Monday 26 August 2019 07:36, UK
Riquna Williams scored 21 points as the Los Angeles Sparks beat Connecticut 84-72 on Sunday, knocking the Sun out of the top spot in the WNBA standings.
Riquna Williams scored 21 points as the Los Angeles Sparks beat Connecticut 84-72 on Sunday, knocking the Sun out of the top spot in the WNBA standings.
Nneka Ogwumike added 16 points and reached the 4,000-point milestone early in the game. She is the 38th player to reach that mark and the 14th fastest (244 games).
The Sparks (18-10) were playing their second game in a row with no injured or suspended players.
Candace Parker added 13 points and Chelsea Gray scored 12. Parker had five assists and passed Vickie Johnson (1,205) into 15th in the WNBA career assists leaders, finishing the game with 1,208.
The Sun (20-9) had a four-game winning streak snapped and dropped a game behind the Washington Mystics (21-8).
Courtney Williams had 18 points, nine rebounds and five assists, Jonquel Jones added 16 and 12 rebounds, and Shekinna Stricklen scored 12 points.
Allie Quigley scored 24 points and passed 1,000 career-made field goals to help the Chicago Sky beat the Phoenix Mercury 94-86.
Courtney Vandersloot added nine points, nine rebounds and 13 assists for the Sky (18-11), who have won three straight and are in the hunt for a first-round bye in the playoffs.
Chicago pulled away with an 8-0 run sparked by Stephanie Dolson's lay-up with two minutes left and capped at 92-82 on Vandersloot's pair of free throws with a minute to go.
Diamond DeShields had 18 points, Cheyenne Parker added 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Astou Ndour had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Sky.
Brittney Griner had a season-high 34 points for the Mercury (13-15). DeWanna Bonner added 18 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.
Diana Taurasi had 12 points in her return from a hamstring injury and a one-game suspension. In just her second game of the season, she made all eight of her free throws but struggled from the field with 2-of-13 shooting.
Napheesa Collier and Danielle Robinson scored 23 points each as the Minnesota Lynx beat the Las Vegas Aces 98-77.
Sylvia Fowles added 14 points for the Lynx (15-15), who shot 59 per cent from the field and reduced their playoff-clinching magic number to one with four games to go.
Minnesota took the lead for good late in the second half and opened the third quarter with a 20-4 run to build a 65-47 lead.
Sylvia Fowles added 14 points, Damiris Dantas scored 11 points and Odyssey Sims had 10 for the Lynx.
Jackie Young had 14 points to lead the Aces (19-11). Liz Cambage added 12 points, and Sugar Rodgers and A'ja Wilson had 11 points each.
Las Vegas entered the match-up one game out of the top two spots in the WNBA standings and missed an opportunity to close ground on the Connecticut Sun, who also lost on Sunday.
Elena Delle Donne had 22 points and 10 rebounds as the Washington Mystics led from the opening basket in a 101-72 rout of the New York Liberty.
Washington (21-8) built a 31-14 advantage by the end of the first quarter and led by double digits the rest of the way.
Delle Donne was 8-of-13 from the field and the Mystics shot 53 per cent overall. Tianna Hawkins added 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Emma Meesseman and Aerial Powers scored 14 points each.
Kia Nurse scored 24 points, making 6-of-10 from 3-point range for the Liberty (9-20). Bria Hartley and Tina Charles added 16 points apiece.
The Mystics' LaToya Sanders blocked three shots to pass 200 career-blocked shots, finishing the game with 201. She finished with eight points.
Teaira McCowan had 22 points and 19 rebounds and the Indiana Fever kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a 63-54 win over the Seattle Storm on Sunday.
Seattle clinched a playoff spot earlier on Sunday with the benefit of the New York Liberty's 101-72 loss to the Washington Mystics.
The Fever trail Phoenix by three games for the final playoff spot and have five games left.
McCowan had the second-best rebounding effort by any player in the WNBA this season. The Connecticut Sun's Jonquel Jones had 22 rebounds against the Sparks on May 31.
Kelsey Mitchell added 13 points and Candice Dupree scored 12 for the Fever (10-19). McCowan was 9-of-15 from the field and grabbed six offensive rebounds.
Natasha Howard had 14 points, nine rebounds, five assists for the Storm (15-14). Howard reached 200 career blocks with her first rejection of the night and finished with two more to improve her total to 202.
Tiffany Hayes scored 23 points to help Atlanta hold off the Dallas Wings 77-73 for the Dream's first back-to-back road wins of the season.
Elizabeth Williams gave the Dream (7-22) the lead for good on a putback with 1:05 left and Hayes scored a driving lay-up with 21 seconds left to make it 75-71.
Isabelle Harrison cut the deficit back to two for the Wings (9-20), but Hayes made two free throws with 10 seconds left to secure the win.
Atlanta started to pull away with a run late in the second quarter and extended the lead to 60-40 late in the third.
Dallas erased the deficit when Arike Ogunbowale's free throw with 2:01 left tied it at 71.
Ogunbowale scored 29 points for the Wings, her sixth straight 20-point game and 13th of the season, which passed Odyssey Sims' franchise record for most 20-point games in a season by a Dallas rookie.
Williams returned after missing the last two games for personal reasons.
