The Guru WNBA Roundup: Indiana Rally Stops a Point Short of Atlanta; Vegas Handles Connecticut: League Scores Smashing Numbers on ABC Openers

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

Two more teams hit the win column for the first time this season Tuesday night after opening weekend losses as Atlanta blunted Indiana’s closing rally to edge the Fever 91-90 in Indianapolis while Las Vegas on the road easily handled the Connecticut Sun 87-62 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville.

Trailing 76-65 at the start of the fourth quarter before a near sellout crowd of 16,269 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indiana (1-1) roared back to tie things up 89-89 on Kelsey Mitchell’s layup with 1:04 left in regulation and then went up by a point with 21.1 seconds left on Aaliyah Boston’s free throw after missing her  first attempt.

But Rhyne Howard made two foul shots for the Dream (1-1) with 9.1 seconds left to regain the advantage.

Natasha Howard went inside to get it back, but her first attempt was blocked by Nia Coffey.

 She got another chance, however, grabbing an offensive board on the failed attempt but this time with 4.1 seconds left she missed a 12-footer and Coffey grabbed the ball to end it.

Brittney Griner, the All-Star free-agent signee in the offseason having played her whole career in Phoenix, scored 21 for Atlanta following the Dream’s opening loss Friday night at Washington, while Rhyne Howard scored 20, including four 3-pointers.

The winners also got 19 points and 13 13 boards from Brionna Jones, who left Connecticut, part of a mass departure from the Sun starting core. Allisha Gray scored 16 points with six assists.

Reigning rookie of the year Caitlin Clark scored 27 for the Fever after getting her third career triple double in Saturday’s opening win over Chicago. Boston, a former rookie of the year out of South Carolina, Mitchell each scored 24 points with Boston also collecting 10 rebounds.

Clark, who also had 10 dimes, hit the WNBA record books again, this time with the most 25+ points and10+ assists games at six and tied Chicago’s Courtney Vanderloot in the career categories for most 20+ points and 10+ assists games at 10.

 Notables in the crowd have become consistent at Fever games since Clark arrived from Iowa last year and the Associated Press mentioned 2021 NASCAR champion Kyle Larson and two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson were in the building Tuesday with Watson presenting Clark with a signed golf driver before the opening tip.

The teams play again Thursday night in Atlanta, at 7:30 p.m. on Amazon – Prime and picking up in similar road stops by Indiana last season, the Dream has moved to the larger State Farm Arena for the contest.

Meanwhile, up in Connecticut, Las Vegas looked like the squad that won back-to-back titles in 2022-23 in routing the Sun (0-2) as A’ja Wilson scored 22 points with 10 rebounds and newcomer Jewell Loyd, who struggled in the loss in Brooklyn, scored 20 propelled by shooting 6-9 trying shots beyond the perimeter.

Jackie Young scored 16 and Chelsea Gray scored 12 with six rebounds.

Former UConn star and a  past overall No. 1 pick and rookie of the year Tina Charles scored 20 with five boards for the Sun while first-year draft pick Saniya Rivers out of NC State made her debut with the Sun.

Connecticut, which has been one of the league’s premiere teams since the Mohegan Tribe bought the former Orlando Miracle in 2003 and moved the franchise to their reservation, the first team in the WNBA not tied to an existing NBA owner, lost all five starters and 10 of 12 on the roster in the offseason.

Earlier this month, it was revealed the franchise is undergoing a valuation that could result in a sale or relocation, though its possible the Mohegans might also decide to retain ownership.

Connecticut next is at Minnesota 7:30 p.m. on Friday night while on the same day Las Vegas will host the Washington Mystics at 10 p.m. Both games are on ION and League Pass.

On Wednesday, League Pass streams all three games: 8 p.m. Dallas (0-2) at Minnesota (2-0); 10 p.m. Washington (2-0) at expansion Golden State (0-1); 10 p.m. Los Angeles (1-1) at Phoenix (1-0).

The Eyes (Millions) Have It

Caitlin Clark continues to be a TV viewing magnet and besides solid attendance numbers overall in opening weekend, the WNBA drew dynamite ratings.

Indiana’s game against Chicago, Saturday, resuming the Clark/Angel Reese rivalry, produced 2.7 million viewers on the ABC telecast, the most-viewed WNBA regular-season game across ESPN networks and believed the most-viewed WNBA regular-season game in 25 years dating to when NBC had the package.

The game, which produced another controversial incident in the third quarter when Clark was charged with a Flagrant I foul on Reese, peaked at 3.1 million.

The aftermath led to the WNBA Sunday announcing with help from Indiana an investigation into racist attacks from the stands in Gainbridge Arena.

All parties have spoken in support of the move while social media and slews of national and regional streaming and radio sports shows have been on fire since with commentary.

Clark said the arena was really loud so she didn’t hear anything specific.

Last season, Clark’s first in the league after drawing explosive TV numbers her senior season at Iowa, 22 of the WNBA regular-season games drew over one million viewers, a number not reached since 2008.

Saturday’s earlier game on ABC, when New York received its championship rings and raised the banner to the rafters before beating Las Vegas, averaged 1.3 million viewers.

Opening night on the streaming ION compared to its first doubleheader a year ago showed 121 percent increase the first two games and 119 percent for the East Coast late time from San Francisco for the debut of the expansion Golden State Valkyries.