Powers puts up career figures; Sky overcome Sparks; Fowles breaks WNBA record
Wednesday 29 July 2020 10:09, UK
Aerial Powers produced career numbers in a win for the Washington Mystics on Tuesday, while Sylvia Fowles enjoyed a record-breaking performance despite the Minnesota Lynx suffering defeat.
Powers scored a career-high 27 points on 10-of-14 shooting as the Mystics beat the Sun 94-89 on Tuesday night in a rematch of the 2019 Finals.
Ariel Atkins and Myisha Hines-Allen each scored 16 points for the defending champion Mystics (2-0) and Emma Meesseman added 12 points along with a career-best tying eight assists.
Alyssa Thomas scored 28 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and DeWanna Bonner had 29 points, nine boards and five assists for Connecticut (0-2). Bonner also registered two steals to become one of six active players with at least 400 career steals (401).
Atkins made a three and a layup to spark a 13-0 run that was capped by back-to-back three-pointers by Hines-Allen and Powers and made it 65-56 with 5:41 left in the third quarter. Atkins converted a three-point play about two minutes later to give the Mystics, who led the rest of the way, a 10-point lead.
Washington made 11 of 15 (73.3 per cent), including three of five from three-point range, while outscoring the Sun 28-19 in the third quarter. The Mystics then scored 12 of the first 14 fourth-quarter points to push their lead to 88-73 with 5:52 to play. Connecticut went one for six from the field with four turnovers over the first four-plus minutes of the period.
Jacki Gemelos checked in for Connecticut midway through the fourth quarter and the Sun trailing by 13. She hit two threes, and Bonner added a third, in a 16-3 spurt that cut the deficit to 91-89 with 1:39 left but they got no closer. It was Gemelos' first appearance in a WNBA game since September 13, 2015, a span of 1,780 days.
Kahleah Copper and Azura Stevens had 21 points apiece as the Chicago Sky beat the Los Angeles Sparks 96-78.
Cheyenne Parker added 12 points and Allie Quigley, Courtney Vandersloot and Gabby Williams scored 11 apiece for Chicago (2-0). Vandersloot finished with 10 assists, with Stevens and Copper each grabbing a career-high nine rebounds.
Brittney Sykes led the Sparks (1-1) with 16 points.
Parker and Williams made back-to-back three-pointers to give Chicago a 40-36 half-time lead and then the Sky scored 15 of the first 17 third-quarter points, pushing their lead to 17 when Vandersloot made a two free throws midway through the period.
Sydney Wiese hit two threes in an 11-0 run that cut LA's deficit to 66-57 early in the fourth quarter, but Chicago answered with a 10-2 spurt - including six points by Copper - and the Sparks trailed by double figures the rest of the way.
Breanna Stewart had 18 points and 10 rebounds in a 90-66 win for the Seattle Storm over the Minnesota Lynx to spoil a record-breaking night for Sylvia Fowles.
Fowles, who went into the game needing seven rebounds to become the WNBA's all-time leader, grabbed a missed three-point shot by Stewart in the closing seconds of the first half to move past former team-mate and current Lynx assistant coach Rebekkah Brunson into first on the career rebounds list with 3,357.
Damiris Dantas led Minnesota (1-1) with 18 points, while Fowles finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Sue Bird hit a three-pointer to give Seattle (2-0) the lead for good - at 27-24 - midway through the second quarter.
Rachel Banham made a three to trim Minnesota's deficit to 48-45 about four minutes into the third but was called for a technical foul several seconds later. Jewell Loyd hit the ensuing free throw, sparking a 15-2 run that gave Seattle a 16-point lead with two minutes left in the period and the Lynx trailed by double figures the rest of the way.
Bird hit four of six from three-point range and scored 16 points.
