WNBA: Minnesota Lynx beat Chicago Sky to seal playoff place
Phoenix Mercury, Washington Mystics, Connecticut Sun and Indiana Fever also victorious
Wednesday 28 August 2019 07:34, UK
Sylvia Fowles had a season-high 25 points and 12 rebounds as the Minnesota Lynx beat the Chicago Sky on Tuesday night to seal a playoff berth for the ninth straight season.
Chicago Sky 85-93 Minnesota Lynx
Sylvia Fowles had a season-high 25 points and 12 rebounds, moving into third place on the WNBA career-rebounding list, as the Minnesota Lynx beat the Chicago Sky 93-85 on Tuesday night to claim their ninth straight playoff berth.
Fowles has 3,307 career rebounds, passing Lisa Leslie and trailing Tamika Catchings (3,316) and Rebekkah Brunson (3,356). Chicago guard Courtney Vandersloot also set a league record, breaking her single-season assists record on an inbounds pass to Diamond DeShields early in the third quarter.
Vandersloot had five assists in the first quarter to tie her mark of 258 and she finished the game with 10.
Odyssey Sims had 23 points and eight assists for Minnesota (16-15), who swept Chicago this season. Napheesa Collier added 19 points. Damiris Dantas had 17 points and 10 boards and Danielle Robinson scored nine as the starters scored every point for Minnesota.
Cheyenne Parker scored 22 points, Diamond DeShields added 19 and Astou Ndour had 17 for Chicago (18-12).
Phoenix Mercury 95-82 New York Liberty
Brittney Griner had 29 points and 14 rebounds and Leilani Mitchell added a career-high 29 points as Phoenix beat the New York Liberty 95-82, moving the Mercury a step closer to the playoffs. Phoenix's magic number for clinching a playoff spot was reduced to one. The Liberty were eliminated from postseason contention.
Diana Taurasi, who was playing her second game since returning from a hamstring injury, had only two points, missing all seven of her shots. She did have 10 assists and four rebounds for the Mercury (14-15).
Phoenix, who had 11 of their 12 players healthy for one of the first times this season, got a scare when Griner went down holding her knee in the first quarter. After a few moments, she skipped off the court and was tended to on the bench. She re-entered the game in the second quarter.
Griner finished the first half with 19 points as Phoenix led 49-46 at the break. New York led 63-59 in the third quarter before Camille Little scored seven straight points for the Mercury.
The teams traded the lead with the Liberty taking their final one of the game on Kia Nurse's three-pointer with 2:12 left in the third period.
Phoenix scored the final eight points of the quarter, including the last four by Mitchell.
New York (9-21) couldn't get much closer in the final quarter. Amanda Zahui B and Bria Hartley each scored 18 points for the Liberty.
Los Angeles Sparks 66-95 Washington Mystics
Aerial Powers scored 20 points and Elena Delle Donne added 14 as the first-place Washington Mystics beat the Los Angeles Sparks 95-66 for their eighth straight home win.
Washington made six three-pointers in the first quarter for a 33-22 lead and had nine by half-time. The Mystics finished 11-of-35 from distance and 22-of-24 from the free-throw line to remain atop the WNBA standings with four games to play.
Natasha Cloud scored 15 points, Emma Meesseman had 12 and Ariel Atkins added 10 for Washington (22-8). Kristi Toliver missed her seventh straight game with a bone bruise in her right knee.
Candace Parker and Chelsea Gray each scored 12 points for Los Angeles (18-11). Nneka Ogwumike added 10 on 5-of-12 shooting as the Sparks shot just 34.3 per cent, including 3-of-21 from three-point range.
Connecticut Sun 89-70 Seattle Storm
Alyssa Thomas had 22 points and 11 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the season and Courtney Williams scored 17 points as the Connecticut Sun beat the Seattle Storm 89-70.
Connecticut (21-9) are a game behind first-place Washington. The top two seeds get a bye to the semi-finals, and the third and fourth seeds receive a bye to the second round. Seattle (15-15) has clinched a spot in the playoffs for a chance to repeat as champion.
Jonquel Jones added 10 points for Connecticut, who are 7-8 on the road this season. Thomas scored 20-plus points for the sixth time this season, moving within 17 points of reaching 2,000 for her career.
Shekinna Stricklen sank a three-pointer to move into a tie with Penny Taylor for 20th on the WNBA three-pointers-made list.
Connecticut shot 53 per cent and out-rebounded Seattle 43-30 to sweep the season series.
Jewell Loyd scored 18 points for Seattle, who have lost four of their last five outings. Crystal Langhorne added 12 points. The Storm made 11-of-22 three-pointers.
Las Vegas Aces 71-86 Indiana Fever
Teaira McCowan had 24 points, 17 rebounds and five blocks to lead the Indiana Fever past the Las Vegas Aces 86-71.
McCowan became the first WNBA rookie with 20-plus points and 15-plus rebounds in back-to-back games. She needs 14 rebounds to set a Fever rookie record and 42 to break Erlana Larkins' club mark.
Indiana led 29-15 after the first quarter and scored the first five points of the second for a 19-point lead. The Fever led 53-33 at the break, their best first-half production of the season.
Mitchell finished with 16 points, Candice Dupree had 13 and Tiffany Mitchell scored 12 for Indiana (11-19), who have won back-to-back games for the first time since early June.
A'ja Wilson had 18 points and eight rebounds and Kelsey Plum added 17 points for Las Vegas (19-12). Kayla McBride played 11 scoreless minutes in the first half and did not return.
The Aces have lost three straight games for the first time this season, the final team in the WNBA to do so.
