The Guru’s WNBA Roundup: Indiana’s 59-Point Second Half Buries Atlanta as the Fever Tie for Seventh; Charles Reaches 8,000th Point But Seattle Tops Connecticut

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

There were just two games Friday night in the WNBA and only two ahead are coming on Saturday but in the tight seed position race involving eight teams for the seven slots behind first-place Minnesota (18-3) each day brings another shuffle.

In the first game of the day concluding their four-game series, a crowd of 16,966 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, site of next weekend’s All-Star game, watched hometown favorite Indiana (10-10) explode on Atlanta 59-37 in the second half to beat the Dream 99-82 earning a 2-2 split as Kelsey Mitchell scored 25 points and Aaliyah Boston scored 19 with six boards and eight assists on the Dream (12-8).

“I thought we were really connected on both ends of the floor,” Indiana coach Stephanie White said. "I thought our sense of energy was better, our activity level was better, our communication, defensively, we made things as tough as we could for (Atlanta).

“They’re a great team, obviously. Offensively, our second half was much better. Taking care of the ball. Moving it. It’s one game. It was a big one. We needed it. But we need to stack games and build on it.”

Caitlin Clark scored 12 on a poor 5-17 from the field and 1-7 from deep with nine assists but reserve Sophie Cunningham playing 30 minutes scored 16 shooting 5-9 overall and 4-5 on 3-point attempts with 10 boards.

“I think our team got into a groove when Cate got hurt, but we’re a whole different team when she is in,” Cunningham said. “The things we can control is our energy, boxing out, defensive scouts and that’s what we have to hang our hat on.”

In the second game, Seattle’s 24-13 fourth quarter help the Storm (13-8) at home before a crowd of 9,569 in Climate Pledge Arena to a 78-65 victory gaining revenge on last-place Connecticut (3-17) for Wednesday’s loss at Mohegan that saw the Sun snap a 10-game losing streak.

The Sun’s Tina Charles in Friday’s game scored 20 and joined retired Diana Taurasi as the second player in WNBA history to reach 8,000 points, Charles reaching 8,010 behind the 10,646-record held by her UConn sister alum.

The Seattle win and Atlanta loss put the Storm in fourth place five games behind first place Minnesota and a game behind New York (13-6) while Atlanta fell to fifth a half-game behind Seattle and 1.5 games ahead of expansion Golden State (10-9), which is seven games out of first.

Indiana moved into a seventh-place tie with Washington for the last two postseason slots all of which will be completed in mid-September.

Las Vegas (9-11) is a game behind the Mystics and Fever and hosts Golden State Saturday at 4 p.m. on CBS after Minnesota completes a jammed pack schedule the last two weeks visiting 10th place Chicago (6-13) at 1 p.m. on ABC and ESPN+.

On Sunday, New York hosts Atlanta at 3 p.m. after Indiana at 1 p.m. on ABC and ESPN+ hosts 12th-place Dallas (6-15).

Two Sunday night games at 6 p.m. has Connecticut at 11th place Los Angeles (6-14) while Seattle hosts Washington.

In the Atlanta-Indiana game the Dream were in contention leading 63-60 with 3:38 left in the the third period before being held scoreless going into the fourth as Indiana erupted on a 15-2 run across the two periods for an 80-67 lead and in control the rest of the way.

Jordin Canada had career highs playing for the visitors with 30 points and six makes from beyond the arc while Rhyne Howard had four from deep and 14 points, and Brittney Griner had 10 points and eight boards.

Up in Seattle, the visiting Sun looked like it might sweep the two games played in the series this week taking a 16-10 lead in the first quarter and being still ahead 33-31 at the half.

It was still close with the Storm ahead 55-52 after three periods before going on to dominate the final 10 minutes.

“On any given night, any team can win in this league, no matter what the records indicate,” Seattle coach Noel Quinn said. “The other night, it felt like we didn't get over the hump when we were supposed to. Today, I felt like we did.

 “I think it's important for this particular group that hasn't played together very long to get confidence in those moments and continue to build from those moments is definitely important.”

Seattle’s Gabby Williams scored 18 and her 3-pointer with 6:10 left in regulation made it 79-65 and the Storm were not threatened the rest of the way.

Nneka Ogwumike added 16 points for the Storm, and Skylar Diggins and Ezi Magbegor each scored 14 points.

“I'm glad we had a great competitive game, and I think we needed this type of game,” Ogumike said. “We need to be able to grind things out, keep getting stops even when shots aren't going in.

“We need to understand when we get a stop how to capitalize on that type of stop. We were able to get a gritty win, and that's going to make us better in the long run.”

Behind Charles, rookie Saniya Rivers scored 12 points while Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Leila Lacan each scored 10 for Connecticut.

Boston Bound?

On Tuesday for the second straight season the Sun will play at 8 p.m. on ESPN in the TD Garden in Boston, home of the NBA Celtics, hosting Indiana with Clark.

Earlier this summer the Sun were put up for an exploratory sale.

A group in Boston, not the Boston ownership, is seeking an expansion team.

It was thought they could land the Sun but a recent article in the Globe said the group had the impression that if the Sun were sold, the franchise would remain in Connecticut.

At the recent WNBA press conference announcing Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia as the next expansion cities, commissioner Cathy Engelbert mentioned Houston as a city that came close to making the cut and considering all three are in the East, which will also have Toronto next year while the West adds Portland, if worked out, a Sun move to Texas would make it a 9–9 split in 2030 when Philadelphia begins competition.