The Guru’s WNBA Roundup: Golden State Spoils Clark Return With Indiana; Phoenix Stuns First-Place Minnesota; Connecticut Snaps 10-Game Slide by Beating Seattle; Chicago Tops Dallas

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

Three of the four games on the WNBA card Wednesday were franchise matinee camp day attractions and all of them produced startling upsets and any would be worthy to begin with but we’ll start with last place Connecticut (3-16) snapping a 10-game losing streak beating Seattle 93-83 before a near-capacity crowd of 7,984 at the Mohegan Sun Arena depriving a hot Storm (12-8) group of moving into sole possession of fourth place and dropping them instead a half-game behind idle Atlanta (12-7).

In the Midwest, the good news for the Indiana (9-10) crowd of 16,798 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis was the return of All-Star captain Caitlin Clark from a five-game absence caused by a groin injury but a bit rusty from the layoff shooting 4-12 from the field and scoring 10 points with six assists and five boards.

The bad news was the Fever got thumped 80-61 by the expansion Golden State Valkyries (10-9), who moved into sole possession of sixth place 1.5 games behind Seattle while Indiana fell a game behind the visitors into a three-way tie for seventh with idle Washington and Las Vegas who will meet in one of two Thursday games at 7:30 p.m. in the nation’s capital and being aired on Amazon Prime.

Golden State, which has set a debut record for wins, continues to be on track to potentially finish at .500 and make the playoffs in the first year of operation.

Down in the Southwest came an equivalent stunner as Phoenix (14-6) moved out of a tie with idle New York into sole possession of second place beating first-place Minnesota 79-71 before a crowd of 10,083 at PHX Arena moving within three games of the visiting Lynx (17-3).

How much the high number of games in the past few weeks affected the Lynx is hard to say but the schedule does not let up yet as the 2024 WNBA Runner-Up to New York continues on their second back-to-back in the past seven days playing as guest in Thursday’s other game – a matinee 3 p.m. visit to Los Angeles (6-13).

Wednesday’s sole night game had Chicago (6-13) return home to complete a back-to-back beating short-handed Dallas 87-76 before a crowd of 9,025 at Wintrust Arena to move into 10th place tied with Los Angeles three games behind the eighth and last playoff spot and 10.5 games behind Minnesota while the Wings (6-15) sit in 12th a game behind the Sky and Sparks and two in front of Connecticut.

Phoenix Rides Thomas’ Career Day and Closing Surge to Upend Minnesota

The revamped Mercury continue to be one of several surprise stories of the summer, especially in this game in which triple-double diva Alyssa Thomas, who came in the offseason from Connecticut, had a career-high 29 points, 12 coming in the fourth quarter as Phoenix finished on a 19-4 surge.

Thomas, the Maryland graduate whose whole WNBA career had been with the Sun, had  her 16th triple-double on Monday.

Besting her previous high by a point, Thomas was 14-24 from the field with eight rebounds and five assists.

Prior to the explosive finish in which Thomas scored ten in the run, the Mercury knotted the Lynx twice at 69 and 71 points before Thomas then scored on two straight possessions for a 75-71 lead.

Thomas’ fiancee and former Connecticut teammate DeWanna Bonner who played on the Mercury in the past for her first ten seasons and had gone to Indiana in the offseason before being recently waived by request signed Tuesday and played Wednesday, the first time in a month, scoring seven points with six boards in 26 minutes.

Bonner was a member of the 2009 and 2014  WNBA champions in Phoenix.

Monique Akoa Makani added 13 points for the Mercury while Sami Whitcomb scored 10 points.

Phoenix succeeded despite Satou Sabally with a right ankle injury and Rutgers grad Kahleah Copper with a right hamstring injury being sidelined a second straight game.

Minnesota’s Courtney Williams scored 21 while All-Star other captain Napheesa Collier scored 18 points and Bridget Carleton scored 10 points.

The Lynx seemingly had control 67-60 with 5:45 left in regulation before going cold the rest of the way with Collier scoring the only two visitor baskets.

Phoenix is off until visiting Golden State Monday.

Minnesota, after the stop at L.A., plays at Chicago Saturday at 1 p.m. on ABC and ESPN+., to make it 10 out of 14 days including the Commissioner’s Cup championship which was lost at home to Indiana.

Golden State Routs Indiana

Northwestern grad Veronica Burton scored 21 points with eight rebounds and six assists, while Kayla Thornton scored 18 with eight boards as the expansion Valkyries spoiled Caitlyn Clark’s return from missing five games with a groin injury.

Clark suffered the injury a few games after returning from another five-game absence with a groin injury.

The Fever in the third after trailing 41-32 at the half launched a 10-1 run to move within five at 55-50 but the Valkyries later answered with a 9-0 response to lead 64-50 near the end of the quarter.

Burton in the next period connected on her personal best fifth make from deep and then soon thereafter hit a wide-open 3-pointer for a 20-point lead.

Golden State doubled Indiana’s output with 12 from long range.

Indiana’s Kelsey Mitchell was held to 12 points and reserve Makayla Timpson scored 10.

The Fever next host Atlanta Friday at 7:30 p.m. on ION while Golden State is at Las Vegas Saturday at 4 p.m. on CBS.

Connecticut Ends Ten Game Skid at Seattle’s Expense

Tina Charles got the last-place Sun out of their deep slide as the former UConn star scored 29 points with 11 boards. Their earlier win occurred June 6.

Connecticut never led until Charles’ shot made it 79-77 with 5:36 left in regulation.

The lead grew to ten when the native New Yorker scored twice in eight seconds assisted from a steal by rookie Saniya Rivers.

The Sun’s Jacy Sheldon scored 16 points and Bria Hartley scored 15 while Rivers collected all 11 of her points in the first five minutes of the third quarter.

Notre Dame great Skyler Diggins scored 23 with seven assists for Seattle while Gabby Williams scored 21points and Nneka Ogwumike double doubled with 12 points annd 12 boards.

The Storm, who had beaten New York in Brooklyn Sunday, entered the fourth with an eight-point lead.

The two teams meet again Friday in Seattle at 10 p.m., on ION, following the Atlanta-Indiana opener for the only two games that day on the WNBA schedule.

Allen and Reese Lead Chicago Over Dallas

Rebecca Allen scored 27 points, propelled by five makes from deep, while Sky second-year pro Angel Reese had 15 points and 11 boards, the former LSU star’s 13th double-double on the season.

Rachel Banham added 11 points to the Chicago attack.

Dallas 6-7 rookie Li Yueru equalled her season total with four 3-pointers and finished with 18 points and ten rebounds while Paige Bueckers, the overall No. 1 draft pick who made the All-Star game with Washington rookies Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen, scored 17, while rookie JJ Quinerly out of West Virginia scored 16 points.

Chicago swept the three-game series and next hosts Minnesota Saturday while Dallas is off until Sunday’s game at Indiana 1 p.m. on ABC and ESPN+.