Saturday 17 August 2019 22:20, UK
Ariel Atkins scored 18 points and Emma Meesseman added 17 points as the Washington Mystics clinched a playoff berth with an 86-79 win over the Minnesota Lynx on Friday night.
Ariel Atkins scored 18 points and Emma Meesseman added 17 points as the Washington Mystics clinched a playoff berth with an 86-79 win over the Minnesota Lynx on Friday night.
The Mystics (19-7), who have the best record in the WNBA by a game over Connecticut, surged into the lead for good during a 13-4 run capped at 74-70 on LaToya Sanders' 19-foot jumper with 3:32 left in the game.
Meesseman's three-pointer with 51.8 seconds left made it 80-73 and Washington made all six of their free throws from there.
Elena Delle Donne had 14 points and eight rebounds, Aerial Powers had 14 points and Natasha Cloud scored 13 for the Mystics.
Sylvia Fowles had 16 points and eight rebounds to lead the Lynx (13-13). Damiris Dantas and Danielle Robinson added 14 points each. Napheesa Collier scored 13 and Odyssey Sims 10.
Shekinna Stricklen scored 24 points and made a pair of free throws with 4.3 seconds left to help the Connecticut Sun rally from a late seven-point deficit and beat the Seattle Storm 79-78.
Connecticut (18-8) were down 76-69 with 1:47 left before closing the game on a 10-2 run capped by Stricklen's two free throws.
Alyssa Thomas added 17 points, 11 rebounds and five steals, including one to seal the game after Stricklen's free throws.
Seattle (14-13) had their largest lead at 61-48 late in the third quarter, but Stricklen scored nine points during Connecticut's 10-2 run to close the period.
Natasha Howard scored 27 points on 11-of-15 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Storm. Jewell Loyd added 15 points, Crystal Langhorne scored 14 and Alysha Clark 11.
Allie Quigley scored 26 points to help the Chicago Sky beat Los Angeles 91-81 to pull into a tie for fourth place with the Sparks.
Courtney Vandersloot added 17 points and nine assists, Astou Ndour and Diamond DeShields had 11 points each and Stefanie Dolson scored 10 for the Sky (15-10).
Vandersloot scored six points while Chicago closed the game on an 11-2 run after Candace Parker's basket pulled the Sparks (15-10) within 80-79 with 2:56 left.
The Sky led by as many as 17 in the first half, but the Sparks erased the deficit when Chiney Ogwumike's basket gave Los Angeles a 64-63 lead with 1:25 to go in the third quarter.
Chicago retook the lead 21 seconds later and never trailed again.
Chelsea Gray had 25 points for the Sparks. Tierra Ruffin-Pratt and Nneka Ogwumike added 16 points each and Alana Beard scored 10.
Allisha Gray scored 22 points as the Dallas Wings took the lead in the final minute to win their third straight game, beating New York 83-77.
Isabelle Harrison's basket with 40.4 seconds left gave Dallas a 76-75 lead.
Arike Ogunbowale, who added 21 points for the Wings (9-17), followed with three consecutive free throws and Gray added a pair to make it 81-75 with 17.4 seconds to go.
Bria Hartley cut the deficit to four with a pair of free throws for the Liberty 8-17), but that was as close as they would get.
Harrison had 15 points and Glory Johnson scored 11 for the Wings.
Tina Charles led New York with 25 points. Kia Nurse added 17 points and Hartley scored 12. New York, who have lost seven straight games, trailed by seven in the middle of the fourth quarter but rallied to take the lead at 73-71 with 1:43 to go.
DeWanna Bonner had 27 points and 13 rebounds to help the short-handed Phoenix Mercury snap a three-game skid with a 77-68 victory over the Atlanta Dream.
Camille Little's jump shot in the final minute of the third quarter sparked an 18-4 Mercury run that ended at 67-62 with 6:24 left in the game.
The Dream closed the deficit to 70-66 before Phoenix pulled away for good with seven straight points.
The Mercury's Brittney Griner served the second of her three-game suspension.
Diana Taurasi (hamstring), Essence Carson (calf), Sancho Lyttle (knee) and Alanna Smith (ankle) were out with injuries for Phoenix (12-13).
The Dream (5-21) led most of the way and took control late in the third quarter with an 11-2 run capped at 58-49 on Brittney Sykes' pair of free throws.
Renee Montgomery had 17 points to lead Atlanta, who lost their 11th game in a row - the franchise's worst stretch since starting 0-17 in 2008.
