Wilson drops 26 on Sparks; Brown leads Lynx to victory with career-high; Liberty beat Mystics
Saturday 8 August 2020 07:55, UK
A'ja Wilson chalked up her fourth consecutive double-double to lead the Las Vegas Aces to victory over the Los Angeles Sparks, while Lexie Brown's career-high night helped the Minnesota Lynx beat the Indiana Fever.
A'ja Wilson scored 26 points with 11 rebounds and Angel McCoughtry added 24 as the Las Vegas Aces beat the Los Angeles Sparks 86-82 on Friday night.
Wilson - who recorded her fourth consecutive double-double - finished 11 of 19 shooting and scored 12 in the decisive final stanza.
This included scoring on four of five possessions in just under three minutes, before Jackie Young made back-to-back jump shots and Kayla McBride and McCoughtry sealed it at the free throw line.
Candace Parker's basket with 6:06 left gave the Sparks a 71-68 lead, only for Wilson to counter with a pair of baskets and McCoughtry to add a layup to help Las Vegas lead for the rest of the way.
Young finished with 15 points and Dearica Hamby scored 10 with nine rebounds for Las Vegas (4-2), who finished with a 42-33 rebound advantage.
Parker led Los Angeles (3-3) with 20 points and 12 rebounds, making the first time since 2015 that she has had four consecutive double-doubles.
Sydney Wiese scored 18 and Chelsea Gray had 16.
Lexie Brown scored a career-high 26 points with nine assists and four steals and the Minnesota Lynx used a second quarter surge to beat the Indiana Fever 87-80.
Down 23-18 after period one, the Lynx (5-1) - winners of four straight - went on a 17-3 run to start the second and never trailed again. Sylvia Fowles started the Lynx on their way after converting a three-point play and a layup. Minnesota held Indiana (2-4) to 11 points in the second.
Kennedy Burke's three-pointer with 5:57 remaining reduced Indiana's deficit to 76-73. Candice Dupree then made one of two foul shots to make it a two-point game, but Fowles responded with a pair of foul shots and a basket to blunt the Fever comeback. Fowles scored 21 points on the night.
Kelsey Mitchell and Tiffany Mitchell each scored 15 for the Fever and Teaira McCowan scored 11 with 12 rebounds.
Indiana have now dropped three of their last four.
Amanda Zahui B. scored 14 points with 14 rebounds while Kia Nurse scored 17 points to give New York Liberty a 74-66 victory over the Washington Mystics and head coach Walt Hopkins his first career win.
The Liberty (1-5) shot their way out of the winless column with 12 three-pointers as Zahui B. went four of nine from beyond the arc and Layshia Clarendon four of five. Clarendon also finished with 14 points.
Zahui B.'s three with 4:45 before halftime ended a 14-7 run that gave New York its first double-digit lead at 32-21. Emma Meesseman made back-to-back threes to get Washington (3-2) within 35-31 with 63 seconds left before halftime but the Mystics never got closer.
Aerial Powers led Washington with 20 points, Meesseman 17 and Myisha Hines-Allen 12.
