Thursday night wins for Las Vegas Aces and Indiana Fever
Friday 11 September 2020 07:41, UK
The Washington Mystics beat the Los Angeles Sparks to move into a tie with the Dallas Wings for the eighth and final WNBA playoff place.
Myisha Hines-Allen scored 30 points to help Washington beat Los Angeles. The Mystics (7-13) joined the Dallas Wings in a tie for eighth place with two regular-season games left. The top eight teams advance to the playoffs. Los Angeles (15-6) are in third place and take on second-place Las Vegas on Sunday.
Ariel Atkins hit a three-pointer to give the Sparks a 71-68 lead with 2:53 remaining. Hines-Allen made consecutive three-pointers, found Emma Meesseman for a transition lay-up and added a free throw in the final 1:28.
Chelsea Gray scored 21 points and Nneka Ogwumike had 15 for Los Angeles.
Angel McCoughtry scored 22 points on her 34th birthday as the Las Vegas Aces made a franchise-record 10 three-pointers in beating the Minnesota Lynx 104-89 on Thursday night for their fourth straight victory.
Kayla McBride's three-pointer during a 13-4 run to open the fourth quarter was the record-setting 10th for the Aces, last in the league for three-point attempts. They finished 10-of-18 from beyond the arc, led by McBride's 5-of-7 effort.
McCoughtry added eight rebounds and six assists and surpassed 1,500 career-made-free throws, the third player to do so in WNBA history. McBride added 21 points, A'ja Wilson 20 and Jackie Young had all 17 of hers in the second half.
Crystal Dangerfield scored 24 points and Napheesa Collier added 17, all in the first half, plus 11 rebounds and five assists for Minnesota (13-8), who lost their third straight game.Second-place Las Vegas (16-4) have games remaining against third-place Los Angeles Sparks and league leaders the Seattle Storm in the final weekend of the regular season as they vie for a top-two finish that would earn them a bye into the playoff semi-finals.
Candice Dupree scored 14 of her 22 points in the second half and the Indiana Fever beat the New York Liberty 85-75 on Thursday night to snap an eight-game losing streak.
Dupree was 9-of-19 from the field and had seven assists, six rebounds and two blocks. Kelsey Mitchell added 18 points, Teaira McCowan 14 and Tiffany Mitchell 11 for Indiana (6-15). Kelsey and Tiffany Mitchell each had seven points in the fourth quarter after the teams entered the period tied at 62.
Paris Kea scored a career-high 21 points and Kia Nurse, who went over 1,000 career points, added 18 for the Liberty (2-18). Jazmine Jones had 10 rebounds and nine points.
Trailing by four at the half, New York grabbed the lead back midway through the third quarter until Kelsey Mitchell completed a three-point play with 38 seconds to tie the score.
The game matched up the only two teams already eliminated from playoff contention. New York have lost six straight games.
