Liberty rally from 19-point deficit to beat Dream 79-72
NEW YORK (AP) — Leonie Fiebich scored 21 points and the New York Liberty rallied from a 19-point deficit in the first half to beat the Atlanta Dream 79-72 on Sunday.
Breanna Stewart added 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Liberty (14-6).
Fiebich’s hot shooting helped rally New York from an 11-point halftime deficit. Her consecutive 3-pointers near the end of the third quarter gave the Liberty their first lead since early in the game. New York was up 60-58 early in the fourth quarter before using a 12-2 run to take its biggest lead of the game.
Kennedy Burke had five points during the burst and Nyara Sabally hit a 3-pointer that made it 70-60 with 5 minutes left.
Atlanta (12-9) was able to get within four, but could get no closer.
Allisha Gray scored 16 points to lead the Dream, who were missing All-Star Rhyne Howard because of a knee injury she suffered in Atlanta’s previous game against Indiana. Brittney Griner added 10 points and 10 rebounds for her first double-double with the Dream.
FEVER 102, WINGS 83
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Caitlin Clark had 14 points, 13 assists and a career-high-tying five steals, Kelsey Mitchell scored 20 points and the Indiana Fever beat rookie Paige Bueckers and Dallas in the first matchup between the past two No. 1 overall picks in the WNBA draft.
Bueckers made 9 of 15 from the field and finished with 21 points, four rebounds and four assists.
Clark, on a minutes restriction in her third game back from lower-body injuries, had her second career game with at least 10 points, 10 assists and five steals and became just the fifth player in WNBA history with multiple such games.
The Fever had a franchise-record-tying 30 assists.
Indiana (11-10) scored 64 first-half points — the most in a half in the WNBA this season — to take an 18-point lead into halftime. Aari McDonald hit a 3-pointer that gave the Fever the lead for good 33 seconds into the second quarter — the first of their 36 points in the period on 16-of-21 shooting.
SPARKS 92, SUN 88
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kelsey Plum scored 18 of her 23 points in the second half, Azurá Stevens finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds and Los Angeles beat Connecticut to snap a 13-game losing streak against the Sun.
Connecticut lost to the Sparks for the first time since an 80-76 home loss on Aug. 28, 2020.
Rickea Jackson scored 19 points and Dearica Hamby added 17 points for Los Angeles (7-14).
Bria Hartley had a season-high 25 points and rookie Saniya Rivers scored a career-high 20 for Connecticut (3-18). Jacy Sheldon added 13 points and Aneesah Morrow 10.
Morrow scored inside to give Connecticut an eight-point lead with 1:46 left in the first half but Jackson made a layup, Julie Allemand hit two free throws and Jackson made another bucket to make it 49-47 at halftime. Stevens scored eight points — including two 3-pointers — before Plum capped a 10-1 spurt with a layup that made it 57-50 with 6:47 left in the third quarter and the Sparks never again trailed.
The Sun shot 50% from the field, while Los Angeles made 47%, but the Sparks grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and scored 14 second-chance points.
MYSTICS 74, STORM 69
SEATTLE (AP) — Brittney Sykes scored 10 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter, Sonia Citron added 17 points and Washington beat Seattle.
Kiki Iriafen finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds for Washington (11-10) and her six double-doubles this season are tied with Chamique Holdsclaw for franchise’s single-season rookie record.
Ezi Magbegor scored a season-high 19 points, Nneka Ogwumike added 16 and Skylar Diggins had 10 for the Storm. Tiffany Mitchell, who was signed by Seattle on Thursday after the nine-year veteran was waived by Las Vegas on June 30, finished with 12 points.
Ogwumike made a layup to cut the deficit to 70-69 with 40.8 seconds to play but Sykes answered with a driving layup late in the shot clock before Diggins stepped out of bounds with 17 seconds remaining. Sykes made to free throws to cap the scoring.
Diggins finished with four assists and moved into a tie with New York’s Natasha Cloud for eighth in WNBA history with 1,638 career assists.
The Mystics used a 15-4 run to take a 62-61 lead with 4:28 left in the game. Citron capped the spurt with a 3-pointer and then a driving layup.