MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Courtney Williams had 25 points and seven assists, Natasha Howard added 22 points and eight rebounds, and the Minnesota Lynx beat the Atlanta Dream 96-81 on Wednesday night.
Minnesota’s lead was 44-40 early in the third quarter before they team scored the next 13 points. The Lynx outscored the Dream 28-19 in the frame to make it 70-56 after three.
Rookie Olivia Miles completed a three-point play early in the fourth for a 77-60 lead. Then Williams made a wide-open 3-pointer with 3:04 left to extend it to 88-75.
All five starters for Minnesota scored in double figures. Miles finished with 16 points, Nia Coffey scored 14, and Kayla McBride had 12 for the Lynx. Minnesota had a season-high 26 assists on 40 made field goals and shot 60% from the field.
Allisha Gray scored 21 points and made five 3-pointers for Atlanta, which dropped its first road game of the season. Naz Hillmon added 15 points, and Angel Reese had 10 points and eight rebounds. Rhyne Howard also scored 10.
Eleven of Atlanta’s 29 made field goals came from beyond the arc.
Minnesota evened the season series with Atlanta 1-1 after dropping the season opener 91-90. The Lynx led by 19 points in the loss before the Dream took their first lead with 11.3 seconds left.
LIBERTY 84, MERCURY 74
NEW YORK (AP) — Marine Johannes scored 21 points, Jonquel Jones added 17 points and keyed a huge run to close the third quarter as New York beat Phoenix.
The game was a rematch of last season’s first-round playoff series that the Mercury won en route to reaching the WNBA Finals. Both teams are different this season as Satou Sabally came to New York from Phoenix. Coming into the game she was questionable to play because of an illness that forced her out of Monday’s game. She warmed up but was scratched an hour before tipoff.
While Sabally was out, along with Sabrina Ionescu (back), the Liberty did welcome back Betnijah Laney-Hamilton and Leonie Fiebich. Laney-Hamilton had missed a few games for personal reasons. Fiebich was recovering from winning a Spanish league title.
The Liberty (4-4) trailed 55-49 with 6:09 left in the third quarter when coach Chris DeMarco put Laney-Hamilton into the game. New York responded with a 23-0 run to close the quarter that included 10 points from Jones. The Mercury (2-6) had eight turnovers, including three on offensive fouls during the drought.
New York led 72-55 heading into the final quarter and Phoenix finally ended its nearly seven-minute scoring drought with a 3-pointer in the corner from Monique Akoa Makani. The Mercury could only get within 10 in the fourth as they dropped their fourth consecutive game. It was Akoa Makani’s first game of the season as she was finishing her overseas commitments.
Kahleah Copper scored 19 to lead Phoenix.
TEMPO 111, SKY 104
CHICAGO (AP) — Nyara Sabally scored a career-high 29 points, Marina Mabrey had 24 points and seven assists, and Toronto beat Chicago.
Toronto had its lead trimmed to 98-96 with 3:33 left in the fourth quarter before going on an 8-2 run to regain control. Mabrey sank a step-back jumper to make it 101-96 and Sabally added a 3-pointer for an eight-point lead with 1:43 remaining.
Sabally was 11 of 14 from the floor, while Mabrey made 9 of her 13 shots to help Toronto shoot 56%. Sabally, Mabrey and Maria Conde each made three of the Tempo’s 12 3-pointers.
Brittney Sykes added 20 points, and rookie Kiki Rice had 14 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for Toronto (4-4). Conde finished with 12 points off the bench.
Rookie Sydney Taylor scored a season-high 27 points for Chicago (3-4). Skylar Diggins had 23 points and nine assists, and Natasha Cloud added 18 points and nine helpers.
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