WNBA round-up: Erica Wheeler's double-double leads Los Angeles Sparks past Phoenix Mercury
Elsewhere the Storm had Breanna Stewart, Jewell Loyd and Sue Bird all on form as they beat the Fever; Kelsey Plum scored a new career-high as the Aces beat the Liberty and Allie Quigley scored a season-high 23 points in the Sky's win over the Lynx
Thursday 17 June 2021 16:51, UK
Erica Wheeler scored 10 of her 18 points in the fourth quarter and also recorded a season-best 10 assists to lead the Los Angeles Sparks to an 85-80 victory over the visiting Phoenix Mercury on Wednesday night.
Kristi Toliver added 17 points and Amanda Zahui B. added 15 as Los Angeles (5-5) snapped a two-game slide in the opener of a back-to-back set between the teams. Brittney Sykes added 14 points and nine rebounds for the Sparks.
Brittney Griner scored a season-high 30 points and collected 10 rebounds for the Mercury (5-7), who dropped their fourth straight game. The rematch is on Friday night in Los Angeles.
Sophie Cunningham tallied 16 points and Skylar Diggins-Smith had 15 points and 10 assists for the Mercury. Brianna Turner grabbed 12 rebounds for Phoenix, which was without star Diana Taurasi (sternum) for the eighth consecutive contest.
Indiana Fever 70-87 Seattle Storm
Breanna Stewart had 20 points, 12 rebounds and five assists to help the Seattle Storm beat the Indiana Fever 87-70 on Tuesday night.
Jewell Loyd added 18 points and Sue Bird had 17 for Seattle (11-2), which improved to 6-0 on the road.
Bird made a deep 3-pointer late in the second quarter to move past Katie Smith (906) for second all-time in WNBA history for made 3's. Diana Taurasi leads the league with 1,173 career 3-pointers. Seattle forward Candice Dupree moved into fifth in games played, passing former Minnesota star Lindsay Whalen (480).
Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana (1-12) with 26 points. Tiffany Mitchell added 12 points and Jessica Breland had 10 points, nine rebounds and three blocks.
Chicago Sky 105-89 Minnesota Lynx
Allie Quigley scored a season-high 23 points, Courtney Vandersloot became the fourth player in WNBA history with 2,000 career assists and the Chicago Sky beat the Minnesota Lynx 105-89 on Tuesday night.
Vandersloot joined Sue Bird, Ticha Penicheiro and Lindsay Whalen to reach the mark. Vandersloot also reached double-digit assists for the 60th time in her career, finishing with 10 points, 13 assists and four steals.
Quigley made a 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions to give Chicago a 78-57 lead late in the third. Minnesota went without a field goal for three-plus minutes in the quarter, and the Sky started the fourth on a 12-4 run for a 27-point lead.
Stefanie Dolson added 17 points, Diamond DeShields and Kahleah Copper each scored 16, and Candace Parker 12 for Chicago (5-7).
Napheesa Collier scored 27 points for Minnesota (4-6). Sylvia Fowles added 14 points. Kayla McBride was 1 of 5 from the field and Crystal Dangerfield made just 2 of 8. Canada's Bridget Carleton contributed with eight points in 25 minutes in the loss.
New York Liberty 78-100 Las Vegas Aces
Kelsey Plum scored 13 of her career-high 32 points in the fourth quarter, Liz Cambage had 14 points and 11 rebounds, and the Las Vegas Aces beat the New York Liberty 100-78 on Tuesday night.
Plum was 11 of 16 from the field, including 3 of 6 from behind the arc, to top her previous best of 23 points against Seattle in 2017.
Dearica Hamby had 16 points, six rebounds and four assists for Las Vegas (9-3).
Plum led all scorers with 13 points in the first half to help Las Vegas build a 48-45 lead after trailing by double digits. The Aces outscored the Liberty 25-15 in the third.
Jazmine Jones paced New York (6-5) with 17 points and Betnijah Laney had 15 points and six assists. Kylee Shook added 12 points with nine rebounds and Sami Whitcomb scored 10.
