PHOENIX (AP) — A’ja Wilson made the go-ahead basket with 22 seconds left and finished with 26 points, 18 rebounds and seven assists as the Las Vegas Aces beat Phoenix 84-81 on Sunday, ending the Mercury’s six-game winning streak.
Wilson made a difficult layup on a feed from Chelsea Gray to make it 83-81 after Jackie Young snared an offensive rebound for the Aces. Aaliyah Nye made a free throw with 7.1 seconds left before the Mercury failed to get a good look on a third straight possession in the final minute.
Nye, a rookie, had career bests of five 3-pointers and 16 points for the Aces. Young added 15 points and Jewell Loyd had 10. Wilson tied Lisa Leslie for the most 25-point, 15 rebound games in WNBA history at 13.
Alyssa Thomas led Phoenix with 16 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. Kahleah Copper added 15 points, Sami Whitcomb had 14 and Satou Sabally 10. Whitcomb had four 3s, giving her at least four in five straight games, tying a WNBA record.
There were 10 ties and 17 lead changes in the game, which was tied at 40 at halftime.
DREAM 90, LIBERTY 81
COLLEGE PARK, Ga. (AP) — Brionna Jones tied a season high with 21 points, Allisha Gray had 20 points, nine rebounds and six assists, and Atlanta beat New York.
Jordin Canada had 15 points and eight assists, Brittney Griner scored 13 points and Naz Hillmon had 10 for Atlanta. Rhyne Howard was hit hard in the second half and did not return due to an upper body injury. She finished with five points in 24 minutes.
Breanna Stewart had 21 points and nine rebounds, and Natasha Cloud scored 20 points for New York, which has lost four of its last five games. Sabrina Ionescu added 14 points on 5-of-15 shooting.
Atlanta held a double-digit lead the entire third quarter and for most of the fourth until Marine Johannes capped the scoring with 1:05 left on a 3-pointer.
Gray made 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to finish with 10 points in the fourth quarter and give Atlanta an 88-70 lead.
The Dream scored 62 points in the paint — their most since the 2012 season.
The Dream led 47-34 at halftime despite going 0 for 10 behind the arc and 5 of 12 from the foul line. Atlanta shot 21 of 29 inside the arc, scoring 40 points in the paint. New York shot 37.5% but after Stewart and Cloud, who both had 11 points, the rest of the team was just 4 of 16.
SKY 92, SPARKS 85
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Angel Reese scored a season-high 24 points and became the first WNBA player with 15 or more rebounds in four straight games, finishing with 16 boards and leading Chicago to a victory over Los Angeles, who retired Candace Parker’s No. 3 jersey at halftime.
Reese had 11 points in the fourth quarter and gave the Sky an 85-74 lead on a three-point play with 2 1/2 minutes to go. She had 19, 17 and 18 rebounds in her previous three games. She also had seven assists and two blocks on Sunday.
Parker, a two-time MVP and Chicago native, played 13 seasons for the Sparks, two for the Sky and one for the Las Vegas Aces. She won titles with the Sparks in 2016, the Sky in 2021 and the Aces in 2023, her final season. The Sky will also retire her jersey later this summer.
Reese had a basket as Chicago got the last four points of the third quarter to pull within 62-61. She scored six straight points early in the fourth to help Chicago take the lead for good.
Ariel Atkins added 20 points for Chicago, Kia Nurse scored 14 off the bench, Rachel Banham had 13 and Elizabeth Williams 12.
Kelsey Plum led the Sparks with 22 points and Dearica Hamby added 20 points and 10 rebounds. Azura Stevens scored 17 points and Emma Cannon had 15 off the bench.
LYNX 102, SUN 63
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Napheesa Collier scored 23 points, Kayla McBride added 20 and Minnesota rolled to a win over Connecticut, the Sun’s ninth straight loss.
Ahead by 10 after one quarter, the Lynx scored the first 21 points of the second to lead 50-26 at halftime. Collier had 15 points in the third quarter, when Minnesota outscored the Sun 27-15.
Courtney Williams had 12 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and two steals for the Lynx (14-2), who are 8-0 at home. Minnesota had 11 of 12 players score on the way to a season-high total. Only Karlie Samuelson, who sustained an ankle injury after playing three minutes in the first half, did not score.
McBride had five 3-pointers, one more than the Sun, to give her 653 for her career. That moved her past Kristi Tolliver for seventh in league history.
Reserve Aneesah Morrow had 16 points, 11 rebounds and five steals for the Sun (2-15), who shot 35%. Olivia Nelson-Ododa added 10 points.
VALKYRIES 84, STORM 57
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Tiffany Hayes scored 21 points, Veronica Burton contributed 15 points, five rebounds and five assists, and Golden State ran away from Seattle Storm for a victory.
Valkyries leading scorer Kayla Thornton headed to the locker room at the 9:22 mark of the third quarter appearing to hold her neck, and the team said she was undergoing further evaluation without providing details of the injury. She shot 1 for 9 and missed all five of her 3-point tries, held to two points while grabbing five rebounds. Her teammates picked up the slack — on both ends of the floor.
Skylar Diggins had 18 points, six assists and five rebounds for Seattle, which came in leading the league in field-goal percentage at 47.0% but was limited to a season-low 27% (20 for 74) by the stingy Golden State defense. The Storm had only been held below 40% once, shooting 33.3% in the season opener at Phoenix on May 17.
Laeticia Amihere added 15 points and eight rebounds as the Valkyries jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead before Nneka Ogwumike’s shot at the 6:58 mark and made five of their first eight shots for a 13-4 advantage.
The Associated Press
