The Guru’s WNBA Roundup: Stewart Returns as New York Edges Connecticut; Surging Las Vegas Clinches Playoffs Edging Chicago

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

NEW YORK – A day after first-place Minnesota (30-7) got its star player Napheesa Collier back for the first time in three weeks from an ankle injury – a period the Lynx hardly missed a beat at the top of the league – the defending WNBA champion New York Liberty (23-15), whose starter roll call had grown to two absentees in Saturday’s crucial loss at Atlanta (24-13), got both All-Stars good to go in Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu.

Stewart, who hadn’t played since late July due to a bone bruise on her right knee, on restricted minutes at 21 scored 19 points and Jonquel Jones, MVP in last season’s finals for the franchise’s first title, added 17, shooting 8-10 with 11 boards in what still turned into a narrow escape here Monday night beating 11th-place Connecticut 81-79 before a home crowd of 15,011 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn stopping a season’s sole three-game win streak by the eliminated Sun (9-28).

“I was glad to get Stewie out there,” said New York coach Sandy Brondello. “Connecticut, they’ve improved so much, so I’m just happy we were able to get a win. Still, it’s what to work on and get better at.

“We need these games to build the chemistry. And now, we’ve got these different lineups, too. We got these big lineups, and we have to work out our menu and see what that is at both ends.”

“I felt great,” Stewart said of her return. “I wanted to push it out there and see how I felt and it was great to be back with team.”

Ionescu, who didn’t make Saturday’s trip after suffering a foot injury in Thursday’s upset home loss to Chicago (9-28), who’s tied with Connecticut and on the way to the draft lottery, scored 11 points and dealt nine assists with seven rebounds.

The Liberty, however, were still without point guard and Saint Joseph’s graduate Natasha Cloud sidelined with a nose injury while Isabelle Harrison (concussion) and Nayara Sabally (knee) remained out of action.

Brondello expects Cloud back for Thursday’s contest.

In Monday’s other game Chicago almost pulled another shocker but Las Vegas (25-14) prevailed on the road 79-74 before a Wintrust Arena crowd of 9,103 for the Aces’ 11th straight victory as they joined Minnesota with the second official ticket to the eight-team playoffs.

 They begin with all four openers in the first round on Sunday, Sept. 14 (ABC/ESPN) three days after the end of a record 44-game season when the pairings will be set.

Overall, eight teams remain fighting for six spots but at the bottom of that list Washington (16-22), which is here Thursday night for New York’s next game, has drifted 2.5 games behind the seventh-place duo of expansion Golden State (19-18) and injury-riddled Indiana (19-18) and will be the underdog in all six remaining Mystics games.

Las Vegas moved into a virtual tie with Atlanta six games behind Minnesota while New York moved to a virtual fourth-place tie with Phoenix (22-14), 1.5 behind second place and three in front of Seattle (20-18).

The Liberty are at Phoenix Saturday.

The top four teams get home court advantage in the best-of-three openers and the top two get those rights in the best-of-five semifinals, of which being third at least likely dodges Minnesota until the finals unless the Lynx get upset.

The Lynx magic number for top seed is two. The finals have been expanded by two for a record best-of-seven series.

New York Edges Connecticut

The Liberty, the only team in the top five to have a loss against all of the three eliminated ones, including last-place Dallas (9-29), at the outset soared to a 27-10 lead near the end of the first period but by the half off a Sun explosive 21-10 second quarter the visitors were within a point at 37-36.

It was close after the break and Connecticut held a 59-58 lead heading into the final period.

Jones’ 3-pointer set off an exchange of leads in the fourth and then New York erupted on a 9-0 run and went on to build a 79-70 lead but anyone thinking of a quick exit to the subways was mistaken considering UConn grad Aaliyah Edwards, a second year pro recently acquired in a deal with the Mystics, sliced it to the final 81-79 score on a pair of foul shots with 23.6 seconds left.

But it still wasn’t over as after Ionescu dribbled down some clock, Stewart turned it over to French rookie Leila Ican, who dashed down the court seeking a tie only to get the ball stripped by Ionescu to finally end it.

“I was surprised they weren’t fouling because the shot clock would have been off,” Stewart said of the hectic finish. “‘Sab passed it to me. I should have just drove baseline or held it. I made a dumb decision but ‘Kb and ‘Sab had my back. Making a hustle play and us finishing the game.”

Kennedy Burke scored 14 for the Liberty, including 3-4 makes from deep, and Emma Meesseman off the bench was 5-9 from the field for ten points.

“It just has to be consistent now,” Jones said of making hustle plays. “We know we can do it. And we know we’re successful when we do do it. So just building that and bringing a level of consistency to it.”

Connecticut rookie Aneesah Morrow double doubled with 18 points, including a perfect 3-3 from deep with 15 boards while Lacan, doubtful with an eye injury suffered in the last game, led off the bench scoring 22.

Marina Mabrey added 16 points and Tina Charles scored 13, shooting 6-12.

The Sun next travel to Dallas Wednesday at 8 p.m.

Young and Wilson Lead Las Vegas to a Playoff Clinching Win Over Chicago

Jackie Young had 22 points with seven assists while reigning MVP A’ja Wilson, who has also won the honor twice before, scored 18 with nine boards.

Chelsea Gray added 14 points with seven assists and NaLyssa Smith scored 10.

It was the teams’ first meeting and Sky first-year coach Tyler Marsh had been an assistant with the Aces’ Becky Hammon.

Chicago’s Ariel Atkins scored 30, her best this season, while second-year pros Kamilla Cardoso of 2024 NCAA champion South Carolina, and Angel Reese off the LSU national champions in 2023, each double doubled.

Cardoso had 19 points and 10 boards while Reese, leading the league with 20 double doubles, had 10 points and 17 boards. She also passed Connecticut’s Charles for most double doubles the first two seasons at 46.

“It’s all good,” Hammon said. "These are hard games. We’ve had seven games in 14 days. I thought we looked tired. Disinterested at times. So just going to try to regroup some energy. The other side (Chicago) has our entire playbook. We knew we were going to be very well scouted, and it was going to be a grind.

“My message to them was we still need to improve while we’re winning. That’s really important. It’s easy to improve when you’re losing. You have to have that same edge and mental approach to your success. You have to handle your success well.

“I’m asking a lot of them right now, physical. But in the fourth quarter we got stops when we needed to get stops.’’

Young scored 20 in the first half, including the Aces’ final 12 for a 44-32 lead but Chicago went on to rally and go up 74-73 with 2:37 left in the game.

Gray’s shot from distance regained the advantage and Wilson on the next ‘Vegas possession scored for a four-point lead.

At halftime former Tennessee standout Candace Parker joined Lindsay Whelan as the only WNBA players with jerseys retired by two different teams.

Whelan, a Naismith Hall of Famer and Minnesota assistant coach, had hers retired by Connecticut and the Lynx with whom she won several WNBA titles in her native city while Parker had hers retired by Los Angeles, earlier this summer, and Chicago where she led both teams to championships, the Sky’s coming in 2021 in her native city.

Looking Ahead

On Tuesday, both games involve playoff implications, Seattle is at Indiana at 7 p.m. on CBSSN while Phoenix is at Los Angeles at 10 p.m. on NBA TV.

The visiting Storm havet won four of five after a six-game skid that saw them drop from pursuing a first-round home court advantage to clinging to inclusion.

Reigning rookie of the year Caitlin Clark, who has not played since July 15 due to a right groin injury and now a bone bruise on her left ankle, will continue to be sidelined with Indiana, missing her 16th straight game and having appeared in only 13 games counting an early quad and groin situation.

She had an injury-free collegiate career at Iowa and her WNBA rookie season last summer.

Chloe Bibby with a sore left knee will miss her second game with the Fever, who this month lost guards Sydney Colson (ACL), Aari McDonald (foot) and Sophie Cunningham (knee) to season-ending injuries.

Los Angeles is a game below the playoff cutline.

On Wednesday, Las Vegas is at Atlanta at 7:30 p.m. on NBA TV while Connecticut is at Dallas at 8 p.m.

On Thursday on the three-game Amazon Prime Video package besides the New York game, Seattle is at Minnesota at 8 p.m. and Chicago is at Phoenix at 10 p.m.