ogunbowale was second with 21.

Breanna Stewart leads New York in scoring (23.9) and rebounding (10.3). She had 25 points and nine rebounds against Atlanta.

Stewart ranks second in the WNBA in scoring and the Dallas duo of Ogunbowale (22.4) and Satou Sabally (21.8) rank third and fourth, respectively. Sabally leads the league in rebounding at 11.3 per game.

Ogunbowale put on her own show Friday with season bests of 35 points and five 3-pointers as Dallas (5-3) completed a two-game home sweep of the Phoenix Mercury with a 90-77 victory.

“This was her 13th 30-point game in her career,” first-year Wings coach Latricia Trammell said. “I mean, she just sets the tone. She can hit big shots when we need them like she did. She watches a lot of film. She wants to enhance her skillset and try to create more for her teammates as well.”

Sabally added 17 points and a season-high 16 rebounds for her fifth straight double-double and sixth of the season.

Sabally will face her younger sister, Nyara, for the first time in their WNBA careers. Nyara Sabally is averaging 4.6 points and 2.6 rebounds in five appearances off the bench for the Liberty.

–Field Level Media

The Los Angeles Sparks are getting reinforcements to make a building team even better.

After getting Azura Stevens (back) into their lineup for the first time on Tuesday night in a loss at Seattle, Los Angeles welcomed Jasmine Thomas (knee) into the playing rotation during Friday night’s 77-62 home win over Chicago.

Stevens and Thomas get another chance to chip off rust on Sunday night when the Sparks (4-3) travel to Minneapolis for a matchup with the struggling Minnesota Lynx (1-7).

Thomas, who played for Los Angeles coach Curt Miller last year in Connecticut, worked 12 minutes in her season debut, finishing with five points and a rebound. Stevens went 0-for-7 from the floor Friday night in 13 minutes but pulled down six rebounds and blocked a shot.

“Excited about the potential but again, (you) have to get cobwebs off people that missed significant time,” Miller said. “They all want to be coached and pushed to become their old self but you have to give them some time to get back into a rhythm.”

Nneka Ogwumike scored 19 points and grabbed 14 rebounds Friday night. She averages team-leading totals in both categories (20.3, 10.0).

Meanwhile, Minnesota missed a chance to earn consecutive wins when it dropped a 71-69 decision at home Friday night to Indiana in a matchup of the WNBA’s last-place teams. The Lynx hit just 38.1 percent from the field to cancel out a good defensive effort.

“Defensively, we put ourselves in position to be successful,” Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said. “(We allowed) 71 points, you’ve got to be able to win that one.”

Instead, the Lynx lost because of poor shooting and turnovers. They committed 14 turnovers that led to 20 points for the Fever. Minnesota was outscored 19-0 in fast-break points.

Napheesa Collier, who scored a game-high 28 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, is averaging a team-high 19.8 points per game on the season.

The Lynx won two of three meetings last year, although the road team won every game in the series.

–Field Level Media

The next step in the process for the Indiana Fever would be establishing a winning streak.

That opportunity comes Sunday in Indianapolis with a matchup against the visiting Phoenix Mercury.

“We’re moving in the right direction,” Fever coach Christie Sides said. “All we talk about is finishing.”

The Fever (2-5) shed their long losing streak stemming from last season earlier this spring and then topped the host Minnesota Lynx 71-69 on Friday night.

The Lynx managed only 14 points in the fourth quarter.

“When we talked about holding them down, we can,” Sides said. “We got those stops that we needed.”

The Mercury (1-5) have dropped three games in a row, including the last two at Dallas.

Perhaps most alarming in the Dallas games was the combined 91-57 rebounding edge for the Wings.

“Right now, what we need is people to rebound,” Mercury coach Vanessa Nygaard said. “Right now, we just don’t have that.”

Center Brittney Griner had a team-high 18 points for Phoenix in a 90-77 setback on Friday, but pulled in only five rebounds. Brianna Turner had a team-best eight rebounds off the bench.

Indiana, meanwhile, has had a player with a double-digit rebounding total in each of its last six games.

Indiana is 0-2 at home this season, so breaking through in front of its fans would be a bonus. The Fever’s two prior home games came against the 2022 WNBA finalists, Connecticut and Las Vegas.

“It’s only a matter of time,” Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell said of achieving a sustained breakthrough for the team. “I think our group is really honing in.”

Mitchell scored 22 points in the Minnesota game for her third game this season with 20 or more points.

Mitchell is averaging a team-high 17.4 points, while Fever rookie Aliyah Boston is putting up 15.0 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. NaLyssa Smith is averaging a double-double with 13.0 points and 10.6 boards.

Griner leads Phoenix in scoring (21.7), rebounding (7.3) and blocks (2.8) while Diana Taurasi leads the team in assists (6.3) and is second in scoring (17.3).

–Field Level Media