The Guru WNBA Report: Toronto Blows 20-Point Lead But Recovers to Beat New York; Dallas Rallies on Chicago; Indiana Blasts Las Vegas; Washington Tops Seattle

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsgurux

Where to begin after not filing since last Sunday and a lot has happened over the last week but to handle Sunday’s games up first here before detailing later down below.

Dallas (16-8) is still streaking now at five straight games coming out of Friday night’s 108-95 victory over expansion Toronto moved to Montreal before a WNBA record crowd of 20,996 at Bell Centre to go home, but downtown, at the NBA Mavericks’ American Airlines Center before a crowd of 13,236 that saw the Wings rally to a 96-91 win over Chicago (7-16), with much to unpack from this one and several others.

Toronto (10-13) was still in Montreal to host New York (13-11) in the second meeting between the Tempo’s Sandy Brondello against her former team where a crowd of 12,724 saw the home team blow a 20-point lead and then win 93-91 with a lot of drama and controversy in this one.

New York after earlier this month beat Minnesota following a second straight win over Las Vegas, this one in a non-standings counter for the Commissioner’s Cup title at home at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, has lost three straight games at home Tuesday to Dallas, 88-77, to go to 0-2 in the series both home, at Minnesota 90-85 on Saturday and then the Sunday game in Toronto with a Thursday trip to Dallas next.

Meanwhile, in the second of back-to-back games at home on the weekend the defending champion Las Vegas Aces (17-7) went from delighting a crowd of 10,321 at the Michelob UTRA Arena on Saturday with a blowout 106-58 third-biggest WNBA win, downing Phoenix (8-16), a 54-point differential behind the record 59 by Minnesota over Indiana in 2017, to getting wiped 109-75 by Indiana (14-9) on Sunday.

The loss enabled idle Minnesota (17-6) to go back into first by a half-game and Indiana with Caitlin Clark now has the best record in the East, though overall marks without conference designation decides the seeds for the playoffs.

Sunday’s other game saw Washington (11-10) before a home crowd of 4,200 at the small CareFirst Arena across the Potomac River from downtown win 84-79 over Seattle (6-19), enabling the Mystics to move into the eighth and final playoff spot a game in front of Los Angeles (10-11) and two in front of the expansion duo of Toronto and Portland, both at 10-13.

Phoenix is 4.5 back of the last slot after advancing to the finals last season.

Reeves Becomes All-Time Winner

After being inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tenn., two weekends ago, it took three tries for Minnesota’s Cheryl Reeve, the South Jersey native and former La Salle star, three chances off a 99-86 loss in New York and 90-89 home loss to Connecticut before Wednesday in which a rally over the Sun in Uncasville at the Mohegan Sun Arena brought an 86-80 victory and made her the all-time winningest regular season coach, passing former Connecticut and Washington coach Mike Thibault, who had 379.

Reeve already has the playoffs and combined mark and after Saturday is at 381 besides having guided the 2024 Olympic team in the Paris games to an eighth straight gold medal.

In the game before 12,405 at the Target Center in Minneapolis against the Liberty Minnesota governor Tim Waltz was on hand after declaring Saturday Cheryl Reeve Day in the state.

Reeve, the longest-term existing coach in the league at 17 seasons has won a record-tying four WNBA titles alongside the original Houston Comets under Van Chancellor, which returns next season under new ownership by the NBA team following the sale of Connecticut (5-18) by the Mohegan Tribe.

In Saturday’s win by the Lynx, Kayla McBride scored 14 of her 25 points in the fourth quarter and rookie sensation Oliva Miles, the central New Jersey native out of Notre Dame and TCU who was the second overall pick in April’s draft, returned after missing two games with a calf injury and scored 23 points.

Natasha Howard scored 16, while Courtney Williams scored 12.

Former UConn star Dorka Juhasz has since returned and Reeve said Saturday perennial MVP candidate Napheesa Collier, sidelined since the playoffs with off-season dual ankle surgeries, is extremely close to becoming active following a return to practice.

New York’s Sabrina Ionescu scored 25 for the Liberty now on a 1-5 dismal run. Breanna Stewart scored 17, Jonquel Jones had 15 points and 12 rebounds, and Marine Johannes scored 14 off the bench.

Ionescu had 19 points in the third quarter in which New York outscored the Lynx 30-19 and took a one-point lead into the final period.

All-Star Additions

Reeve and Las Vegas’ Becky Hammon, by virtue of having the two best records as of Friday, will be the All-Star coaches, though just missing is reigning coach of the year Natalie Nakase, whose Golden State team (17-7) is now tied with the Aces, a half-game behind Minnesota while Dallas is 1.5 games out and Indiana (14-9) is fifth three games out followed by Atlanta (13-10) and New York at 4 and 4.5 games out.

During the week, the rest of the All-Star game roster, picked by the league’s 15 coaches, was announced with honorary general managers Cynthia Cooper and Teresa Weatherspoon, with a look to the league’s 30th anniversary season, will soon draft the pool to the two teams.

The game will be played Saturday, July 25th, at the NBA Bulls’ United Center in Chicago at 8:30 p.m. on ABC with the skills games Friday at the Wintrust Arena where the WNBA Sky and Depaul play.

Some events will be at the recently opened Barak Obama presidential library.

The reserves are Atlanta’s Allisha Gray, Rhyne Howard, and Angel Reese; Los Angeles’ Nneka Ogwumike and Kelsey Plum; Minnesota’s Courtney Williams; Las Vegas’ Jackie Young; Seattle’s second-year pro Dominique Malonga; New York’s Jonquel Jones; Toronto’s Marina Marbrey; and Washington second-year pros Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen.

The ten starters were previously named by a combination fan, player, and media votes, though it was late reported a large number of players did not cast ballots for various reasons.

They are Dallas’ reigning rookie of the year Paige Bueckers and Jessica Shepard; Golden State’s Gabby Williams; Indiana’s Aliyah Boston, Caitlin Clark, and Kelsey Mitchell; Las Vegas’ A’ja Wilson, the reigning and four-time league MVP; Minnesota’s Natasha Howard and Olivia Miles, the sole rookie starter, and New York’s Breanna Stewart.

Streaking Golden State

After becoming the first WNBA expansion team with the most wins and earning a playoff spot last season, the Valkyries are even doing better for their encore, having won seven straight games after Friday’s 79-64 win at Connecticut to set a franchise win streak record besides already topping last summer’s regular season win total.

Overall they are 11-2 in their last 13 games.

Veronica Burton collected 17 points for Golden State, which has sold out every home game played back in San Francisco in the 18,000+ Chase Center, Janelle Salaun had 16 points with four makes from deep off the bench.

Connecticut’s Diamond Miller scored 14, rookie Charlisse Leger-Walker from UCLA’s NCAA champions and Olivia Nelson-Ododa each scored 12 and Aaliyah Edwards scored 11.

The Sun’s Brittney Griner, Aneesah Morrow and Saniya Rivers were sidelined with injuries.

All-Star Gabby Williams for the Valkyries was out for the first time this season with a back contusion.

“We are tired. We are tired again because we didn’t have a great start,” said Golden State coach Nakase, the reigning coach of the year, afterwards. “We found pockets tonight to find our way through. But they deserve rest, four games in seven days.

“This game was really, really hard. They play tough. They fight. They’re super physical. They play hard. Credit to Connecticut. We won because we played together.”

Phoenix Woes

On one hand this time a year ago, Las Vegas was struggling and went on to get blown out 111-58, the second widest margin in WNBA history, by Minnesota, which was then dominating the league, before then suddenly go unbeaten the rest of the regular season and ultimately win their third title in the last four years.

But Phoenix isn’t the Aces when it comes to the future of making a return to return to the playoffs.

In Saturday’s game, the winners got 21 points and 15 rebounds in 25 minutes from A’ja Wilson, who had a double-double by the half.

Rookie Justine Pissott, the former Vanderbilt star who was a second-round pick by Indiana and signed off the Fever’s development roster Friday, had 19 points in her WNBA debut, was 7-for-8 with five makes from distance playing the whole fourth quarter.

The Aces had 30 assists, 11 from Chelsea Gray, who scored 15 as did Cheyenne Parker-Tyus. NaLyssa Smith scored 14.

Monique Akoa Makani had 13 points for the visiting Mercury and Lexi Held scored 11.

DeWanna Bonner was held to two but became the second in the league to pass 8,000 points.

“At half, you’re probably not coming back from that deficit,” said Phoenix coach Nate Tibbetts. “But how do we want to compete. How do we want to play for each other. That’s what you talk about in those situations.

“That was an ugly, disappointing, all of the above. We’re going to find out a lot about us on Monday (against Minnesota). See how we want to compete. No one is going to feel sorry for us. We did not that do at a high enough level. We did not compete today. It was a tough day all the way around.”

Dream Woes

Following coming out of five-game losing streak on Thursday, winning 89-78 at home Thursday, Atlanta (13-10) at home on Saturday then fell 102-92 to expansion Portland before 3,577 at the small Gateway Center in suburban College Park.

The Dream were missing Angel Reese sidelined with an injury.

Portland’s Megan Gustafson scored 17 points, Emily Engstler had 14 points and 11 boards, Carla Leite had 13 points and 10 assists, Bridget Carleton had 12 points, all from four of the Fire’s 14 three-pointers.

Reserve Serah Williams had 15 points, Frieda Buhner scored 11 and Teja Oblak had 10.

The bench trio were 14 for 15 from the field.

Atlanta’s Gray scored 20, while Madina Okot had a personal best 19 points, with eight boards, playing in place of Reese, who wore a boot on her right foot off an injury in the Thursday game with Seattle.

Naz Hillmon had 15 points, reserve Sika Kone had 11 points, and Jordan Canada had 10 points and 12 assists.

“Obviously, a disappointing loss today,” said Atlanta second-year coach Karl Smesko. “I want to credit Portland. They obviously played great. They shot the ball great. We made defensive mistakes. They made us pay for them.

“We couldn’t keep us as well as they were shooting the ball. We had miscommunications. I think that helped give them a rhythm.”

L.A. Front Office Switch

The Sparks announced Sunday that the team and general manager Reagan Pebley agreed to part ways.

The Sparks (10-11), one game out of a playoff spot, are on a two-game win streak, beating Indiana and Chicago last week.

Kelsey Plum, who had been leading the league in scoring, has not not played since June 21 because of a leg injury.

The Sparks said assist GMs Nate Nielsen and Zach Knowlton will share the role on an interim basis.

Managing partner and governor Eric Holoman, as part of a statement, thanked Pebley and said “her work on the Sparks roster and player experience will have a lasting positive impact on our organization.”

Sparks second year coach Lynne Roberts, who coached Utah when Pebley was at Colorado in the Pac-12 prior to the re-organization of the conference, said, “Raegan’s a friend of mine, and I care about her. This is the hard part in sports, right? But right now I’m just focused on the team.”

Pebley hired Roberts after Curt Miller, now GM in Dallas, left with a 25-55 two-year run following a successful stint coaching the Connecticut Sun.

Sunday Recaps: N.Y.’s Laney-Hamilton Tossed Late in Road Loss to Toronto

Former Rutgers star Betnijah Laney-Hamilton was thrown out in the fourth quarter for tossing a shoe.

There was 1:48 left in what had become a close contest when the Liberty’s Jonquel Jones lost her shoe and Laney-Hamilton threw it, afterwards claiming she was trying to get it to Jones, but it hit Marina Marbrey in the back, becoming a second technical.

Marbrey made the penalty shot for a 91-89 lead in a game the Tempo had led by 20 points.

“I had to take a couple breaths,” Marbrey said. “But I think she was really just trying to get the shoe back to J.J. But I’ll take the free throw.”

Official Kevin Fahy to a pool reporter with the explanation said she “picked up a shoe and threw it at Marina Marbrey, and it hit Marina in the back, so she received her second technical foul and subsequently was ejected from the basketball game.”

Toronto coach Sandy Brondello also though the hit was unintentional but was glad her team kept its composure off the Liberty comeback to win.

Breanna Stewart tied it for New York after Marbrey’s shot but former Liberty star Nyara Sabally, who Brondello took in the expansion draft, scored the game-winner on a layup.

“It was a little scary there in the fourth,” said Brondello, who led New York to its first title in 2024, the franchise being one of the original eight in the WNBA inaugural summer of 1997.

“This team is resilient. I thought our defense was pretty solid for the most part until we got a little tight and the refs decided to call every foul for New York near the end.

“But we hung in there and found a way to win. So proud of the group. We deserve it. We’ve been in so many games, so it’s nice for us to get a win.”

Marbrey scored 30 following 34 in Friday’s loss to Dallas.

The Tempo snapped a four-game losing streak with the win.

Laney-Hamilton insisted the incident was not intended to hit someone, saying she would never do that in a game.

“I would never intentionally try to hit someone with a shoe, especially when they’re not looking,” she told the New York Post, whose beat reporter travels with the team. “Teammate was without a shoe, so I did my best to try and get it to her.

“Unfortunately, it did hit someone … I know just by the way that things were going throughout the game that it can look a certain way, but that’s not something that I would personally do … especially in a moment like that where the game is on the line.

Sabrina Ionescu scored 28 for the Liberty and Stewart collected 22 as New York is now 2-7 in their last nine games.

Jones had 10 points and 10 boards.

The Tempo held a 75-54 lead late in the third quarter and Laura Juskaite had 18 points and Maria Conde scored 15.

They will also play a pair of games in Vancouver, British Columbia, later this season, fulfilling a promise to be Canada’s team when they became activated.

First-year coach Chris DeMarco, hired from a long stint with the NBA Golden State Warriors, was unhappy with the officiating in general, besides the shoe incident, calling it “atrocious” and “pathetic.”

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said of the technical. “We had all the momentum in the world. She hit somebody, ejected, free throws.”

DeMarco also thought near the end the no-call should have been a foul when Stewart tried to score from the inside.

Indiana Swamps Vegas a Day After Aces Did Likewise to Phoenix

In a game attended by South Carolina coach Dawn Staley, who had former Gamecocks on both sides, Kelsey Mitchell scored 27 points and Caitlin Clark scored 12 with seven boards and six assists in the Fever’s 109-75 win over the Aces.

Mitchell has now scored 25 in six straight games, joining Las Vegas’ A’ja Wilson, retired Tina Charles, Dallas’ Arike Ogunbowale, and retired Maya Moore, who have done likewise in WNBA history.

Aliyah Boston, who went No. 1 out of South Carolina in 2023, a year before Clark out of Iowa, had 19 points and 10 boards, while Sophie Cunningham scored 20, fueled by six makes from distance tying her best on the season.

Wilson, part of Staley’s first of three NCAA titles, had 20 points and 12 boards, while Chelsea Gray scored 15.

Clark, recovering from an ongoing back injury, was on a minutes restriction.

Mitchell had 39 straight games in double figures, the second longest streak in Indiana history.

The Fever closed out from late in the third quarter 43-9.

It was the second straight win over Las Vegas, having won 84-68 out West a week ago.

“I think that’s what it means to be a pro, just stay ready,” Cunningham said of her night.

“It was huge,” Fever coach Stephanie White said of Cunningham’s performance.

“We found the best shot on the floor. And when you do that your percentages are going to be higher. Just really proud of this group and how connected we continue to grow into.”

Boston said of Mitchell, “She’s the fastest guard I’ve ever seen in my life. She just continues to show up every day.”

On the other side, Hammon said, “I thought we were lousy from the jump. A lot of it was effort. Maybe we just didn’t have the juice today to defend a team like that, but the game was pretty ugly.”

Bueckers Powers Wings

Reigning rookie of the year Paige Bueckers had 22 points with 11 assists, while Jessica Shepard had 19 points as Dallas won their fifth straight matching their best run since 2023.

Arike Ogunbowale scored 17 and Azzi Fudd, the number one overall draft pick out of UConn in April, scored 16.

Li Yueru scored 10 with a season-high 10 boards while defensing the Sky’s Kamilla Cardoso, who got off to a hot start.

The former South Carolina star had six points, shooting 3-of-5 for the Sky, with five boards in the first five minutes before Yueru was brought in off the Wings bench to cool her off.

Cardoso ended up shooting 6-of-12 for 12 points and 23 boards.

The Wings finished on a 15-5 run.

Reserve Maddy Siegriest, Villanova’s all-time scorer for men or women, had five points in nine minutes, shooting 2-for-2 with a three-pointer.

Chicago’s Sydney Taylor scored 20 for Chicago, while Azura Stevens had 18 and a season-best 13 boards, while Saint Joseph’s grad Natasha Cloud, who signed as a free agent this season after being in New York, scored 15.

The Sky’s Skylar Diggins, who signed a two-year free-agent deal in April, missed her third straight game with a knee injury,

A week ago, the six-time All-WNBA honoree, four on the first team, said last Monday on her Instagram account that she would soon be coming off the bench.

The former Notre Dame great has had 277 starts in the regular season, consecutively, dating to 2016 when she was in Dallas.

It’s the eighth time this season the Wings have come back in the fourth quarter to win, tying Washington for best in the league.

It’s the third time this season and third time for the franchise the team has recorded three double-doubles.

Bueckers leads the league in fourth scoring with 138 points.

“I think our grit and resilience,” first-year Dallas coach Jose Fernandez said of the fourth quarter success, adding, “we don’t do it on purpose to be down in the fourth quarter.

“I think the pace we play allows us to do the things we do well in the fourth quarter. We do a good job coming out in the fourth quarter. After four games on the road, everybody played and had a hand in this win.”

Of Yueru’s performance, he said he thought her size helps in playing Cardoso.

“We showed a lot today in not being off yesterday. I’m just really proud of our group and 16 wins,” Fernandez said, and in discussing the large crowd in the building, “In the fourth quarter you could feel the energy.”

Washington Tops Seattle

Shakira Austin had 10 of her 27 points for the winning Mystics in the fourth quarter, while Kiki Iriafen had 12 points with 13 boards.

Sonia Citron, joining All-Star teammate Iriafen for the second year in both their seasons, added 19 points and rookie Lauren Betts, the overall fourth pick and part of a record five in the first round and six overall from NCAA champion UCLA, scored 11.

Seattle in the loss was outscored 20-11 in the final period.

The Storm’s Natisha Hideman had a career-high 31 points shooting 14-for-24 from the field for the visitors. Dominque Malonga had 10 points, 15 boards, two blocks and two steals, and made the All-Star team in her second pro season after being on the all-rookie team in 2025.

Looking Ahead

On Monday, Los Angeles is at Atlanta at 7 p.m. on USA and Phoenix is at Minnesota at 9 on NBCSN and Peacock.

Tuesday will see Portland at Connecticut, 11 a.m. on League Pass, while Washington is at Toronto at 7 p.m. on NBA TV.

On Wednesday Seattle is at Chicago at noon on League Pass, while Los Angeles is at Minnesota at 1 p.m., also on League Pass, and Golden State is at Indiana at 8 p.m. on USA.

Portland is at Washington at 7 p.m. on NBA TV Thursday, while New York is at Dallas at 9 p.m. on Amazon Prime.

Friday on the ION and League Pass package, Seattle is at Indiana at 7:30 p.m., while Los Angeles at the same time is at Chicago, and 10 p.m., Connecticut is at Phoenix.

Saturday has a three-game card, New York at Indiana at 8 p.m. on Paramount+ and CBS at 8 p.m., the same time League Pass has Portland at Minnesota, while at 8:30 p.m. on League Pass Washington is at Golden State.

Finally, Sunday, to give you the whole week, has Los Angeles at Dallas at 1 p.m. on ABC, Chicago at Atlanta at 4 p.m. on Paramount+ and CBS, and Connecticut at Phoenix at 7 p.m. on Disney + and ESPN.