Saturday 24 August 2019 07:47, UK
Diamond DeShields scored 22 points and Stefanie Dolson added 18 points as the Chicago Sky beat the Washington Mystics 85-78 on Friday night.
Diamond DeShields scored 22 points and Stefanie Dolson added 18 points as the Chicago Sky beat the Washington Mystics 85-78 on Friday night.
Washington (20-8) is tied atop the standings with Connecticut, but the Sun own the tie-breaker.
The Mystics had won six straight and 11 of their last 12 games. Chicago (17-11) clinched a playoff spot on Thursday night by virtue of a win by Los Angeles.
Courtney Vandersloot added 15 points, eight rebounds and nine assists for Chicago. Allie Quigley was held to two points in 28 minutes.
Elena Delle Donne paced Washington with 16 points and seven rebounds as she dropped her first game in nine meetings against her former team. Kristi Tolivermissed her fifth straight game due to injury.
The Mystics lead the league in field-goal percentage at 46.9 per cent, but were held to 26-of-73 shooting.
Washington Mystics went on a 15-0 run for a 38-30 lead midway through the second quarter and led 49-42 at the break.
But the Mystics scored just 29 points in the second half.
Alyssa Thomas and the Connecticut Sun want to make sure they don't have to play in a single-elimination playoff game this year. They took a step in that direction with a gritty win over the Las Vegas Aces on Friday night.
Thomas scored 27 points and Courtney Williams added 24 to help the Sun rally to beat the third-place Aces 89-85.
Connecticut moved into first place in the standings after Washington lost to Chicago.
"This game was huge for us, we don't want to fall past the two spot," Thomas said. "The one-and-dones aren't too good to us. It's super important for us to finish in the top two." The Sun own the tie-breaker over both the Mystics and Aces.
Earning a top two-seed will get them a bye to the semifinals and put them in a five-game series.
"We know we've been getting kicked out the last two years because of that single elimination. Our mindset since the beginning has been to make sure we're one or two," Williams said. "If we get to the semi-finals and have a best of five, we're going to be a problem so that's what we're fighting for."
Connecticut (20-8) trailed by 11 in the third quarter before Thomas took over, scoring 11 of the next 13 points to tie the game. Williams' jumper with a minute left gave Connecticut a 70-68 advantage.
Neither team could get more than a four-point lead in the final quarter. The Sun led 87-85 with about 30 seconds left when Jackie Young missed a driving lay-up. Connecticut corralled the rebound and the Sun worked the clock down before Williams hit a jumper from the free-throw line with 10.2 seconds left to make it a two-possession game and seal the fourth straight win.
Liz Cambage scored 18 points and A'ja Wilson added 17 to lead Las Vegas (19-10), who saw their four-game winning streak end.
Tiffany Hayes scored 19 points to lead five Atlanta starters in double figures as the Dream beat the New York Liberty 90-87 to snap a 12-game losing streak.
Renee Montgomery made a contested lay-up in the lane with 15.8 seconds left to give Atlanta an 88-87 lead.
After Rebecca Allen's free-throw line jumper rolled out, Hayes made two free throws and Allen was long on a corner three at the buzzer.
Atlanta (6-22) won its first game since topping Minnesota on July 12, snapping the team's longest slide since starting 0-17 in 2008.
Montgomery finished with 18 points, Brittney Sykes had 17, and Jessica Breland and Monique Billings each scored 11 for Atlanta. Breland also grabbed 12 rebounds for her 20th career double-double.
Atlanta used a 27-11 spurt through the first nine minutes of the third quarter to take a 73-62 lead. Bria Hartley led New York (9-19) with 17 points and Tina Charles had 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
