NEW YORK (AP) — Breanna Stewart scored 24 points to lead a balanced New York offense as the Liberty beat Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever 91-80 on Saturday in front of a sellout crowd.
It was the second consecutive meeting between the teams who finished off a home and home set. Indiana lost on Thursday by 36 points, but was more competitive in this one thanks to a strong effort by Clark.
She finished with 22 points — the most in her young pro career — to go with eight assists and six rebounds. She also had eight turnovers.
The No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft came into the game averaging 14.5 points, 4.5 assists and 3.5 rebounds for the Fever.
This was Clark’s first time playing in New York as Iowa never played in the city nor did she when she was in high school or with her AAU team.
Clark brought out a bunch of sports celebrities to the game including Billie Jean King, Sue Bird, Megan Rapinoe, Michelle Wie West and Dawn Staley. Actor Jason Sudeikis, who went to a few of Clark’s games in college was also in attendance.
ACES 89, SPARKS 82
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Jackie Young and A’ja Wilson both scored 22 points and finished with double-doubles to power Las Vegas to a victory over Los Angeles.
Young sank 8 of 18 shots, including 4 of 9 from 3-point range, and added 11 assists and six rebounds for two-time defending champion Las Vegas (2-0). Wilson hit 9 of 20 shots with a 3-pointer, grabbed 10 rebounds and added three steals. Kelsey Plum made three 3-pointers and scored 17 with five assists and three steals. Alysha Clark scored 13 on 5-for-7 shooting with three 3s.
Dearica Hamby finished with 29 points to lead Los Angeles (0-2). Hamby hit 12 of 16 shots from the floor and 5 of 11 from the free-throw line. She added nine rebounds and three steals. Lexie Brown had 16 points. Kia Nurse and reserve Rickea Jackson contributed 13 points apiece.
Nurse scored half of LA’s 18 first-quarter points to lead the Sparks to a two-point lead. Nurse, who scored 23 points in LA’s 92-81 loss to the visiting Atlanta Dream in the season opener, sank all four of her shots with a 3-pointer.
Jackson hit 3-pointers on back-to-back trips down the court and Zia Cooke added a basket to give the Sparks a 32-25 lead with 4:37 left in the second quarter. Young, Clark, Kate Martin and Wilson all hit 3-pointers in a 15-0 run as the Aces took a 40-32 lead with 53 seconds left before halftime and never trailed again.
SKY 84, WINGS 73
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Diamond DeShields led a balanced attack with 16 points and Chicago dominated the fourth quarter to defeat Dallas to split the season-opening series.
Chicago outscored Dallas 28-11 in the fourth quarter to erase an eight-point deficit, getting contributions from a number of players while Arike Ogunbowale had nine of the 11 Wings’ points.
Marina Mabrey, who had all 14 of her points in the second half, got the Sky going with a 3-pointer in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter. Elizabeth Williams had back-to-back baskets before Angel Reese had a three-point play for a 67-65 Chicago lead with 6:29 to play.
Reese finished a 14-0 run that made it 72-65 with 4 1/2 minutes left. Ogunbowale had the next nine points for Dallas but Chicago continued to pull away.
On Wednesday in the season opener Ogunbowale scored 14 of her 25 points in the fourth quarter as the Wings, down two with 3:16 to play, scored 14-straight points down the stretch to win 87-79. In that game, Dallas had a 60-42 advantage in points in the paints but in the rematch it was 28-24 for the Sky.
MERCURY 88, DREAM 85
PHOENIX (AP) — and combined with Sophie Cunningham for the last 16 points as Phoenix recovered after losing a 10-point fourth-quarter lead to beat Atlanta.
Cheyenne Parker-Tyus had 11 points and Allisha Gray 10 in the fourth quarter as the Dream, down 70-60 with 8:43 to play, charged back to lead 81-74 at the 4:11 mark. A layup by Parker-Tyus produced Atlanta’s first lead of the game at 73-72.
and Copper’s four free throws pulled the Mercury within 83-81 with 1 1/2 minutes to play. Following an offensive foul on Tina Charles, Copper found . Natasha Cloud then blocked a Rhyne Howard attempt and Copper converted that into a layup for an 86-83 lead at 28.1 seconds.
Parker-Tyus made it a one-point game again but Copper answered and Howard missed a a 3-point try for the tie.
Diana Taurasi had 15 points and Cunningham 10 for the Mercury (1-1), who gave Nate Tibbetts his first win in the WNBA.
Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
