League-leading Aces improve to 14-1 with defeat of 2nd place Liberty
Kelsey Plum scored 18 points as the Las Vegas Aces defeated the visiting New York Liberty 98-81 on Thursday night in the first meeting between two of the top teams in the WNBA.
It was the seventh straight win for the Aces (14-1), who have been nearly unstoppable on offense this season, averaging nearly 93 points per game. All five Aces starters scored in double digits with A’ja Wilson scoring 16 while Jackie Young and Candace Parker each added 15. Chelsea Gray had 14 points and six assists, including a few highlights.
The Aces pulled away in the second half to run away with the much-hyped first game between the teams making the biggest moves in the off-season, with the defending champion Aces signing Parker and Alysha Clark. The Liberty added Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, Courtney Vandersloot and Kayla Thornton.
The teams came in first and second in points per game in the game and both play an unselfish brand of basketball, with the Liberty first in assists and the Aces second.
14th @LVAces victory ‼️
With their 98-81 victory against the Liberty, the Aces become the third team in WNBA history to start 14-1 on the szn #MoreThanGame pic.twitter.com/Evr4QoQDwZ
The Aces were able to keep the Liberty on the offensive, contesting almost every shot. On offense, they got off to a strong start behind Plum, who had 13 points in the first quarter as the Aces led 28-22.
New York (10-4) trailed 49-42 at the halfway point, but Las Vegas scored its first 11 points of the third quarter to blow open the game and extend the advantage to 18.
Stewart scored 16 points and Jones added 13 for the Liberty.
It’s been a busy week for New York. The Liberty played overtime against Washington on Sunday, passed Connecticut on the road on Tuesday before traveling all day on Wednesday to head to Las Vegas for Thursday night’s game.
Mercury defeated Fever to break 6-game slip
Brittney Griner scored 22 points, Diana Taurasi had 17 points and six assists, and the Phoenix Mercury defeated the visiting Indiana Fever 85-63 on Thursday night to snap a six-game losing streak.
Brianna Turner added a season-high 11 points for Phoenix (3-11). The Mercury had a season-high 28 assists on 34 field goals made. Sophie Cunningham (concussion evaluation) and Moriah Jefferson (ankle) did not play in the fourth quarter.
The vets had a night 🤝
BG and DT went for a combined 39 PTS in the win over the Fever:
➡️ Brittney Griner: 22 PTS, 5 REB, 3 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK
➡️ @DianaTaurasi: 17 PTS, 3 REB, 6 AST#MoreThanGame pic.twitter.com/Zk3N6kil5I
Phoenix led 31-23 after the highest-scoring first quarter of the season, and it was 52-35 at intermission behind Griner’s 15 points.
Taurasi made a three-pointer on back-to-back possessions late in the third quarter to help the Mercury lead 72-51 going into the fourth.
Kelsey Mitchell scored 15 points for Indiana (5-10), which lost for the third time in a row after consecutive losses to Las Vegas. NaLyssa Smith had 10 points and nine rebounds, and rookie Aliyah Boston added six points and nine rebounds.
Collier lifts Lynx over Storm in OT
Napheesa Collier made a go-ahead jumper with 1.8 seconds left in overtime and the visiting Minnesota Lynx defeated the Seattle Storm 99-97 on Thursday night to ruin Jewell Loyd’s first career 40-point game.
After Collier won a jump ball with 19 seconds left in overtime, rookie Diamond Miller made a layup to tie the score at 97-all with 11.2 seconds left.
Minnesota appeared to intentionally foul Loyd – fouled – but the ball bounced off her foot with 7.6 seconds left. Collier feigned a handoff to Kayla McBride at the three-point line and pulled to the right side of the track for a step back.
Napheesa Collier CALLED GAME 🤯
The @minnesotalynx clinch the 99-97 victory in OT over the Storm behind this game winning bucket @PHEEsespieces pic.twitter.com/MkWbneu70X
Collier finished with 31 points, eight rebounds, six blocks and five assists. It was her second consecutive 30-point game after scoring 33 in a 104-93 victory over Seattle on Tuesday.
McBride and Miller each scored 19 points for Minnesota (6-9). Dorka Juhasz had 11 points and eight rebounds.
Loyd made 15 of 35 field goals and 7 of 8 free throws to finish with 41 points for Seattle (4-11). Sami Whitcomb made five 3-pointers and scored 22 points, and Ezi Magbegor had 16 points and 16 rebounds.
Hamilton’s Kia Nurse had three points, two rebounds and an assist for Seattle.
Loyd made a contested layup with 21 seconds left to tie the score at 87-all. Collier held the ball near midcourt to turn back the clock before entering court, but Loyd stole the ball and shot near half court at the buzzer.
