Clarendon’s triple-double leads Dream past Mercury
Suns, Wings, Sparks win
ATLANTA, July 26, (AP): Layshia Clarendon had 15 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists to become the sixth WNBA player with a tripledouble, helping the Atlanta Dream beat the Phoenix Mercury 99-91 in overtime on Tuesday night.
It was the WNBA’s first tripledouble since Temeka Johnson’s on July 24, 2014.
Atlanta led 82-77 until Diana Taurasi was fouled on a 3-pointer and made three free throws with 1:44 left in regulation. Taurasi tied it at 82 and gave Phoenix the lead on a step-back jumper with eight seconds left. After a timeout, Brittney Sykes took an inbound pass, curled off a high screen and made a driving layup to tie it at 84.
Atlanta opened overtime on an 11-0 run and cruised.
Sykes scored 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for her first career doubledouble for Atlanta (10-11). Tiffany Hayes had 19 points, Elizabeth Williams 16 and Sancho Lyttle 14.
Taurasi scored 31 points for Phoenix (11-10), which has lost four straight without Brittney Griner.
Sheryl Swoopes is the only player in league history to have a triple-double in regular season and postseason.
WNBA-leading Minnesota edged the Liberty 76-75, with Maya Moore scoring a season-high 27 points and Lindsay Whalen making a go-ahead baseline jumper with 47.7 seconds left.
Epiphanny Prince made 1 of 2 free throws to pull New York to 76-75 with 31.8 seconds left. Minnesota
Clarendon lost control of it and New York won the jump ball with 15.1 seconds left. After a timeout, Prince drew a double team and found an open team-mate but Sugar Rodgers’ 3-pointer was off the mark. The ball was batted around and Rodgers was off on a shot from the corner at the buzzer.
In other games, the Suns had a 9372 win over the Sky, the Wings beat the Fever 84-82 and the Sparks won 68-60 over the Storm.
Alyssa Thomas had 20 points, nine rebounds and five assists to help the Sun beat the Sky. Chicago was within 65-57 with 1:01 left in the third quarter but didn’t score again until Cappie Pondexter’s basket with 6:41 remaining.
At Arlington, Skylar Diggins-Smith scored 21 points for her sixth straight 20-plus game as the Wings beat the Fever.
Dallas trailed 80-76 with 2:45 left, but the Wings scored on their next four possessions for an 84-82 lead on Allisha Gray’s basket with 45 seconds left. Erica Wheeler missed two shots on the Fever’s next possession and, after a Dallas turnover, Wheeler was off again at the buzzer.
Gray finished with 12 points for Dallas (11-12) and Glory Johnson added 11. Courtney Paris grabbed 10 of the Wings’ 30 rebounds and Aerial Powers scored nine points in her first game of the season.
At Los Angeles, Candace Parker scored 14 of her 17 points in the first half, and Nneka Ogwumike had 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Breanna Stewart led Seattle (9-12) with 23 points and a career-high six blocks. Sue Bird moved past Lauren Jackson for the most field goals in team history and she also became the eighth player in WNBA history with 600 steals.