The Guru’s WNBA Report: Citron Leads Washington Past Clark’s Breakout Long Game at Indy; ‘Vegas’ Wilson Burns Connecticut for 45; Charlotte and Greensboro Gain First Wins as UPSHOT League Debuts
By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru
Caitlin Clark fueled an Indiana comeback in the fourth quarter in front of a home crowd of 15,673 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis Friday night to watch the Fever (1-2) highlighting the four games on the league schedule but second-year pro Sonia Citron enabled Washington (2-1) to withstand the surge and pick up a 104-102 victory in overtime.
The Connecticut Sun (0-4) were far more competitive in their second home game in three nights against the Las Vegas Aces (3-1) but reigning and four-time MVP A’ja Wilson was unstoppable giving the defending champions their third-straight victory 101-94 before a crowd of 7,265 at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville.
Out West Los Angeles (2-1) got off to a quick start at home before a crowd of 11,861 at the Crypto.com Arena foiling an upset bid by the expansion Toronto Tempo (1-2) with a 99-95 victory, while down in the Arizona desert in another shootout Phoenix (2-2) overcame a huge blown lead to visiting Chicago (2-1) to win 91-83 in front of a crowd of 11,094 at the Mortgage Matchup Center handing the Sky their first setback and leaving idle Atlanta (2-0) as the only unbeaten team as the first week of the WNBA 30th season neared its conclusion.
The new four-team UPSHOT League providing additional opportunities outside the WNBA got under way in Jacksonville, Fla., and Greensboro, N.C., with the host Waves losing 103-95 to the Charlotte Crown before a sellout crowd at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena and the host Greensboro Groove winning 85-81 over the Savannah Steel in a home sellout.
Mystics Edge Fever
Clark looked like the long-range force she was igniting attention to the sport her last two seasons in college at Iowa before attaining Rookie of the Year stature two summers ago as a pro when she hit a 27-foot shot with 1.7 seconds left in regulation to force overtime and finishing with 32 points, eight assists and four boards shooting 7-for-17 from deep.
Citron nearly ended it right there, countering with a 52-footer but the attempt was ruled after the buzzer and eventually she ended the night with a career-high 30 points with six boards and four assists while sister second-year pro Kiki Iriafen on the league’s youngest roster also had a career night with 25 points and 13 rebounds and Shakira Austin scored 19 points with nine rebounds and five assists.
Rookie Cotie McMahon, the No. 11 pick in last month’s draft out of Ole Miss who missed her first two games with a left elbow sprain, had 13 points with five boards and two assists in her pro debut.
Clark, sidelined last season from mid-June with injuries, only appearing in 13 games, was rusty behind the arc shooting 3-for-16 in the Fever’s first two games but finally came ubtracked in the fourth quarter when she had 17 of her points.
“I felt like I could have made another, like, five,” she said. “They’re all right there, and obviously it was great to break through and get some to go down.
“That’s the hardest thing as a basketball player, when you’re not making shots — to really stay in it. So, I’m certainly proud of myself — really calm really battled. And a lot of those shots are very, very makeable. “
She said her slow start in the first two games going long range may have hampered her.
“I think I started hesitating a little bit and probably hesitated a little bit to start the season, she said. “I didn’t need to do that. Best one I’m just letting it fly.”
After going 2-for-15 from deep her first three quarters she found her mark, but ultimately the Mystics became the second straight team to score 100 on the Fever.
“We put a lot of pressure on our offense to be perfect when we don’t consistently defend,” Indiana coach Stephanie White said.
“When things aren’t going well we have to find a way to defend and get stops,” Clark said. “We haven’t done that very well to this point.”
Kelsey Mitchell added 24 points for Indiana and Monique Billings scored 10 but Aliyah Boston, the 2023 rookie of the year and No. 1 pick out of South Carolina was limited to nine points, leaving after 8 minutes of the third quarter.
Outshot by Indiana’s 17 3s Washington countered inside 48-28.
Wilson Powers Aces Over Sun
Host Connecticut being shorthanded was depleted on the wrong night as A’ja Wilson shot 15-for-18 from the field and made each of 13 attempts from the line for 45 points while Chennedy Carter scored 18 points continuing a strong return after playing overseas last season not signing with any team.
The home team made a brief rally after trailing 69-56 with four minutes left in the third period on a 14-3 run completed with a pair of makes from deep to move within a possession 72-70 before Las Vegas then powered to the finish as Wilson scored the next six points with a 3 and a three-point play and the Aces outscoring the Sun 16-4 into the final period.
Brittney Griner and Olivia Nelson-Ododa remained sidelined with injuries though Cinnecticut got Aliyah Edwards back for her season debut with six points in 17 minutes.
Hailey Van Lith, picked up when waived by Chicago last week, scored 17 points.
“Finding shots in our system and letting the flow of the game take over,” Wilson said of her night. “That’s big to me. I want to be efficient. It’s beautiful to rack up all these points, but to be efficient, that’s what is key. “
Wilson has now reached 40 five times snapping a tie with New York’s Breanna Stewart and retired Phoenix great Diana Taurasi.
She’s the sole player in league history to score 45 or more points shooting 80% from the field according to ESPN research.
Her personal best came three seasons ago in 2023 on August 22 when she torched Atlanta for 53 points.
“She was unbelievable,” said Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon. “Really happy with the free throws. The 3s, she just continued to sprinkle those in. She got a lot of early touches.”
Wilson said the shot from deep on the six-point burst wasn’t planned.
“I was trying to take what the defense was giving me. (Rookie Raegan) Beers was playing a bit off, so why not.”
Of the Sun’s move to Houston next season making Friday likely her last visit, Wilson reflected, “got my first WNBA point in this building and championship in this building. It’s fun coming here. Going to miss this place.”
Sparks Edge Tempo
Los Angeles built an early lead over the expansion visitors and Kelsey Plum had 18 of her 25 points in the second half though Toronto, who won their first-ever game earlier this week reduced a 20-point deficit to within 2 with 2:23 left in regulation before Plum, who will make studio appearances in the Amazon Prime Thursday league telecasts, and Nneka Ogwumike, who scored 20, combined to score the next six points.
The Tempo within three under a minute left then fell off as Plum and Cameron Brink each scored twice from the line in the final 14 seconds.
Dearica Hamby scored 19 for the Sparks, while Rae Burrell scored 13 and Erica Wheeler had 10.
Toronto’s Brittney Sykes led the way with 27 points, Nyara Sabally scored 14, while off the bench Laura Juskaite had 16 points and Kiki Rice, the rookie from NCAA champion UCLA, scored 11 points.
L.A. dominated the inside 54-30 and outshot the visitors 64% to 44% from the field.
Earlier in the week the Sparks announced retired Hall of Fame great Lisa Leslie was going to be honored with a statue outside the arena in a ceremony on Sept. 20 in the Star Plaza that has similar honors to many greats of the NBA Lakers.
She’s just the second WNBA player so honored from her respective organization.
“To be submitted in Los Angeles, the city that raised me, I couldn’t be more proud to be a role model forever!” Leslie said in a statement Thursday. “God just me and I have truly given my all to this sport and our community.
“I am thankful to my coaches, teammates, incredible fans, and, most importantly, my family and friends. As the saying goes, ‘the wolf is only as strong as the pack,’ and I’ve been fortunate to have an amazing pack supporting me every step of the way.”
As for the way the game went second-year coach Lynne Roberts said, “this is a WNBA team and their coach by one of the all-time greats (Sandy Brondello) in the league, “Robert said afterwards. “They’re not going to just go away. We talked about that and those are competitors over there, so you have to first give them some credit. “
Brondello, who coached New York last season and guided the Liberty to the 2024 title, said of her team falling deep behind, “We were sleeping. It’s unacceptable. We had dine nothing we had spoken about.”
Mercury Handles Sky
Phoenix recovered from a blown 17-point lead to Chicago in the second half and was led in the win by 28-year-old rookie Jovana Nogic, out of Serbia, who scored 27 points, while Alyssa Thomas and former Rutgers star out of Philadelphia Kahleah Copper each scored 17 points.
The trio combined for the game’s final seven points, four boards and a pair of steals after the Sky closed the gap to 84-83 with 2:09 left in regulation.
Natasha Mack added 10 points for the Mercury, who shot 37-for-41 from the line while the Sky were 19-for-23.
Chicago’s Rickea Jackson had 29 points, UCLA rookie Gabriela Jaquez scored 13, but Kamilla Cardoso, the former South Carolina star, was held to seven points.
The visitors lost Skylar Diggins early in the game with an eye injury in the second quarter.
“We’re trying to figure out how to win games,” said Phoenix coach Nate Tibbetts, who was celebrating his 49th birthday and whose team lost in the WNBA finals to Las Vegas last season. “I thought we played a really good first half, defensively.
“Then they battled back, we weren’t as sharp, kind of relaxed a little bit, they took the lead, we stayed together, kept fighting,” he said.
Of Nogic, he said, “She’s an elite level shooter. She has fun while she’s doing it. I haven’t seen a lot of people smile when they’re shooting but I think she’s one of them.”
Looking Ahead
No games are scheduled for Saturday.
On Sunday, NBC returns to the WNBA telecast fold for the first time since early in the league’s history.
The main network and Peacock will air the Las Vegas game at Atlanta at 1:30 p.m., while at 6 p.m., the NBC Sports Network and Peacock will televise Seattle at Indiana.
League Pass has the other two games – Chicago at Minnesota at 7 p.m. and Toronto at Los Angeles at 7 p.m.
The NBC Sports Network and Peacock come back Monday night at 8 p.m. for Washington’s visit to Dallas followed at 10 p.m. on League Pass when Connecticut visits Portland.
UPSHOT Begins
Charlotte spoiled the home and season debut of Jacksonville, winning 103-95 as former North Carolina and Oregon star Deja Kelly scored 31 points for the crown on the launch night of the new women’s pro league, whose commissioner is former WNBA second president Donna Orender.
Charlotte was 23-for-34 from the line, including 10 points off 15 trips in the final period.
Jacksonville coach Jessica Bogia, a native of Philadelphia, found other reasons for her team’s defeat.
“I think the biggest thing was our rebounding, period,” she said. “We were nonexistent on the offensive glass.
“They killed us in second chance opportunity. Unfortunately, it’s an easy correctable thing, but it stinks to have done that on opening night.”
Charlotte owned the boards 42-30, getting 15 on the offensive glass for 14 second chance points and 52 in the paint.
“It didn’t turn out how we wanted to, but glad we have things that we can get in the gym and correct,” Waves guard Ariel Hearn said afterwards.
NFL Jacksonville Jaguars coach Liam Coen was among the crowd with his wife, talking with fans who came over, according to the Florida Times-Union, which covered the opener.
The publication described the environment as “electric,” the action fast paced and high scoring.
“I thought the environment was great out there,“ Bogia said. “These fans, the city of Jacksonville, showed up, they showed out. The players were extremely grateful. I know I surely was. We just want to continue this.
“Women’s Basketball is having a wave right now,” she continued. “We want to be riding that momentum, and we hope Jacksonville continues to show up and show out for us. And we promised to put a couple more wins in the column for them next time.”
Local media outlets covered the game calling the league arrival “a new era in city sports."
The Waves in the four-team league, which will add Baltimore and Nashville next season, next visits Charlotte Thursday and returns home to host Greensboro Saturday.
The games all air on the league’s YouTube channel.
In the other game, Savannah in the loss to the Groove got 13 points each from former Tennessee star Zee Spearman and Lasha Petree, with Kharyssa Richardson scoring the Steel’s first-ever points.
The two teams play again Saturday at 4 p.m.
Savannah after trailing by 12 in the third quarter went on a 12-0 run to tie it but never were able to lead in the final period.
Earlier in the week Groove coach Janice Washington ahead of the sellout at Novant Health Fieldhouse, which is also a home to the local NBA G league, said UPSHOT fills a void for women in Charlotte after the collegiate ACC tourney moved to another site.
“Being able to have your daughters and even your sons seeing that there are women playing professional sports right here in your backyard, it’s going to be awesome,” she said.
posted by Mel Greenberg | 12:00 PM
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