Guru’s WNBA Report: Chicago Upsets Las Vegas While Connecticut Slams Indiana and Seattle Vanquishes New York

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

 

For the Chicago Sky, it was upset city rallying from an early deficit to beat the second-place Las Vegas Aces 84-82 ending the opposition’s seven-game win streak.

 

The Connecticut Sun took another solid step forward with an easy 84-62 win over the Indiana Fever while the Seattle Storm, the best team in the WNBA, beat the worst 105-64, handing the one-win New York Liberty a 105-64 thrashing for one of the most lopsided losses in the the league’s 24-year history.

 

In fact, it’s the most points ever given up in a game by the New Yorkers, who were one of the eight original charter teams in 1997.

 

That’s how it went Tuesday on the nightly three-game card from the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., near Tampa/St. Petersburg bringing all 12 teams to either at or just over the halfway point on the revamped and shortened 22-game WNBA regular season schedule impacted by the Covid-19 virus.

 

The race for the eight-team playoff spots is a gridlock but on trend, the teams near the top are closer to launching the magic number countdown while the teams at the very bottom, specifically Atlanta (2-9)  and New York (1-10) are closer to qualifying for next Spring’s draft lottery slots in the annual collegiately-dominated selections.

 

In the Chicago win, the Sky (8-4) had to hold on in the final moments. 

Rutgers grad Kahleah Copper of Philadelphia scored 18 points for the Sky and dealt four assists while Azura Stevens scored 14, Stefanie Dolson added 11, Diamond DeShields scored 12 and Courtney Vandedersloot scored 15 and dealt 15 assists

 

On the Vegas side, Angel McCoughtry had 17 points while A’ja Wilson scored 11 and grabbed eight  rebounds

 

Kayla McBride scored 15, and off the bench Dearica Hamby scored 11 and Danielle Robinson scored 13.

 

The Connecticut win over Indiana also flipped the Sun (5-7) into seventh place over the Fever (4-7) as DeWanna Bonner scored 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds while Jasmine Thomas had 15 points and six assists. She was 3-for-6 from beyond the arc.

 

Brionna Jones continued to show dramatic improvement from a year ago with her fourth double double with 15 points.

 

Alyssa Thomas joined Jasmine Thomas with six assists each and also grabbed 11 rebounds. 

 

Connecticut’s 39-26 edge on the boards was a key in the win.

 

Kelsey Mitchell still got points for the Fever but was held to 15 while Tiffany Mitchell scored 13. Rookie Julie Allemend grabbed eight rebounds and dealt four assists.

 

As for the court massacre of New York (1-10) by Seattle (1-11),  the Storm have now won nine straight while off to the best start in franchise history.

 

Former New York Liberty guard  Essence Carson, who starred at Rutgers and was cut by Washington earlier this week, after being claimed by the Storm got into the game and scored 16, Breanna Stewart scored 15, Jewell Loyd and Sami Whitcomb scored 14 each, Natasha Howard had 12, and Sue Bird scored 10.

 

Kia Nurse had 21 points for New York, while Jazmine Jones had 10 points and six rebounds, and Amanda Zahui B scored 10.

 

Looking Ahead

 

On Wednesday at 7, Washington and Atlanta face each other guaranteeing someone to end their long losing streaks. Dallas, fighting for a playoff spot, meets Minnesota at 9, while Las Vegas and Phoenix meet at 10.

 

On Thursday, New York and Chicago meet at 7, followed by Indiana and Seattle at 8, while Connecticut and Las Vegas meet in a key game at 10.

 

And that’s your report.