The Guru’s WNBA Roundup: Clark and Collier Voted All-Star Captains; Minnesota Romps On Connecticut; Atlanta Hands NY 3rd Straight Loss; Valkyries Win Again

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

Five WNBA games on Sunday brought various twists and turns to the teams involved as well as to storylines beyond the outcomes of the games themselves as the league parked June into the record books.

League-leading Minnesota (14-2) took advantage of a visit from the very bottom and rocked Connecticut 102-63 at home in Minneapolis in the Target Center before a crowd of 8,821 hitting the Sun (2-15) with their ninth straight loss as the Lynx prepared to host defense of last season’s Commissioner’s Cup against idle Indiana (8-8) Tuesday night at 8 p.m. on Amazon Prime.

Ironically, that game will feature both All-Star game captains announced earlier in the day by the league for the annual game to be played on July 19th at 8:30 p.m. on ABC at Indiana’s Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Chosen by fans and media in the voting for 10 starters, Clark of the Fever, reigning rookie of the year, drew the most votes at 1,293,526 while Minnesota’s Napheesa Collier was runnerup by about 100,000 fewer votes.

“It's cool that fans get to be a part of it and have a little impact of the game,” Clark told The Associated Press. “It's going to be special to do it here in this city.... trying to make it the best also that the WNBA has ever had. … it's certainly a cool honor.”

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert phoned the former Iowa star with the news while Collier was surprised by her daughter who entered the Minnesota locker room on a scooter wearing a shirt saying, “Mama You’re an All-Star” before Sunday’s game.

Former Lynx standout Sylvia Fowles, recently inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville and headed to induction to the Naismith Hall in Springfield in September, was also on hand to break the word to Collier.

“It's really cool,” Collier told reporters prior to Sunday’s game. “I went from never being a starter to captain.”

Ten starters were chosen and the other eight will be announced Monday from receiving 50 percent of the fan balloting and 25 each from players and media.

Clark and Collier will draft their sister starters from that pool of remaining eight and then the league’s coaches will choose 12 reserves from three guards, five forwards and four from either position and announced this Sunday.

The captains will finish filling their teams from that pool.

Meanwhile off the other four games it may not yet be time to panic for the defending WNBA champion New York Liberty (11-5), but it’s certainly time for a caution alert after losing at Atlanta 90-81 before a crowd of 3,265 at Gateway Center in suburban College Park.

New York concluded a four-game road trip losing the last three games and dating to the prior home stand four of the last five, which would have been five of six had not the Liberty rallied from a 17-point second half deficit to beat Atlanta (8-4) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn costing the Dream the spot that went to Indiana for Tuesday’s Commissioner’s Cup.

Out West, Las Vegas (8-8) rallied late on the road and ended the Phoenix (12-5) six-game win streak beating the Mercury 84-81 before a crowd of 13,247 at PHX Arena.

The expansion Golden State Valkyries (9-7) are now two games over .500 following a dominating 84-57 win over Seattle (10-7) as the perfect record sellout crowd of 18,064 for all ten home games at the Chase Center continued in San Francisco.

The Valkyries have been making do while a chunk of their roster of international players have been overseas in Europe competing with their national teams in a tournament.

In Los Angeles, the host Sparks (5-12) drew a crowd of 13,523 at crypto.com Arena, formerly the Staples Center, for the halftime retirement of Candace Parker’s No. 3 jersey but it was visiting Chicago (5-11) prevailing 92-85.

The Sky also plan to retire the jersey of Parker, a former Tennessee all-American, from the two seasons she returned to her native city, in one of them leading Chicago to its only WNBA title.

Minnesota Slams Connecticut

The Lynx, who nearly beat New York last season in the decisive Game 5 of the WNBA finals that went into overtime, got 23 points from Napheesa Collier, announced earlier as one of the two All Star game captains, while Kayla McBride scored 20.

Up 10 after the first quarter, Minnesota launched a 21-0 run at the outset of the next soaring to a 50-26 lead at the half.

“I just liked how we came out, our approach to the game,” said Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve, the former La Salle star from South Jersey. “We didn’t make excuses, coming off the road or being tired or any reason to not come ready.

“I thought our focus was pretty good, due to the last time we played these guys.”

The Lynx have won all eight home games, losing to Seattle and Washington on the road.

“Each game we have goals,” Reeve said. “We like meeting goals. This team has high inspirations what it wants to be every time it shows up.”’

Courtney Williams had 12 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and two steals, the only one of 12 Minnesota players who was scoreless was Karlie Samuelson, who left the game after playing three minutes in the first half due to an ankle injury.

McBride had five makes from deep, one better than the entire Sun squad.

Rookie reserve Aneesah Morrow scored 16 points with 11 boards and five steals, while Olivia Nelson-Ododa scored 10 for Connecticut.

The game well-in-hand for Minnesota, both teams withdrew most of their respective starters while reserve Natisha Hiedeman scored 10 for the Lynx who had 27 assists on 36 baskets.

The Commissioner’s Cup, not part of the standings, is the only event in the WNBA the next three says, but on Thursday Minnesota hosts Washington at 8 p.m., while Connecticut is off until Sunday when Las Vegas visits at 4 p.m.

New York Slide Continues

Brionna Jones scored 21 for Atlanta, while Allisha Gray scored 20 with nine boards and six assists, and the Dream got more double-digit efforts from Jordin Canada (15 points), who also had eight assists; Brittney Griner (13), and Naz Hillmon (10).

Atlanta lost Rhyne Howard in the second half when she was hit hard causing an upper body injury and finishing with five points in 24 minutes.

Breanna Stewart scored 21 for New York with nine boards, while Saint Joseph’s grad Natasha Cloud scored 20, and Sabrina Ionescu off 5-15 from the field scored 14 points.

“I thought we needed a little bit more size and rebounding, blocking out,” said New York coach Sandy Brondello.

The Dream held a double digit lead the entire third quarter and deep into the fourth when the Liberty’s Marine Johannes connected on a 3-pointer with 1:05 left in regulation.

Atlanta scored 62 points in the paint, the most since during the 2012 season. The Dream was up 47-34 at halftime despite being 0-for-12 from deep and 5-12 on the line.

The Dream were able to take advantage of the absence of Finals MVP Jonquel Jones, out for an extended period with a knee injury.

“Starting these last two games, I just wanted to be more aggressive getting down hill so I can be the best version of myself,” Cloud said.

New York on Thursday hosts Los Angeles at 7 p.m. while Atlanta hosts Seattle at 7:30 p.m.

Golden State Sails Over Seattle

Not many saw this romp coming but the expansion Valkyries are now 2-0 on Seattle, who had won four-of-five heading to Sunday night’s game.

Tiffany Hayes scored 21 for Golden State, while Veronica Burton scored 15 with five boards and five assists.

Early in the third quarter leading Valkyries scorer Kayla Thornton went to the locker room and appeared to be holding her neck and did not return but the team did not have details other than she was still being evaluated.

A tough night, Thornton missed all five deep shots and shot 1-9 for the game overall. She finished with just two points and five rebounds.

Seattle’s Skylar Diggins had 18 points with six assists and five boards but overall Golden States’ tight defense knocked the Storm’s league-leading 47 percent field goal shooting down to a season-low 27 percent.

Laeticia Amihere helped the home team with 15 points and eight boards while Seattle’s Nneka Ogwumike, who starred in the Bay Area at Stanford, was held to eight points, shooting 3-10 from the field with seven rebounds.

Erica Wheeler added 13 points and Zia Cooke scored 10 off the bench.

“I thought they did everything better than us tonight,” Diggins said. Credit them, the effort was better. They went to 50-50 balls. They ran the floor harder than we did.”

Celebrities in the crowd reported by the AP were NBA star Steph Curry, UConn’s star Sue Bird, who was a standout at Seattle and USA Basketball, retired U.S. soccer great Megan Rapinoe, and South Carolina coach Dawn Staley.

Seattle begins a three-game trip East Thursday at Atlanta while Golden State is off until visiting Minnesota Saturday.

Las Vegas Upsets Phoenix

Reigning MVP A’ja Wilson scored 26 points for the visiting Aces and the game-winner with 22 seconds left in regulation while also grabbing 18 rebounds with seven assists.

Her shot on a tough layup taking a feed from Chelsea Gray following an offensive board from Jackie Young with the score tied 81-81.

Aaliyah Nye added a foul shot with 7.1 left and the Mercury were unable to get a game-tying 3-pointer off.

Nye, a rookie, had 16 points fueled by a personal best five from deep.

Young scored 15 and Jewell Loyd tallied 10.

Wilson is now tied with Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie for a WNBA record 13 games of 25 points and 15 boards. She has 79 double-doubles with at least 20 points second best in the league history behind Connecticut’s Tina Charles (104).

Phoenix’s Alyssa Thomas, the Maryland great out of Harrisburg, had 16 points, seven boards, and eight assists. Rutgers grad Kahleah Copper scored 15, Satou Sabally was held to 10, while Sami Whitcomb scored 14, tying a WNBA record with at least four 3-pointers in five straight games.

The tightly contested game had 10 ties and 17 lead changes.

The Mercury are at Dallas Thursday at 8 p.m.

Reese Sets Rebounding Mark Leading Chicago Over Los Angeles

In the wake of a career-low two rebounds, second-year pro Angel Reese has gone on to grab 15 or more boards a WNBA record in four straight games, the latest 16 with 24 points to lead Chicago over Los Angeles.

Her three earlier games saw Reese grab 19, 17, and 18 boards, while on Sunday she added seven assists with a pair of blocks.

Parker, whose jersey was retired, played 13 seasons with the Sparks, while also the two with Chicago and one with Las Vegas winning titles in L.A. in 2016, Chicago in 2021, and in Las Vegas in 2023.

Ariel Atkins added 20 points for the Sky, while reserve Kia Nurse scored 14, Rachel Banham scored 13, and Elizabeth Williams 12.

Los Angeles got 22 points from Kelsey Plum, while Dearica Hamby had a double double 20 points and 10 boards, Azura Stevens scored 17, and reserve Emma Cannon had 15 points.

Chicago overcame a 17-3 eruption that gave the Sparks a seven-point lead in the third quarter.

Los Angeles is at New York Thursday while Chicago is off until visiting Minnesota Sunday night.

 

The Guru’s WNBA Roundup: Dallas Downs Washington Despite Bueckers’ Absence to a Knee Issue

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

Even when the WNBA schedule reduces to one game during the week this season and even when that game might be between teams in the lower area of the standings, nevertheless it manages to be newsworthy.

And so it was that Washington arrived Saturday in Texas to play Dallas having just won at Las Vegas and reached .500 at 8-8 while the host Wings (5-13) a night after losing at home to Indiana, which was missing Caitlyn Clark due to a groin injury, announced that overall No. 1 pick Paige Bueckers after one of her top games playing 36 minutes and scoring 27 with six assists was being sidelined with a right knee issue.

There was nothing specified beyond as of late Saturday.

Earlier, Bueckers had missed three games in a concussion protocol immediately followed by an absence due to illness.

However, another newcomer stepped up before the Wings crowd of 6,006 at College Park Center on the campus of Texas-Arlington in the suburbs as JJ Quinerly out of West Virginia scored 15 points, her best night in her fledgling pro career and Dallas prevailed 79-71.

And rookie Aziaha James added 15 points to the effort.

Dallas has been playing without former Villanova star Maddy Siegrist, who is out for an extended period with a knee issue that won’t require surgery. In 2023 she was the third overall draft pick of the Wings.

The Wings in recent weeks have been making some headway though they’ve avoided the basement in part due to the worst season ever for the cellar-dwelling Connecticut Sun (2-14), whose current losing streak is eight heading to play league-leading Minnesota (13-2), one of five games on the Sunday slate, at 7 p.m. in the Target Center in Minneapolis.

That’s two days ahead of the Lynx at 8 p.m. on Amazon Prime hosting Indiana (8-8) defending Minnesota’s in-season tourney Commissioner’s Cup championship won last season against New York, which got its revenge several months later with a first-ever WNBA title in a deciding Game 5 in overtime at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

In Saturday night’s contest, Dallas had a hot hand at the outset shooting 11-18 to go ahead 28-9 after the first quarter and staying well in front 45-31 at the half, the Wings’ matching their largest lead this season at the break.

The Mystics, however, went 12-0 to start the third and moving within a bucket at 45-43 but the Wings then applied the defensive breaks and held on the rest of the way spurred by an 8-0 run later in the quarter. Dallas surged again with a 7-0 spurt to start the fourth quarter.

Arike Ogunbowale added 14 points for the Wings, and Myisha Hines-Allen scored 13 points with six boards, five assists and three steals.

Washington rookie Sonia Citron, third overall out of Notre Dame, had another stellar night with 22 points and 10 rebounds, while Shakira Austin scored 18, and second-leading Mystics scorer Britney Sykes returned from two injury-related missed games, but was held to six points in 26 minutes.

Rookie Lucy Olsen out of Villanova and Iowa a night after her best game off the bench went scoreless in 24 minutes of action off a bench that was dominated 36-5 by Wings reserves.

Both teams are off until Thursday when Washington visits Minnesota while Dallas hosts Phoenix both at 8 p.m.

Sunday’s other games have a key matchup at 3 p.m. on ESPN3 when New York finishes its four-game road trip at Atlanta looking for a split; Chicago at Los Angeles at 4 p.m. on ESPN; Las Vegas at Phoenix at 6 p.m. on NBA-TV; and Seattle at expansion Golden State at 8:30 p.m.

 

The Guru’s WNBA Roundup: Collier Scores 26 in Return as Minnesota Tops Atlanta in OT: Phoenix Beats New York and Wins Sixth Straight; Indiana Shakes Off Clark Absence

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

When daylight arose Friday ahead of the top four of the WNBA banging into each other, defending champion New York had a chance to return to facing Minnesota head on in the standings but by the time the calendar flipped 24 hours later, the Liberty off its current road trip was looking up at two teams.

Napheesa Collier returned with Minnesota (13-2) after missing two games with back problems and she exploded for 26 points as the Lynx won 96-92 in overtime at Atlanta (10-6), which got tied in fourth place, 3.5 games back, by Seattle (10-6), an easy 97-81 winner at home over last place Connecticut (2-14).

New York (11-4), having lost at home for the first time last week this season, the defeat at the hands of Phoenix (12-4), the Mercury came back and prevailed again with an explosive 106-91 triumph that moved the home team a half-game in front into second place 1.5 games behind the Lynx while the Liberty fell two back in third place.

Expansion Golden State (8-7) continued to shine, winning 83-78 over Chicago (4-11) to take sixth place at five games out, a half-game ahead of Indiana (8-8), which shook off another absence by Caitlyn Clark and won 94-86 at Dallas (4-13) to tie idle Washington (8-8) for seventh place in the last two playoff spots, which have a long way to go before it all gets set this September.

Washington plays the only game Saturday visiting Dallas at 8 p.m. before another five-game card comes Sunday two days ahead of the Commissioner’s Cup, which Minnesota hosts Indiana Tuesday at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

Las Vegas (7-8) is in ninth a half-game out.

Minnesota Edges Atlanta

Besides Collier’s performance, the Lynx won two foul calls they challenged in the last minute of the extended period.

The rulings came with 54.8 and 20.5 seconds remaining and then Kayla McBride made four free throws in the final 17.5 seconds, the second tough loss for Atlanta the last two weeks including a blown 17-point lead in New York that cost the Dream a place in the Commissioner’s Cup, an in-season tournament that does not count in the standings.

McBride reached her 5,000th point scoring 18 in the game, while Courtney Williams scored 16 and Bridget Carleton had 14 points.

The Lynx were on target from deep, making 13 threes while also connecting on 17-of-18 from the line.

Minnesota won despite being outscored 52-24 in the paint by Atlanta in the game before a crowd of 3,265 at Gateway Center in suburban College Park.

The Dream had a balanced attack with Brionna Jones scoring 18, Allisha Gray 17, Brittney Griner 16, Rhyne Howard 15, Jordin Canada 14, and off the bench Naz Hillmon with 10 points.

The Lynx had raced to a 45-28 lead midway through the second when the game was halted briefly by a power failure from severe thunderstorms in the area.

The resumption saw an energized Dream team outscore the visitors 38-15 to go up 66-60 with 3:50 left in the third quarter before the Lynx rallied for a one-point lead in the final period.

Atlanta went up by seven in the final period before Minnesota rallied again and sent it into overtime with two foul shots from Collier.

“We had to demonstrate a level of toughness,”’ said Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve. “We had to get some stops, which we got done. When we went into overtime, I felt good about where this team was.”

On Sunday, Minnesota hosts Connecticut at 7 p.m. while in another key contest, Atlanta hosts New York at 3 p.m. on ESPN3, the fourth and final stop by the Liberty.

Phoenix Uses 3-Ball to Outlast New York

Satou Sabally scored 25 for the Mercury before a crowd of 12,009 at PHX Arena and showed no rust from being off since last Sunday nipping a franchise record 18 from deep after setting its previous mark with 17 on Sunday. The overall 35 from deep back-to-back set a WNBA record.

New York, which connected on 19 twice this season, holds the individual game record.

Alyssa Thomas, the former Maryland star who came from Connecticut last winter, just missed a triple-double with 17 points, a second-time franchise best 15 assists, and nine boards.

Phoenix moved the ball well setting a team record with 30 assists on 41 baskets.

“ I think the first game with New York was a kind of statement game for us, just being on the road back-to-back,” said Phoenix first year coach Nate Tebbets. “The cool part for us right now is we're going to get everybody's best, and we want their best, and we want to see, you know, whoever is in front of us.

“I think that's kind of our mentality.

 “We've been on the road; it feels like a long time - although we've probably got more practices than our players wanted this week. But we've had a good week. Yeah, I think anytime you go against the best teams in the league, you know you get excited. It's a Friday night. We haven't been home in a while. We expect this place to be rocking, and we're going to fly around and compete on each and every possession.”

Sabally, whose sister Nara is with New York, was 7-10 beyond the arc while Sami Whitcomb was 5-7 for all of her 15 points. Kitija Laksa scored 13 and Kahleah Copper, the Rutgers grad from Philadelphia, scored 12 as the Mercury won their sixth straight.

New York’s Breanna Stewart scored 17, Nyara Sabally scored a personal-best 16 in her first start against her sister, while Saint Joseph’s grad Natasha Cloud scored 15.

The prior loss to Phoenix has set the Liberty on a 4-of-5 losing streak. New York is missing finals MVP Jonquel Jones with a knee injury that will keep her sidelined past the all-star break next month, the game will be played at Indiana on July 19 at 8:30 p.m. on ABC.

“Well, we didn't execute our game plan in the beginning... we had no toughness on defense, and we didn't make them feel uncomfortable one bit,” said New York coach Sandy Brondello.

 “So, second half, at least, we competed a little bit. So, we made a run here and there, and I was proud of that but, I mean, we've got to, this is a great team - don't underestimate that - but we've got to be learners out on the floor too, like Satou, who had 7 threes. We know that Sammy is a shooter, we've got to get locked in. We've got to be mentally engaged.

‘And that starts with me. I've just got to find a way to get more effort from these players. We can't change this result, but we have to be better if we want to be one of the best teams.

 Phoenix on Sunday hosts Las Vegas at 6 p.m. on NBA-TV

Indiana Strong Start Carries Fever at Dallas

Anticipating Caitlyn Clark, Dallas moved the game from the Wings’ suburban home in Arlington to American Airlines Arena where a crowd of 20,409 showed up but the 2024 overall No. 1 draft pick and rookie of the year was on the bench for the fifth time this season – five previous with a quad injury and now two straight with an injured groin.

But the Fever facing this year’s No. 1 pick Paige Bueckers out of UConn managed to shake off the star’s absence taking an early 22-point lead.

Kelsey Mitchell scored 32 points.

Bueckers, after a cold start, gave the crowd plenty to like, scoring 27 points, including a buzzer-beating half-court shot before the half.

Arike Ogunbowale scored 15 in the game, the first the Wings have played in the NBA Mavericks Arena. The team plans to move to downtown within the next few years.

Indiana also got 21 points from Boston, while Natasha Howard had 15 points and 13 boards with three steals.

Among the celebrities on hand for the game was Mavericks’ overall No. 1 draft pick Cooper Flagg.

Dallas rallied for a one-point lead 80-79 on rookie JJ Quinerly’s three-point play midway through the fourth but recently acquired Aari McDonald snapped an 82-82 tie with a score that launched a 9-0 run to seal it.

Former Villanova star Maddy Siegrist, the third overall draft pick in 2023, is out for an extended period with an injury that won’t need surgery but needs time to heal.

As mentioned, Dallas hosts Washington Saturday in the only game of the day while Indiana is off until playing at Minnesota in the Commissioner’s Cup and then hosting Las Vegas on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Amazon Prime Video.

Golden State Edges Chicago

The expansion Valkyries continued their season-long WNBA record streak selling out every home game with a crowd of 18,064 in the Chase Center in San Francisco, this one treated to Kayla Thornton’s career-high 29 points.

With two minutes remaining, Thornton’s fourth make put Golden State up 78-70 but Angel Reese’s offensive rebound and score with 1:11 left cut the differential to 78-74.

A second remained on the shot clock when Thornton was then fouled, she went 1-2 at the line, then Reese’s offensive rebound, and score closed it to 79-76 but Tiffany Hayes sealed it with a pair of shots from the line for her 13th point, former Iowa star Kate Martin had a 11 and former Princeton and UConn star Kaitlyn Chen, who was recently re-signed ahead of Valkyrie international players temporarily abroad at their respective national team’s tournaments, scored 10.

Ariel Atkins had 20 for the Sky and Reese had 17 points and 18 boards, the third straight 15+ action on rebounds after grabbing just two before the streak.

Kia Nurse scored 17 for the visitors, 12 in the first half, and Rachel Banham scored 11. Second-year pro Kamilla Cardoso, the former South Carolina star and native of Brazil, is also away with her national team.

Chicago is at Los Angeles Sunday at 4 p.m. on ESPN, while Golden State hosts Seattle at 8:30 p.m.

Seattle Cruises Over Connecticut

A Seattle crowd of 10,776 at Climate Pledge Arena saw the Storm do just that handing the Sun their eighth-straight loss.

Skylar Diggins scored 24 for the home team, while Gabby Williams had 16 points, eight boards and seven assists.

Coming out of the break with a 52-35 lead, Seattle surged on an 18-5 run to holding a domineering 27-point lead at 70-43.

Nneka Ogwumike added 16 points and Ezi Magbegor scored 12, while Dominique Malonga, taken second overall in April’s draft out of France, scored a career-best 11 points off the bench.

“We set a standard, definitely in the second quarter, we dictated that,” said Seattle coach Noelle Quinn. “At halftime, it was about coming in and making sure we started the third quarter appropriately.

 “Again, it wasn't about the opponent - it was more about us. The biggest thing was playing out of our defense and being more efficient in our offense, and rebounding.

 “There was an intentionality around how we wanted to approach this particular game, and I thought the second and third quarters were indicative of that,” Quinn said.

Connecticut rookie Annesah Morrow out of LSU had a personal best 20 points with 10 boards, Bria Hartley scored 19, and Jacy Sheldon scored 15, with 12 from Olivia Nelson-Ododa.

 Second-leading Sun scorer Marina Marbrey remains sidelined with a knee injury.

As mentioned, Seattle is at Golden State Sunday while Connecticut is at Minnesota.