Plum scores 27, Wilson 23 as Aces beat Liberty 107-101
NEW YORK — Kelsey Plum scored 27 points, A’ja Wilson added 23 points and 14 rebounds, and the Las Vegas Aces beat the New York Liberty 107-101 on Tuesday night.
The teams played last week before the All-Star break and combined for the highest-scoring regulation game in WNBA history, with New York winning 116-107. This game nearly matched it.
Plum, the MVP of the All-Star Game, and Las Vegas (16-7) jumped all over New York and led by 14 after one and 52-28 at the half. The Aces looked to be cruising in the third quarter before Sami Whitcomb got hot for New York (9-14). She hit five 3-pointers in the period to get the Liberty within 71-63 heading into the fourth quarter.
Sabrina Ionescu finished with 27 points and Natasha Howard added 20 for New York, which was 15 for 31 from behind the arc.
LYNX 118, MERCURY 107, 2 OT
MINNEAPOLIS — Aerial Powers had career highs of 35 points and 12 rebounds, Rachel Banham added season highs of 25 points and seven assists, and Minnesota beat Phoenix in two overtimes.
Kayla McBride was 9 of 9 from the free throw line and finished with 17 points for Minnesota (9-15). Sylvia Fowles had 14 points and 14 rebounds, and Jessica Shepard added 13 points, 12 rebounds and two steals.
McBride made two free throws to give the Lynx a 103-101 lead with 2.1 seconds left in the first overtime. After a timeout, Skylar Diggins-Smith made a driving layup to force a second OT.
Powers made a layup and Banham hit her sixth and final 3-pointer to make it 108-103 with 3:37 to play as Minnesota finally pulled away.
Sophie Cunningham scored 36 points, hit six 3-pointers and had five steals — all career highs — for Phoenix (10-15). Diggins-Smith added a season-high 32 points and 10 assists, and Diana Taurasi scored 17 points.
STORM 83, WINGS 74
SEATTLE — Breanna Stewart scored 15 of her 19 points in the second half and Ezi Magbegor had 13 points to help Seattle beat Dallas for its third straight win.
Magbegor also tallied eight rebounds, two blocks and two steals for Seattle (16-8), while Stephanie Talbot added 14 points, Jewell Loyd scored 13 and Tina Charles had 11 points, eight rebounds and two blocks.
Teaira McCowan led Dallas with 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked two shots. The rest of the team combined to shoot 32.8% (19 of 58) from the field.
SKY 90, DREAM 75
CHICAGO — Candace Parker had 31 points and 11 rebounds, Kahleah Copper scored 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting and Chicago pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat Atlanta.
Emma Meesseman added 10 points, six rebounds and a season-high eight assists for Chicago (17-6).
Aari McDonald hit a 3-pointer that gave the Dream a 70-65 lead with 7:50 to play, but Chicago scored the next 15 points. Atlanta went scoreless for nearly five minutes and the Sky never trailed again. Meesseman either scored or assisted on 18 of Chicago’s 30 fourth-quarter points.
Cheyenne Parker led Atlanta (10-13) with 14 points. McDonald and Tiffany Hayes scored 12 apiece and Nia Coffey added 11.
MYSTICS 94, SPARKS 81
LOS ANGELES — Elena Delle Donne tied her season high with 26 points, making four 3-pointers and shooting 10 for 14 overall, and Natasha Cloud added a season-best 21 points and nine assists to lead Washington over Los Angeles.
Cloud was 6 of 10 from the field, 3 of 4 from 3-point range and 6 of 6 from the free throw line. Shatori Walker-Kimbrough scored 12 points and Ariel Atkins added 10 for Washington (15-10).
Katie Lou Samuelson and Brittney Sykes led Los Angeles (10-13) with 16 points apiece. Kristi Tolliver scored 12 points and Chiney Ogwumike finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Nneka Ogwumike (non-COVID illness) did not play for the Sparks.
