WNBA: Chicago Sky use balanced scoring effort to thrash Phoenix Mercury
Monday 2 September 2019 07:21, UK
Cheyenne Parker and Astou Ndour scored 18 points apiece to lead six Chicago players scoring in double figures as the Sky beat the Phoenix Mercury 105-78
Phoenix Mercury 78-105 Chicago Sky
Cheyenne Parker and Astou Ndour scored 18 points apiece to lead six Chicago players scoring in double figures as the Sky beat the Phoenix Mercury 105-78 on Sunday.
Diamond DeShields added 15 points, Allie Quigley had 12, Kahleah Copper 11 points and Stephanie Dolson 10 for Chicago. Courtney Vandersloot had nine points and 13 assists - extending her WNBA single-season record to 283. She has 11 double-digit assist games this season, giving her 44 in her career, tied with Seattle's Sue Bird for second-most in WNBA history.
Vandersloot hit two free throws to give the Sky (19-13) the lead for good and make it 54-53 at half-time before Ndour and Parker each hit a pair of three-pointers during a 20-4 run to open the third quarter
Brittney Griner had 26 points and nine rebounds and DeWanna Bonner finished with 12 points and 12 boards for Phoenix (15-16). The Mercury were outscored 51-25 after half-time, setting their season-low for points in a second half.
Indiana Fever 73-81 Minnesota Lynx
Odyssey Sims scored 17 points and Napheesa Collier had 15 points and 10 rebounds to move into elite company as the Minnesota Lynx defeated the Indiana Fever 81-73, a key win for playoff positioning.
Collier surpassed 400 points and 200 rebounds to join former Indiana star Tamika Catchings as the only rookies to surpass the 400/200 barrier plus have 60 steals. That helped the Lynx (17-15) stay a half-game in front of Seattle for the home-court advantage if the two teams meet in the No 6 vs No 7 match-up in the playoffs.
Minnesota only shot 44 per cent to 51 per cent for Indiana, but took advantage of 19 turnovers by the Fever and had 13 offensive rebounds. Indiana only shot 35 per cent and the Lynx hit all four of their three-pointers in the fourth quarter.
Sylvia Fowles had 10 points and five rebounds for the Lynx and is four boards behind Catchings for No 2 in WNBA history. Fowles passed Lauren Jackson for 10th on the WNBA all-time field goal list.
Candice Dupree had 18 points and Tiffany Mitchell 14 for the Fever (11-20). Rookie Teaira McCowan had 12 points and 11 rebounds, extending her double-double streak to four games and surpassing Catchings' Indiana rookie record of 276. She now has 283, the second-best rebounding season in Indiana history and No 7 all-time among WNBA rookies. With 20 rebounds in the last two games, she would tie the Indiana record.
Atlanta Dream 75-92 Seattle Storm
Jordin Canada had a career-high 21 points, eight assists and five steals as the Seattle Storm held on for a 92-75 win over the Atlanta Dream.
Alysha Clark had 16 points and eight rebounds, Natasha Howard added 14 points, eight boards and two blocks and Jewell Loyd scored 11 points for Seattle.
Five different Storm players scored during a 14-2 run that gave Seattle a 14-point lead when Crystal Langhorne converted a three-point play late in the first quarter. After Renee Montgomery hit a triple to cut the Dream's deficit to 14-12, they made just one of their next five shots and committed four turnovers during Seattle's spurt.
Atlanta's Monique Billings banked in a short jumper and then hit a three-pointer to spark a 16-6 run that made it 77-73 with 4:29 left in the game. Alex Bentley hit a pull-up jumper and then made back-to-back three-pointers to cap the spurt but the Dream went 0-for-4 from the field and 2-or-4 from the free-throw line and committed four turnovers as Seattle (16-15) scored 15 of the final 17 points.
Billings and Montgomery had 15 points apiece and Bentley scored 14 for Atlanta (7-24). The Dream tied their franchise record with 14 triples on 28 attempts but committed 18 turnovers.
