The Guru’s WNBA and UPSHOT Reports: Collier Lights Scoreboard in Season Debut and Minnesota Win; Washington Rallies to Nip Las Vegas; Likewise New York Over Chicago; Dallas Tops Portland; Indy Blasts Connecticut; UPSHOT Announces Championship Format

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

The WNBA offered a six-pack Wednesday, the regular season pausing for the All-Star break this weekend in Chicago with six games and boy were they loaded with with storylines besides the league announcing the skills event, won by Saint Joseph’s grad Natasha Cloud now with Chicago, replaced with a Shooting Stars contest.

But first, let’s get to the regular season action where the top story on top of others was the season return of reigning defensive player of the year and MVP runner-up Napheesa Collier keeping Minnesota (22-6) with a little more distance on top of the league scoring 24 points with 10 rebounds in an 86-76 win at last place Seattle (6-23) before a matinee crowd of 13,106 at Climate Pledge Arena.

Providing an overview of everything, Washington (14-12) rallied at home before a crowd of 4,200 in CareFirst Arena in the nation’s capital and nipped defending champion Las Vegas 100-99 dropping the Aces (18-8) a half-game down to third, three behind Minnesota and a half-game behind second-year Golden State (19-8).

In the Midwest, Caitlin Clark had another scoring explosion with 27 points and 11 assists as Indiana (17-10) set a franchise scoring record blasting Connecticut 12-88, the Sun dropping to 7-20, before a Gainbridge Fieldhouse crowd of 17,274 in Indianapolis.

Dallas (18-9) in its turnaround season kept pace with the frontrunners winning 101-97 over expansion Portland (11-16) before a Fire crowd of 17,206 at the Moda Center in the Northwest as Jessica Shepard had a triple-double with the visiting Wings.

After emerging from a four-game losing streak and 8 of 10 Monday nipping Dallas in overtime on the road New York (15-12) won its second-straight nipping Chicago 95-94 where a crowd of 16,783 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn saw All-Star Sabrina Ionescu score nine of her 29 points in the final minute rallying the Liberty over the Sky (9-18).

And in a Southern California matinee, Phoenix (10-18) on the road edged Los Angeles 86-82, the Sparks falling to 10-16 as Alyssa Thomas had her 20th triple double of the season for the winning Mercury and Kahleah Copper, the Rutgers grad and Philly native, collected 21 points before a crowd of 16,900 at  Crypto.com Arena, formerly known as t he Staples Center.

To run through the 15-team standings, after the top three already mentioned, Dallas is fourth, 3.5 behind the first-place Lynx, Indiana went up to fifth 4.5 out of first and a half-game in front of idle Atlanta (16-10) while New York in seventh is 6.5 deep, the Liberty are only three behind fourth.

Washington is holding the last playoff spot in eighth a half-game behind New York but 3.5 in front of Portland and four over expansion Toronto and Los Angeles, tied for 10th, a game in front of Phoenix.

Rounding out the rest, Chicago is 13th a half-game behind Phoenix and two in front of Connecticut and four in front last-place Chicago.

Collier Gets in the Groove in Her Return for the Lynx

Though Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve cautions on the evolving process of Colliers’ return to action after out of action since the semifinals last fall and two ankle surgeries over the winter, the former UConn star proclaimed “I felt like a kid in the candy store. I couldn’t wait to get on the court. There was a lot of excitement. I’m just happy to be here.”

It was just before the All-Star break a year ago that the Lynx were rolling and had dealt host ‘Vegas the second worst loss in WNBA history.

But Collier suffered her first injury in that game, missed three weeks in August and then suffered her second in the semifinals in Phoenix in October.

In that regard, without Clark the Lynx had been the surprise of the year, being just as dominate as ever, thanks to the addition of second-overall pick Olivia Miles in April’s draft and the play of Kayla McBride.

Against Seattle, McBride had her eighth-straight 20-point game, scoring on 6-of-14 shooting, while Miles, the central New Jersey native, had 13 points and six assists.

“I’ve been so proud of them,” said Collier, who returned to practice July 1, of Minnesota’s success. The blood, sweat and tears to get here … I’ve seen the behind the scenes every day of building the chemistry, the buy-in … working with the best rookies, who is arguably an MVP candidate … For us to be in the No. 1 slot, you can never count us out.”

Reeve spoke of the progress getting back to full speed of her No. 1 player and also as she fits into the mix, some players will be seeing less impressive stats than what they’ve been able to compile with Collier on the sidelines.

“This is an evolution,” said Reeve, who along with Las Vegas’ Becky Hammon, will be the coaches in Saturday night’s All-Star game at the NBA Bulls’ United Center in Chicago at 8:30 p.m. on ABC.

The 3-point and new event will occur Friday night at Wintrust Arena, home of the Sky and collegiate DePaul, televised at 8 p.m. on ESPN.

“We’re not at the end of this …” Reeve continued. This was a big step getting her on the court, and now it’s continuing to build.

“It’s her catching up conditioningwise with the rest of the league … There will be ups and downs; there’s no doubt about it. But I am happy for her. There are a couple more steps to go before we get to see the Phee we’ve come to know.”

Seattle’s Dominique Malonga had 21 points and nine boards in the Storm’s sixth straight loss and eight of nine. Rookie Flau’jae Johnson had 16 points, while Natisha Hiedman scored 12 and rookie Awe Fam had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Clark Nears Suspension After Two More Technicals on an Otherwise Big Night

Indiana’s 123-88 triumph was third highest scoring in league history without overtime, while the Fever’s 70-46 lead at the break was their biggest.

In the team’s third straight win, Monique Billings and Tyasha Harris had 12 each behind Aaliyah Boston scoring 22.

Clark got into a verbal exchange with Connecticut’s Saniya Rivers, causing each to be issued a technical, Clark’s seventh and one short of a league rule that calls an automatic one-game suspension when getting an eighth.

Kelsey Mitchell, who will be in Saturday night’s All-Star game with Boston and Clark in Chicago, had 23 points.

Connecticut’s Diamond Miller scored 15 points, Olivia Nelson-Ododa scored 11, Rivers had 13 off the bench, reserve Reigan Beers scored 10, while Aneesah Morrow and Leila Lacan each scored 10.

“It’s big,” Indiana coach Stephanie White said of getting a W going into the pause. “This game is one of the hardest to play, going into the All-Star break. A team that’s been in so many games, played us well.

“I’m proud of our group for staying locked in, getting contribution from multiple players, it’s a really good win for us.”

Of Clark’s techs, White said, “She’s gotta pick and choose. Cause it’s very two after that. She knows. She had awareness. We’ll try to help her where we can. But sometimes we can’t.”

“We talked earlier in the season that it’s just a matter of time before we start jelling,” White said of the offensive thrust the Fever have shown recently. “We’ve got some new pieces that are playing. One, that missed a lot of time last year and has the ball in her hands a lot.” Of the three playing well together White said, “They’re really good, No. 1. And you can’t substitute game reps. You can try to do some of that in practice, but you got to have reps, and it’s just a matter of time before you learn to put one another in positions to be successful.”

Austin Leads Mystics Over Aces

Shakira Austin scored 25 points and converted a three-point play after an offensive rebound with 12.8 left enabling Washington to nip Las Vegas.

Washington trailed by nine with four minutes left but rallied and then Austin grabbed Sonia Citron’s miss besides having 11 points in the rally while Citron, a second-year pro heading for a repeat trip to the All-Star game, scored 20 points, including four in the last minute.

Rookie Lauren Betts had 13 off the bench while second-year pro Kiki Iriafen had 12 points and 10 boards, while Michaela Onyenwere and Georgia Amoore each scored 10.

Reigning and four-time MVP A’ja Wilson had 38 for the Aces, shooting 12 of 16 and shooting a near-perfect 12 of 13 from the line.

Jackie Young added 24 points and Chelsea Gray scored 19.

Washington outrebounded the visitors 34-24 including 12-4 on the offensive glass.

“They came through, once again,” said Washington coach Sydney Johnson, who’s team won Monday at second-place Golden State, stopping the second-year team’s nine-game win streak.

“I just think that being down nine in the fourth quarter against a world championship team, Olympians and Hall of Famers, all that stuff,” he continued.

“Vegas is fantastic so to just be able to hold to what we’ve been doing all season long from training camp. I’m so proud of them. The toughness and togetherness is real. It showed in those moments. Took wonderful care of the basketball in the fourth quarter. Think we only had two turnovers. Starting to get that piece solved. So a lot of good things to be proud about.”

Wilson’s game of 38 points, seven boards, five assists, and three steals with two blocks is the first in WNBA history with that showing.

Ionescu Rallies the Liberty Over the Sky

It was another tough loss for Chicago and another bullet dodge for New York heading to the All-Star break.

Jonquel Jones, a reserve this weekend in Chicago, broke the deadlock to win with a foul shot with 3.4 seconds left.

Chicago was up 12 in the last minutes and still ahead six at 91-85 with under a minute to play.

In that final minute, Ionescu hit two threes and completed an old-fashioned three-point play.

Kamilla Cardoso had been fed by Courtney Vandersloot but missed the layup and fouled Jones and sent her to the line for the game-winner.

Rebecca Allen scored 12 for New York while Jones had 14 points and 10 boards. Ionescu shot 8-of-11 on the night with five 3-pointers and a perfect 8-for-8 on the line.

Chicago’s Sydney Taylor had a personal best 31 points while Vandersloot had 14 points and Cardoso scored 10.

Saint Joseph’s grad Natasha Cloud, back against her former team last year, had nine points with seven assists.

“Understood what the score was,” Ionescu said of her last-minute heroics. “Knew we had to get threes up. My teammates set great screens. They were finding me. Running some random plays at the end just to get me at the top in transition. I just saw the basket and kind of felt I was having my own three-point shootout in the game.

“I feel like this is what we needed going into the break,” she said.

“Tonight was a good game for us in building our character and building our foundation and propelling us into the next games after the All-Star break,” Jones said.

“Now we know if we get down late in a game we know we can come back, we have character and execute and get stops when we need to.”

Shepard Leads Wings Over Power

Shepard’s triple-double consisted of 18 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists for Dallas, while Arike Ogunbowale had 24 points and second-year pro Paige Bueckers scored 21 but the Wings in the final period nearly squandered a 12-point lead.

The Wings have won 7 of 8 heading into the break narrowly missing topping New York on Monday.

In the last minute Portland moved within two at 99-97, but Bridget Carleton missed a jump shot at the buzzer.

Megan DiLeo scored 21 for the fire. She was known as Megan Gustafson, a national player of the year at Iowa ahead of Caitlin Clark who married David DiLeo last weekend.

Villanova all-time scorer Maddy Siegrist, the third overall pick in the 2003 draft, had 14 points for the Wings, shooting 5-for-10 off the bench with five boards and a pair of 3-pointers.

“We didn’t see a lot of pressure, the first time we played them, but that’s what they do,” Dallas coach Jose Fernandez said of Portland’s rally. “I think our group understands it that there, different things we need to do a much better job with the basketball down the stretch.

“I thought our bounce was good, but you look back at the end and you have to close it out.”

Mercury Douse Sparks

In a game between two teams struggling down below the playoff cutoff line, visiting Phoenix was spurred by former Maryland star and Harrisburg native Alyssa Thomas with her 20th triple-double in the regular season in beating Los Angeles.

Thomas also has had six triple dubs in the playoffs.

She finished with 19 points, 15 assists, and 11 rebounds and had helped with seven of the last eight Mercury baskets.

Monique Akoa’s shot after fed by Thomas with 14 seconds left sealed the win with her 14th point. Rutgers grad and Philly native Kahleah Copper had 21 points while Natasha Mack scored 10 points.

The Sparks’ Rae Burrell had 20 points in Los Angeles’ fifth straight loss heading to the break.

Dearica Hamby added 18 points with 10 boards but missed a potential tying layup with 19 seconds left. Ariel Atkins scored 15 and All-Star Nneka Ogwumike had 13 points and 13 boards.

The former Stanford star passed Candace Parker (2,902) into second behind the retired all-time great Lisa Leslie for most career rebounds in franchise history.

“Really great heading into this break (the win) giving us some confidence,” Phoenix coach Nate Tibbetts said afterwards. “This is one of the first time we had one of those games little behind and won. Really proud of the group.

“These are tough games heading into the All-Star break,” he said, echoing several other coaches saying likewise after their team wins. “I thought our energy was good to start the game. We had some turnovers in that first quarter, but after that we bounced back.

“That’s what she does, not every night, but it’s always a threat,” he said of Thomas’ performance. “We were making shots. We got 15 assists from her. She did a great job getting to the free throw line.”

On the Los Angeles side, second-year coach Lynne Roberts said, “I think our execution needs to be better. Attention to detail, our communication, defensively. They weren’t doing anything that we didn’t show on film and go over. We just got to be locked in.”

Copper Named to All-Stars

With Los Angeles’ Kelsey Plum still sidelined with an injury, Phoenix’s Kahleah Copper was named as replacement for the All-Star game.

Earlier in the day, the league announced a new shooting stars event on Friday night, replacing the skills competition alongside the 3-point shooting contest.

The competition will consist of four teams featuring four WNBA legends, current WNBA stars, and Nike EYBL Standouts.

The event is a two-round, timed shooting competition in which teams have 70 seconds to score as many points as possible from seven shooting locations around the court.

The top two teams advance to the championship round.

Minnesota will be represented by Rebekkah Brunson and Courtney Williams, the third player to be assigned, the same each team; Seattle will have Lauren Jackson and rookie Flau’jae Johnson; Washington will have Wilmington’s Elena Delle Donne and Shakira Austin, and a combo Dallas/Detroit (the same franchise are in the roots) will have Deanna “Tweety” Nolan and Jessica Shepard.

UPSHOT League Announces Championship Format

The new four-team developmental style league, which has a 40-game schedule, 20 home, 20 away, announced the format for a title game at 7 p.m. in Jacksonville on Aug. 29

The top two teams in the league at the end of the season will meet at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena.

Right now, Jacksonville is running away at the top, making the Waves likely to play in their home arena. The team is coached by Philly native Jessica Bogia.

Charlotte is a solid second, but the Greensboro and Savannah could overtake the Crown with a strong run and fade by the second-place team.

But for now, it’s all wide open.

“The format changes the competitive landscape of the remainder of the season,” said commissioner and co-founder Donna Orender, who was the second president of the WNBA and will be at the All-Star game this weekend, as will Vice President of Basketball Operations Taj McWilliams-Franklin, who played in the league.

Of the UPSHOT competition, Williams-Franklin said, “Seventy percent of our games that are played are 10 points or less. I will hold that stat against any league in the world.”

The season ends Aug. 23.

The championship trophy is being named for UCLA Hall of Famer Ann Myers-Drysdale, who lives in Phoenix and broadcasts NBA Suns and WNBA Mercury games.

Friday will see the league hold a coaches clinic from the four mentors.

In the daytime Saturday, there will be a youth basketball clinic and a ticketed event discussing the rise of women’s basketball featuring legends and influential leaders.

Orender said the format will change as the league grows. Next season Baltimore and Nashville are joining.