Fever snap 16-game skid against the Aces

AROUND THE WNBA

The Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu fires a 3-point shot against the Sparks during Thursday night’s game. Ionescu scored 20 points in New York’s win. Ishika Samant / Getty Images

Image

Kelsey Mitchell scored 25 points, Aliya Boston added 20 and the Indiana Fever, without the injured Caitlyn Clark, beat Las Vegas 81-54 on Thursday night and snapped a 16-game losing streak against the Aces.

The host Fever turned in another dominant defensive performance. After winning the Commissioner’s Cup against league-leading Minnesota 74-59 on Tuesday and holding the Lynx to a season low in points, the Fever held the Aces to 26% shooting and their lowest total of the season. Las Vegas was also slowed by 17 turnovers.

Natasha Howard, MVP of the Commissioner’s Cup, had 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Fever (9-8), who shot 49%. Clark was sidelined for a fourth straight game due to a strained left groin.

A’ja Wilson scored 29 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field and 11 for 13 from the foul line for the Aces (8-9). The rest of the Aces were 7 of 43 (16%) and no player scored more than six points.

Liberty 89, Sparks 79: Natasha Cloud scored 11 of her 23 points in the third quarter and sparked a huge run to lead New York to a victory over visiting Los Angeles. Breanna Stewart added 17 points and 14 rebounds and Sabrina Ionescu had 20 points for New York (12-5).

The defending champion Liberty trailed 53-42 midway through the third before Cloud and Ionescu got going. Cloud’s three-point play sparked a 13-0 run and then Ionescu scored 10 straight points for New York to give the Liberty a 63-59 advantage.

Storm 80, Dream 79: Nneka Ogwumike scored 24 points and moved into seventh on the WNBA’s career scoring list, Skylar Diggins drove for the decisive layup with 3.4 seconds left, and Seattle won at Atlanta. Erica Wheeler had 21 points for Seattle (11-7).

Lynx 92, Mystics 75: Napheesa Collier scored 28 points, Courtney Williams had 10 points, six rebounds, eight assists and five steals and Minnesota beat visiting Washington for its third straight regular-season victory. Minnesota bounced back from its 74-59 loss to Indiana on Tuesday in the Commissioner’s Cup final that did not count in the standings.

Wings 98, Mercury 89: Aziaha James scored 20 of her 28 points in the first half, Paige Bueckers added 23 and Dallas started four rookies in a victory over visiting Phoenix. JJ Quinerly added a career-high of 17 points for the Wings (6-13), winners of five of their last seven games. The fourth rookie starter, Luisa Geiselsoder, scored four points. Second-year player Li Yueru shot 10 for 12 from the line and added 12 points and 11 rebounds.

James hit five 3-pointers and had six rebounds and six assists.

Kahleah Copper led Phoenix (12-6) with 33 points for the 11th 30-point game of her career. Satou Sabally added 20 points and Monique Akoa Makani 14. The Mercury have lost consecutive games after six-game winning streak.