The Guru’s WNBA Roundup: Indiana Wins Fifth Straight; New York Snaps Four-Game Slide in Meesseman Debut; Copper and Thomas Lead Phoenix Over Chicago; Las Vegas Beats Golden State Following the Blowout Dealt by Minnesota; Atlanta Tops Washington

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

The WNBA five-game package Sunday saw the playoff crunch continue for the nine teams behind Minnesota fighting for the other seven spots with those in seeds two through five turning in victories and while number eight with a victory flipped over number seven.

It’s likely to stay this close until the regular season ends September 11 though a few squads are starting to show signs of solidifying inclusion if not necessarily where they will land in the opening rounds.

In the upper group the two most notable triumphs were now-fifth place Indiana (17-12) took a narrow 78-74 win at Seattle (16-13) for the Fever’s fifth straight, all without Caitlin Clark, before a crowd of 16,819 at Climate Pledge Arena as the Storm, who lost by two at home to Los Angeles at the finish in double overtime Friday, dropped a game behind Sunday’s opponent and just a game in front of Las Vegas (15-14) which recovered from a Saturday’s record home massacre by Minnesota to end expansion Golden State’s three-game win streak 101-77 before a crowd of 10,445 at Michelob UTLRA Arena and flipped over the Valkyries into seventh place by a half-game.

Golden State can grab it back when hosting the Aces in the sole game Wednesday at the Chase Center in San Francisco where the Valkyries have sold out all 18,804 seats their entire debut season.

Meanwhile, defending champion New York (18-10) held second by ending the Liberty’s four-game losing streak beating last place Connecticut 87-78 in front of a crowd of 8,747 at the Mohegan Sun Arena to bounce back from Friday’s loss to the Sun (5-22) and gain a weekend split in Uncasville as recently acquired Emma Meesseman finally made her debut with the visitors and scored 11 points.

New York moved to 5.5 games behind idle Minnesota, who the Liberty will host Sunday in their second meeting after suffering a loss Wednesday in Minneapolis in their first meeting since October beating the Lynx in decisive Game 5 of the finals at the finish in overtime in Brooklyn.

Third-place Atlanta (18-11) stayed a half-game behind New York winning at home 99-83 before a crowd of 3,315 at the Gateway Center in College Park in the suburbs depriving ninth place Washington (13-15) of inching closer to the last playoff spot trailing Golden State by a game at 10.5 out of first but just a half-game in front of idle Los Angeles.

Phoenix (17-11) held fourth a half-game behind Atlanta and a half-game in front of Indiana by winning 83-67 at 12th place Chicago (7-21) before 7,081 at Wintrust Arena as the short-handed Sky suffered their eighth straight loss and at 16.5 back have fallen behind idle Dallas (8-21) and just 1.5 ahead of Connecticut.

Just 2.5 games separate New York in second and Seattle in sixth while going the other way Los Angeles is 1.5 behind the last playoff spot and only 5.5 all the way up to the Liberty.

Howard and Boston Propel Indiana Over Seattle

It went to the finish though a little less close than Friday’s loss by the Storm as Natasha Howard scored 21 for the winning Fever and Aliyah Boston double doubled with 16 points and 12 boards as Indiana has drawn closer to second in its current win streak even as reigning rookie of the year Caitlin Clark has now missed seven straight with a groin injury.

Indiana has now improved to 9-7 in all games missing Clark off all her injuries including a quad and earlier groin in the front stage of the season.

Clark’s latest mishap occurred two games before the All-Star break against Connecticut in Boston where the Sun will likely begin calling home in 2027 after Saturday’s news the team is being bought from the Mohegan Tribe by a group headed by a minority owner of the Celtics.

In Sunday’s game Aliyah Boston scored nine straight in the middle of the fourth quarter for a 73-61 lead with 4:41 left in regulation.

Seattle rallied to within a point just over a minute later on Skylar Diggins’ three-point play before Kelsey Mitchell answered with a bucket.

The Storm then shot five blanks including four on the same possession before second overall pick Dominique Malonga from France went inside with 12.2 on the clock.

Lexie Hull then fed Mitchell for two on the inbounds four seconds later and Seattle failed to tie from deep to seal it.

Sophie Cunningham added 17 points for the Fever.

“They know each other a little better now, how we handle situations, how we handle runs,” Indiana coach Stephanie White said of the Fever’s ability to handle the Storm rallies. “We stayed in neutral; we didn’t get too high; we didn’t get too low.

“Look, this league is tough. Teams are going to make runs. This is a veteran team in Seattle who understands the ebb and flow of a game.

“I was proud of our group for how we stayed even. We came down and made some big plays that allowed us to win the ballgame.”

 Seattle got 16 from Nneka Ogwumike, Diggins scored 13 while Gabby Williams and Malonga each scored 12 points.

“We are not backing down, given the results of these games,” Ogwumike said. “Everyone is playing for their lives right now. I think we're doing what we can to play hard and hopefully get some wins.”

“I'm still proud of our group for having a tough game on Friday and rallying back to get in position to win the game,” Seattle coach Noelle Quinn said. “I thought we executed really well and were finding the looks that we wanted.

 “We are making deposits, and it's going to pay dividends coming up.”

Indiana has a key game Tuesday after the WNBA schedule is empty Monday; the Fever visit Los Angeles at 10 p.m. on CBSSN while Seattle host Minnesota the same time.

The visiting Lynx had no news Sunday on the condition of MVP frontrunner Napheesa Collier who injured her right ankle in the third quarter of Saturday’s rout at Las Vegas.

Ionescu Powers New York Over Connecticut

The Liberty finally made it back to winner’s circle as Sabrina Ionescu scored 36 points while Finals MVP Jonquel Jones scored 21 with nine boards ahead of the 11 in Emma Meesseman’s return to the WNBA in the win over the Sun to end the four-game skid.

This was the fourth game without All-Star Breena Stewart, who has a bone bruise on her right knee and who coach Sandy Brondello said is not likely to return until near the playoffs, though she is hopeful it might be sooner.

New York was coming out of its worst loss in the previous game with Connecticut, who Sunday got 17 points and eight boards from Tina Charles while rookie Anneesah Morrow had 16 points and nine boards. Bria Hartley added 12 and Marina Mabrey scored 10.

Meesseman, the finals MVP on Washington’s winners in 2019, left the WNBA in 2022 and the Belgian was the EuroLeague MVP the last three seasons. Her points all came after the break.

Ionescu was just one short of her personal best in her fifth 30-point game of the season and she also grabbed 10 rebounds. She now has 1,000 career assists, third fastest to hit that total.

“To what she did in her first game I don’t think many people can do,” Ionescu said of Meesseman. ‘I’m super proud of her to stay locked in.”

 “I’ve played with a lot of people on this team but with different systems, differen’t teams. Meesseman said. “So I have to get the system of New York. Every game, every practice we have will hopefully be a little better.”

She was with Saint Joseph’s alum Natasha Cloud in Washington and on the Mystics’ title squad and is now back with the Broomall native in New York.

On Tuesday, New York hosts Dallas at 7 p.m. on NBA, the Wings expecting to allow the return of former Villanova star Maddy Siegrist, who has missed 18 games with a knee fracture and was held out the last one after team had announced she would play.

This will be the first visit to Brooklyn and the Barcklays Center from overall No. 1 draft pick Paige Bueckers, who played with UConn last winter in the arena in a win over Louisville.

Connecticut on Tuesday goes to Phoenix at 10 p.m.

Las Vegas Rides Loyd’s Game to Climb Over Golden State

Just a day after the 111-58 crushing home loss to Minnesota the Aces bounced back as Jewell Loyd tied a franchise mark with seven 3-pointers on the way to 27 points in a win in the same arena over Golden State to jump into seventh a half-game in front of the Valkyries.

The Aces also tied a team mark on 3-pointers with 18 that ties Phoenix right behind the record 19 shot twice by New York this season.

Jackie Young added 20, reigning MVP A’ja Wilson had 14 and 14 boards while Chelsea Gray scored 11.

“I didn’t show them anything and I didn’t say anything,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said of the turnaround. “The ball movement was the difference today. The ball was popping.”

The Valkyries were led by Ilana Rupert with 17 points and eight boards while Carla Leite and Laeticia Amihere both scored 14 and Kaila Charles scored 13.

Las Vegas was up 25 at the half and never threatened the rest of the way.

Both teams meet again Wednesday at 10 p.m. in San Francisco on NBA TV.

Jones Leads Atlanta Over Washington

The Dream stayed in the upper playoff hunt for first round home advantages as Brianna Jones scored 23 points, Allisha Gray scored 22 as Atlanta rallied from a slow start trailing the Mystics 10-0.

However, the two-quarter swing between the second and third was owned 59-37 by Atlanta who shot 56% over the two periods following a 3-13 effort the first 10 minutes.

“They came out with a lot of energy, obviously they were outworking us,” said Atlanta first-year coach Karl Smesko. “Fortunately, we picked it up.

“We weren’t ready in the first quarter they put a lot of pressure on us. Once we adjusted to it, I thought we got a lot of good shots, and we scored a lot of points.”

Naz Hillmon added 14 points with 13 rebounds and five dimes while Jordin Canada scored 16 with nine helpers.

In winning their third straight the Dream have hit season highs the last two games.

Washington, which was beginning to defy expectations as the youngest in pursuit of the playoffs, has now lost two straight after reaching .500 and five of seven to drop just outside the qualification cutoff.

Kiki Irafen scored 22 for the visitors, while Sonia Citron and Shakira Austin each scored 16 points and Sug Sutton scored 13.

Rookie Lucy Olsen out of Villanova and Iowa made her only shot but saw 16 minutes of action.

Atlanta next goes to Chicago Thursday at 8 p.m. on Amazon Prime Video while Washington is visiting the Sky Tuesday at 8 p.m.

Copper and Thomas Stop Mercury Skid in Chicago

North Philly’s Kahleah Copper, a former Rutgers star, scored 25 and Maryland graduate Alyssa Thomas out of Harrisburg now has 18 career triple doubles, 13 in the regular season, counting her previous time in Connecticut with 10 each in points, rebounds, and assists as Phoenix stopped a two-game losing streak to stay in the upper hunt just behind Atlanta and ahead of Indiana in handing the Sky their eighth straight setback.

“It’s been a long road trip and we let a lot of things slip through us but today we got back to do the things we’re accustomed to doing,” Thomas said. “The team responded really well.”

Sami Whitcomb added 11 for the Mercury who were challenging New York before losing five of six though the Liberty hit their dry spell over the same stretch.

Chicago’s Elizabeth Williams had 13 points and 15 rebounds, but recurring back problems had second-year pro Angel Reese miss her second straight game and four of the last five.

Before the game there was a warm exchange between Copper and Reese.

“I take pride in being a mentorship for younger players,” Copper said.

Michaela Onyenwere had 13 points for the Sky and second-year pro Kamilla Cardoso double doubled with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

It was the second time sisters Maddy and Kathryn Westbeld faced each other though Maddy didn’t play for Chicago in the earlier meeting.

The Sky took Maddy in the second round while Kathryn was signed by the Mercury after a nine-year career abroad.

Maddy scored nine points in 22 minutes while Kathryn was scoreless in six.

Chicago is home twice this week hosting Washington Tuesday at 8 p.m. and Atlanta Thursday while Phoenix hosts Connecticut 10 p.m. Tuesday and Indiana 10 p.m. Thursday on Amazon Prime Video.