Sunday night wins for Sparks, Mercury and Sun
Monday 31 August 2020 07:14, UK
The Los Angeles Sparks overcame the Atlanta Dream on Sunday night to become the third team to secure their place in the WNBA playoffs.
Brittney Sykes scored 15 points and Chelsea Gray had 14 - including back-to-back baskets in the final minute - as the Sparks beat the Dream 84-79 to win their ninth consecutive game and clinch a spot in the WNBA playoffs.
Nneka Ogwumike left in the first half and did not return for the Sparks due to a back injury. Kristine Anigwe started the second half in Ogwumike's place and finished with nine points and six rebounds, while Candace Parker had just nine points on 4 of 11 shooting but added 10 rebounds and seven assists.
Chennedy Carter, who played 17 minutes Friday against Minnesota in her return from a five-game absence due to an ankle injury suffered on August 10, led the Dream with 26 points on 11 of 19 shooting. Courtney Williams scored 15 points and Monique Billings added 12 points and 14 rebounds.
Carter made a layup to give Atlanta a 74-72 lead with 3:27 to play. Sykes scored the next six points before Parker made a driving layup as she was fouled. She, however, missed the and-1 free throw and it was 80-74 with 1:11 remaining.
Carter and Gray each made layups before Billings converted a three-point play to make it 82-79 about 40 seconds later. But Gray dribbled into the lane, put on the brakes, and hit a fadeaway from the free-throw line with 8.1 seconds left and the Sparks held on.
Skylar Diggins-Smith scored 13 of her 25 points in the fourth quarter, Diana Taurasi had 23 points and 12 rebounds and the Phoenix Mercury held off the Minnesota Lynx 83-79 for their third victory in a row.
Diggins-Smith made all of her 11 free-throw attempts, including four in the final 13 seconds. Brianna Turner scored 10 points on five of five shooting, grabbed 15 rebounds and blocked four shots for Phoenix to continue a fine run of form that has seen her average 13 boards and 3.7 blocks over the last three games.
Taurasi hit three-pointers 32 seconds apart and the Mercury led the rest of the way. She made another three to give Phoenix a 68-53 lead early in the fourth quarter but the Lynx answered with a 12-2 run to trim their deficit to 70-65 with 6:18 to play.
Odyssey Sims made two free throws to cap an 8-0 spurt and make it a three-point game with 1:27 left but Diggins-Smith scored six points in the final minute to seal it.
Crystal Dangerfield scored 15 of her 20 points in the fourth quarter for Minnesota and Napheesa Collier finished with 13 points, six rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks.
DeWanna Bonner had 20 points and 11 rebounds, Alyssa Thomas added 16 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, and the Connecticut Sun beat the Washington Mystics 76-63.
Rookie Kaila Charles scored a season-high 16 points for the Sun.
Essence Carson made back-to-back three-pointers to make it 11-8 and the Sun led the rest of the way, with Connecticut taking having taken a 39-28 advantage into halftime.
Emma Meesseman and Ariel Atkins had 14 points apiece and Kiara Leslie had 11 for Washington, while Myisha Hines-Allen added 12 points, a career-high tying 13 rebounds and six assists.
Connecticut had 26 assists on 31 field goals. The Mystics shot just 19 of 59 (32.2 per cent) from the field and committed 16 turnovers as their losing streak moved to four.
Washington have also lost eight of its last nine since leading-scorer Aerial Powers (16.3 points per game) injured her hamstring in a loss to New York on August 7.
