The Guru’s WNBA Roundup; Phoenix Edges Washington to Hand the Mystics Their Third Straight Loss While Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Seattle Win in Blowouts

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

Eight of 13 teams were in action in four games having three blowouts Sunday as the WNBA completed its first full week of season 29.

Atlanta (3-2) at home kept Connecticut (0-4) winless in a 79-55 rout, while in the other three games played out West, Los Angeles (2-3) left Chicago (0-3) still seeking the win side in a 91-78 triumph, Seattle (3-1) won its third straight with a walloping 102-82 pasting of visiting Las Vegas (2-2), while in the closest contest Phoenix (3-1) hit visiting Washington (2-3) with its third straight setback emerging 68-62.

The league will be dark on the official Memorial Day celebration Monday, but on Tuesday five games will air on League Pass, the WNBA streaming platform.

In games involving the two remaining unbeaten squads, who met each other in a complete five-game finals, defending champion New York (3-0) hosts Golden State (2-1) at 7 p.m. at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and will again greet the expansion Valkyries Thursday at 7 p.m., while Minnesota (4-0) hosts Seattle at the Target Center in Minneapolis at 8 p.m.

Someone will break out of the 0-4 winless label when Dallas visits Connecticut at 7 p.m. at the Mohegan Sun Arena featuring overall No. 1 draft pick Paige Bueckers out of UConn making her first return near her alma mater that she led to its extended record 12th NCAA title last month in Tampa, Fla.

In the remaining two games, both West at 10 p.m., Los Angeles hosts Atlanta at the Crypto.com Arena, formerly called the Staples Center, while Phoenix hosts Chicago at the PHX Arena.

Should the visiting Sky emerge from the desert still winless, they’ll get a second shot at breaking out in Thursday’s other game hosting Dallas at Wintrust Arena at 8 p.m. on Amazon Prime Video.

In Wednesday’s lone game Washington joins the crowd moving to larger hosting arenas when Indiana (2-2) and Caitlin Clark come calling, greeting the Fever up the road at 7:30 p.m. at CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore.

Rookie Akoa Makani Rallies Phoenix Over Washington

Washington with the youngest roster in the league, averaging just over 29 years, jumped to a surprising 2-0 start last weekend but then on the rest of the road trip got clipped 76-74 in San Francisco for the Vakyries’ first-ever win, faded at Las Vegas 75-72 and then did likewise against the Mercury Sunday in a game the Mystics trailed 32-22 at the half, went down by as many as 13 in the third quarter before rallying within a bucket 46-44 heading to the final period where they took a 50-48 lead courtesy of Jade Melbourne’s three-pointer with 8:29 left in regulation.

The two teams struggled to score the next several minutes but rookie Sonia Citron, the former Notre Dame standout who has had the best start among WNBA draftees, put the Mystics up 53-50 on two from the line at the 6-minute mark.

Melbourne made it a four-point lead 56-52 on a driving layup and foul shot with 5:18 left and it grew to six at 58-52 on when Melbourne assisted rookie Kiki Iriafen, the former Southern Cal sensation, with 4:23 left a second before Iriafen was hit with a technical.

After Phoenix cashed in to close it to 58-55 both teams again went cold over the next two minutes until free-agent Alyssa Thomas from the Connecticut Sun tied it for the Mercury with a shot and free throw at 2:07 left in regulation.

Iriafen’s two from the line put Washington up two with 1:41 but former Notre Dame star Kathryn Westbeld gave Phoenix a one-point lead from deep with 1:30 to go.

Brittney Sykes got it back at the line 62-61 the next possession but then rookie point guard Monique Akoa Makani, a free-agent from Cameroon helped by Satou Sabally, hit a 25-footer beyond the arc with 1:11 left for a Phoenix 64-62 lead.

The Mystics were unable to score the rest of the way while Akoa Makani made two from the line at 14.1.

Citron missed one from deep and Thomas finished it from the line with three seconds left.

Akoa Makani scored 13, Sabally had 12 with nine boards, and Thomas had 11 with eight boards and five assists for the winners while Citron led the Mystics with 14 shooting 5-8 with a pair from deep, Iriafen had a double double with 11 points and 13 boards, and Sykes, who had had a great start to the season, was 1-13 from the field on a 3-pointer but 7-8 from the line got her to double figures with 10 points.

Lucy Olsen, the 23rd overall pick taken in 11th in the second round out of Iowa, formerly with Villanova, played six minutes off the bench and made her only shot, a three-pointer.

The Mystics committed 27 turnovers, but the Mercury only gained 14 points from the miscues.

“Give our team a ton of credit,” said Phoenix coach Nate Tibbets of the win on a bad shooting effort. “I haven’t seen our team miss that many layups in practice or anything.

“But we didn’t hang our heads. I’ve been so impressed with our defensive effort. It was all defense. We just kept fighting. We just kept fighting and feeding off (Thomas) energy and toughness. When you got her ought there you always have a chance.

“I thought (Washington) outhustled us in the fourth.”

Seattle Routs Las Vegas

The Storm lived up to their nickname in their lopsided 102-82 victory over the 2022 and 2023 WNBA champs whose run ended in being ousted by eventual winner New York in last season’s semifinals.

Nneka Ogwumike scored 23 points and passed several milestones for Seattle, while Erica Wheeler scored 21 in the home team’s third straight win in the game at Climate Pledge Arena before a crowd of 10,634.

Gabby Williams and Ezi Magbegor each scored 12 points and Skylar Diggins had 10 with eight assists as the Storm nailed 11-14 of their opening shots and scored 34 points in the first quarter.

Las Vegas’ A’ja Wilson scored 15, while Jewell Loyd in her first game against her former team and Jackie Young each scored 14. Rookie Elizabeth Kitley had 11 points.

Ogwumike moved past retired Candace Parker on the WNBA career scoring list into ninth place with 6,584, and is 220 behind retired Seattle great Sue Bird, who is eighth at 6,803.

She also was 10-15 from the field with eight boards and six assists, the No. 1 pick in the 2012 draft owning 3,000 rebounds just 14 behind Taj McWilliams-Franklin in 10th.

Ogwumike, now in her 14th season, also moved into ninth in steals and is the seventh in WNBA history with 6,500+ points, 3000+ rebounds and 800+ assists.

While Seattle goes to Minnesota Tuesday, Las Vegas is off all week until visiting Los Angeles as part of Friday night’s five-game slate on ION and League Pass.

Atlanta Keeps Connecticut Among the Winless While L.A. Does Likewise to Chicago

Nia Coffey paced the Dream with 18 points and 11 boards while Allisha Gray scored 18 in blasting the Sun, though it was still close out of the half 48-43 until Atlanta closed out the third with a 25-5 run.

Maya Caldwell had 12 rebounds and six assists for the winners while Rhyne Howard scored 11 with eight boards over a Connecticut squad that shot 31 percent overall and was held to seven points in the final period.

Marina Marbrey double doubled for the visitors with 12 points and 10 boards while two UConn grads in veterans Tina Charles and Olivia Nelson-Ododa each scored 11 points.

Atlanta won despite an injury list Sunday that had free-agent sensation Brittney Griner out with a knee mishap, rookie Te-Hina Paopao out of South Carolina sidelined with a facial injury sustained Saturday in the Dallas game, and Jordin Canada yet to play after knee surgery.

Out West, newcomer Kelsey Plum shot six from deep and scored 28 for Los Angeles, though the double-digit setback was the narrowest for Chicago in three games after setting a WNBA record for dubious start in the two previous game losses to Indiana in the season opener and New York in the home opener.

Azura Stevens added 24 points to the Sparks attack that also saw Odyssey Sims score 12.

Chicago’s Angel Reese, who was held scoreless by New York, collected 13 points with 12 boards, four assists and a pair of steals, Kamilla Cordoso shot 6-9 to score 12, while Courtney Vandersloot and Rebecca Allen each scored 11 points.

The Sparks got further up with a 9-0 run late in the third but the Sky countered with a 10-0 streak in the fourth moving within five 76-71 with 7:06 left in regulation.

But Los Angeles answered with rookie Sarah Ashlee Barker scoring, Stevens going back-to-back for a pair and Plum with a pull-up to extend the Sparks advantage to 13 two minutes later.

While Chicago is off to Phoenix Tuesday, the Atlanta visit to L.A. will match two new coaches plucked from the collegiate ranks early in-season last winter with Atlanta hiring long-time Florida Gulf Coast coach Karl Smesko just before the Sparks chose Lynne Roberts, another long-timer who was taken from Utah.