The Guru’s WNBA and UPSHOT Reports: Clark’s Triple Double Fuels Indiana’s 5th Straight While Washington’s 4th Straight Downs Dallas
By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsgurux
Wrapping up the last three days front to back in the WNBA and then heading into the weekend we begin with Friday night’s three-game package where third-year pro Caitin Clark had her fourth career triple double scoring 26 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, and dealing 10 assists on tbe road as Indiana (19-10) won 112-98 in a high-scoring game at expansion Portland (11-18) before a crowd of 19,959 at the Fire’s Moda Center.
Down in the nation’s capital youthful Washington (16-12) made another step in playoff direction triumphing 81-75 over Dallas (18-11) before a CareFirst Arena crowd of 4,200 to gain the Mystics’ first four-game win streak since 2020.
Atlanta (18-10) was led by Angel Reese’s 19th double-double of the season winning 98-89 at home over last place Seattle (6-25) before a Gateway Center crowd of 3,610 in suburban College Park.
Earlier in the day with the trading deadline on the horizon Connecticut dealt second-year pro Aneesah Morrow, the 2025 seventh overall pick out of LSU, to expansion Toronto for the rights to Maria “Masha” Kliundikova, picked in the expansion draft off Minnesota but did not come to the league this season, and a 2028 second-round selection.
On Thursday defending champion Las Vegas (20-8) at home before a crowd of 10,500 at Micheloeb ULTRA Center in a tightly fought contest won 104-98 over New York (16-13), the Aces’ first win over the Liberty in three contests, one of which was the Comissioner’s Cup championship in Brooklyn.
In the game, New York’s Breanna Stewart’s career scoring total reached 6,588 moving into 10th on the WNBA list passing Hall of Famer Candace Parker (6,574).
Las Vegas moved into second past second-year Golden State (19-9) but remained three behind rolling Minnesota (24-6), which earlier in the night won 104-72 at Toronto (10-18), the ninth straight win for the Lynx, before a Canadian crowd of 18,145 at the larger Scotiabank Arena.
Thursday’s other game saw Chicago (10-18) at home before a crowd of 7,297 at Wintrust Arena rally to win 94-88 over Connecticut (7-22).
There were two games Wednesday night and if the fortunes of all four teams at the finish land a game better or worse the contests could loom big.
In Phoenix the Mercury (11-18), league runners-up last season, rallied from13 points down to win 91-89 over Golden State, a loss costly Friday when Las Vegas won, before a crowd of 10,152 at Mortgage Matchup Center.
Phoenix, Portland, and Los Angeles (10-17) are all 12.5 games behind Minnesota and five behind New York, which is in the last playoff spot at eighth.
The trio are also a half-game up on Toronto and Chicago, while Connecticut and Seattle are at the bottom of the 15-team league.
Wednesday’s other game saw Atlanta rally from 15-down to win 82-81 over Dallas before a Texas crowd of 6,251, at College Park Center in suburban Arlington.
In the playoff hunt, Indiana with Friday’s win holds fourth a half-game behind Golden State and a half-game in front of Atlanta, which is a half-game in front of Dallas.
Washington is seventh 1.5 behind Dallas and a half-game up on New York.
On Saturday, New York is at Phoenix at 3 p.m. on ABC while Las Vegas is at Chicago at 1 p.m. on CBS and Paramount+.
Sunday’s games have Indiana at Minnesota at 1 p.m. on ABC, Los Angeles is at Portland at 3:30 p.m. on NBC and Peacock, while at night Connecticut is at Dallas at 7 p.m. on ESPN and Disney+ and Toronto at 8:30 p.m. plays at Golden State on League Pass.
Clark Dazzles with Support from Mitchell for Streaking Fever
Kelsey Mitchell backed up Caitlin Clark’s triple-double with 26 points in Indiana’s fifth straight victory and ninth in 11 while also reaching 100 points in five straight games on a night Portland’s slide reached four games.
Fire All-Star Bridget Carleton scored 26.
Portland rallied late moving within seven before Clark at the line built the advantage back up at 110-96 with a minute left in regulation.
Sophie Cunningham scored 13 for Indiana and for a second straight night after Seattle’s contest earlier in the week was the subject of a supporting pre-game rally for her recent comments on barring transgender athletes from women’s and girl’s sports.
She was also booed when she entered the game midway in the fourth quarter.
The 19,959 attendance was a sellout.
“Obviously when we get 31 points off of turnovers, I think that's really good for us,” said Indiana coach Stephanie White. “We had some moments where execution was really good, we're still a work in progress, and the coach is never going to be happy, you know, I like some of the adjustments that we were able to make and execute and now we just got to continue to work towards towards growing it for 40 minutes of consistency.”
On the defensive side she said, “What we talk about a lot is that there are some things that we're we're willing to live with. Look, these are the best players in the world, they're going to to do tough things.
“We have to try to take away those one or two things that that they are the best at and force them to do something else and and we'll live with those.”
Aliyah Boston had 14 points for the Fever with nine boards, Monique Billings scored 15, and Mikayla Timpson had 15 points off the bench.
Austin Leads Mystics Over Wings
Shakira Austin had her best night of the season, scoring 28 points with 10 rebounds for Washington, while second-year pro Kiki Iriafen scored 22 with nine boards in a game former Villanova and Iowa player Lucy Olsen was with Washington but didn’t play and all-time Wildcats scorer Maddy Siegriest off the bench with Dallas had four points with two boards and two assists in nine minutes.
Second-year pro Sonia Citron, who made the All-Star team with Iriafen both seasons, had 16 points, five boards, and five assists.
Reigning rookie of the year Paige Bueckers had 23 points for the Wings and Arike Ogunbowale scored 20, but No. 1 pick Azzi Fudd in April, following UConn’s Bueckers a year later, was held to eight points.
Reserve Alana Smith had 11 points for the visitors.
In Wednesday’s loss, Ogunbowale had 24 points, shooting 9-for-16 from the field, Fudd, shooting 9-for-13 with a pair of makes from deep, scored 20, while Bueckers had 16 points.
Jessica Shepard had 16 points with 14 boards.
Allisha Gray had five of her 25 points for Atlanta in the closing seconds while Angel Reese had 22 points and 12 boards.
In Dallas’ game with Washington Friday night the host Mystics were 10-for-10 on the line at the finish, the same stat individually for Citron.
“I just wanted to have a good balance, being aggressive and finding my teammates,” Austin said. “We watched a lot from our last time with Dallas and just trying to learn from that.
‘It’s just building our identity that we can play with the best and beat the best,” she said of the current win streak.
“Thirteen offensive rebounds down the stretch, that’s what hurt us,” Dallas first-year coach Jose Fernandez said and also noted the disparity on the line. “And 13-31 free throws.”
Reese Dominates for Dream
Angel Reese’s 19th double-double of the season consisted of 21 points and 13 rebounds in quelling Seattle and her six on the offensive glass passed Brionna Jones (136) for the most in franchise history in a season as Atlanta has won five straight games since the Dream’s recent slide.
Naz Hillmon had 18 points and Gray scored 16 while off the bench Jones scored 14 and Jordin Canada scored 10 with nine assists but Rhyne Howard was held to nine, way below her 17.2 average.
Seattle’s Natisha Hiedeman scored 23 while Dominique Malonga had 16 points and 13 rebounds. Reserve Ezi Magbegor scored 12 but rookie Flau’jae Johnson out of LSU was 2 for 11 from the field.
The Storm moved within four with 43.4 left in regulation, but Gray then countered with a pair of foul shots to hand Seattle their eighth straight loss.
“Had a good first half and Seattle kept putting pressure on us all the way to the end,” said second-year coach Karl Smesko. “Fortunately, we were able to make some plays at the end.
“It’s a work in progress,” he said of the recent turnaround. “I’m always looking to see how we can get better. We scored 98 points. We forced a lot of turnovers. But as a coach you say, ‘Yeah, but that four-minute stretch. That’ll get you beat.’
“We have the makings of a great team. We’re not there yet. The great teams do it for longer stretches of time.”
Lynx Still Rolling
In Thursday’s lopsided win Napheesa Collier, Courtney Williams and rookie Olivia Miles each scored 16 for first-place Minnesota.
Kyla McBride added 13 points to the attack, Dorka Juhasz scored 12 and Natasha Howard had nine points, eight boards, three steals and a pair of blocks.
The Tempo got 19 points from Laura Juskaite, while Marina Mabrey scored 16 and Nyara Sabally had 10 in Toronto’s fifth straight loss and nine of 10.
The Lynx forced the Tempo into a season-worst 24 turnovers gaining a season-best 14 steals and mining 31 points.
It was the first game Miles, the second overall pick, did not have an assist.
Toronto’s Brittney Sykes and Isabelle Harrison remained sidelined with foot and knee injuries.
“I thought we did a nice job sharing the ball and doing simple things,” said Minnesota Hall of Fame coach Cheryl Reeve, the South Jersey native and former La Salle star. “When you got Natasha Howard’s relentless (on the offensive boards) every night, we need that from her and some of the others.
“I even thought defensive rebounding wise we were pretty darn good.”
Wilson and Young Carry Aces Over Liberty
A’ja Wilson scored 33 with 10 boards and Jackie Young scored 27 with nine boards for Las Vegas to avoid falling further behind Minnesota in a controversial finish in which Wilson appeared to lose the ball out of bounds with 17.4 seconds left.
The officials said it went off New York, which was out of challenges, and Young closed it with four foul shots and a steal ending the Liberty’s three-game win streak, all by narrow margins.
Breanna Stewart had 26 points and 11 boards for the visitors, Pauline Astier added 19, and Sabrina Ionescu collected 15, but All-Star MVP Jonquel Jones was held to eight points, while Chelsea Gray on the Aces fouled out in the closing seconds.
“It always helps when the three balls are going in but I thought ‘Jack got off some pretty good rhythm shots,” Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon said.
“We had 25 assists tonight which means we got a good amount of quality looks, so you’re always going to shoot a better percentage when you’re taking a lot of good quality looks,” she continued. “More than a few possessions I felt like overall the ball moved well.
“Eventually your defense has to take a stand. That’s a really, really talented offensive team, so there’s a lot of things you have to guard well.”
From the Liberty’s perspective, “This is a really tough team, playing here, third time this season,” said first-year coach Chris DeMarco. “We gave ourselves a chance to win.
“I’m happy the way the group fought back. They hit some open ones, they hit some tough ones, you can’t take everything away,” he said of the Aces’ three-point percentages.
Cardoso Fourth Quarter Leads Sky Rally Over Sun
Former South Carolina star Kamilla Cardoso scored 18 in the fourth quarter for Chicago finishing with 26 while Sydney Taylor had 14 points with six assists enabling the Sky to rally from 14 down to Connecticut.
The Brazilian was 8-of-12 from the field and10-of-11 on the line in just 21minutes due to foul trouble.
Saint Joseph’s grad Natasha Cloud added 11 points as the third player in double digits for the winners.
DiJonai Carrington, who missed the first 27 games due to a sprained foot, debuted with nine points in 16 minutes.
Aneesah Morrow, in what became her last Sun game before being dealt to Toronto, had 21 points with seven boards, while Olivia Nelson-Ododa had 16 points and 11 boards, Diamond Miller had 14 points, Leila Lacan scored 12, and rookie Charlisse Leger-Walker scored 10.
Copper and Thomas Lead Mercury Comeback Over Valkyries
In the first game for both teams after All-Star break Rutgers grad and North Philly native Kahleah Copper had 27 points while Alyssa Thomas, the Maryland grad out of Harrisburg, scored 25 with nine boards and eight assists, and DeWanna Bonner added 17 points with 10 rebounds and three blocks as Phoenix won its third straight on the heels of a five-game losing streak.
Golden State after Copper fouled out with 1:45 left tied it on Kayla Thornton’s three but Bonner then made two from the line and held the lead the rest of the way.
The Valkyries’ Cecilia Zandalasini had 16 points, Veronica Burton scored 15, and Kaila Charles had 10 points and 10 boards for her second career doible-double and first since 2021.
Phoenix was 32-43 on the line while Golden State was 15-19.
“I thought (Thomas) had force all night,” said Phoenix coach Nate Tibbetts. “She had all those points in the paint but then she got to the free throw line, also.
“AT was fabulous tonight. She was fabulous in L.A., too. And we need that version of her. That’s when we are at her best.”
Time will tell whether this was a game to be shaken off by Golden State, which set expansion records last season for wins and playoff qualification, or one that will bring regrets when the final standings are determined.
The Valkyries have already topped last season’s win total in their debut.
“We can’t foul. We have to be more disciplined,” said Golden State’s Natalie Nakase, voted coach of the year last season.
“We can’t send a team to the line 43 times. It’s hard to win games.
Credit to their fight. They came out harder than we did. Just not happy with our start and just frustrated with mistakes getting away from the game plan.”
UPSHOT Report: Onyiah First to Sign WNBA Contract
The new four-team league, developmental in nature, saw its first player ink a WNBA deal with the signing of the Charlotte Crown’s Michelle Oniyah to a developmental deal with Indiana.
The former California star was an attendee at the New York Liberty camp in the preseason before signing with Charlotte, where she was averaging 9.6 points and 6.9 boards with the Crown.
Meanwhile, as the league hits its stretch drive toward the first title game, Aug. 29, between the top two teams, two games have been played this week with two more to come on the weekend on the 40-game schedule.
The 1-2 punch continued with first place Jacksonville (20-5) at home on Friday winning 73-57 over Savannah (7-17) while on Thursday second-place Charlotte (14-10) was an 85-78 winner over visiting Greensboro (9-18).
On Saturday, Charlotte hosts Savannah at 4 p.m. while on Sunday at 2 p.m. which is likely a title game preview, Jacksonville, which is going to be the host site for the championship, is at Charlotte.
All games are free on the league’s YouTube channel.
In Thursday’s win by Charlotte, which soared to a 29-9 lead going into second quarter,
Schaquilla Nunn scored 24 points with 15 boards, shooting 11-for-17, for the Crown, while Reigan Richardson was 6-for-11 with 16 points, A.D., formerly Asia Durr, scored 14 with four assists, and Deja Kelly scored 13 points.
Jessica Timmons led the visiting Groove with 33 points on the strength of seven makes from deep, with seven boards, Sahara Jones scored 12 points, Sacha Washington scored 11, and Christyn Williams scored 10.
In Jacksonville’s win, the Waves getting to a strong start also at 23-5 in the first quarter, Lindsey Pulliam scored 15 points, Adut Bulgat scored 14 points with eight boards, Shyanne Sellers had 12 points, and Jasmine Walker had 10 points with eight boards for the team coached by Philly native Jess Bogia.
The visiting Steel’s Quanniecia “Que” Morrison Scored 11 points.
posted by Mel Greenberg | 11:26 AM
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