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.