Powers nets 27, Mystics top Sun in WNBA Finals rematch
Fowles breaks rebounding record but Storm beat Lynx 90-66
BRADENTON, Florida, July 29, (AP): Aerial Powers scored a careerhigh 27 points on 10of-14 shooting and the Washington Mystics beat the Connecticut Sun 9489 in a rematch of the 2019 Finals.
Ariel Atkins and Myisha Hines-Allen each scored 16 points for the defending champion Mystics (2-0) and Emma Meesseman added 12 points and a career-best tying eight assists.
Alyssa Thomas scored 28 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and DeWanna Bonner had 29 points, nine boards and five assists for Connecticut (0-2). Bonner also had two steals to become one of six active players with at least 400 career steals (401).
Jacki Gemelos checked in for Connecticut midway through the fourth quarter and the Sun trailing by 13. She hit two 3s, and Bonner added a third, in a 16-3 spurt that cut the deficit to 91-89 with 1:39 left but they got no closer. It was Gemelos’ first appearance in a WNBA game since Sept 13, 2015, a span of 1,780 days.
Storm 90, Lynx 66
Breanna Stewart had 18 points and 10 rebounds and Seattle beat Minnesota to spoil a record-breaking night by Sylvia Fowles.
Fowles, who went into the game needing seven rebounds to become the WNBA’s all-time leader, grabbed a missed 3-point shot by Stewart in the closing seconds of the first half to move past former teammate and current Lynx assistant coach Rebekkah Brunson into first on the career rebounds list with 3,357. Damiris Dantas led Minnesota (1-1) with 18 points. Fowles finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Rachel Banham made a 3 to trim Minnesota’s deficit to 48-45 about four minutes into the third but was called for a technical foul several seconds later. Jewell Loyd hit the ensuing free throw, sparking a 15-2 run that gave Seattle (2-0) a 16-point lead with two minutes left in the period. The Lynx trailed by double figures the rest of the way.
Sky 96, Sparks 78
Kahleah Copper and Azura Stevens had 21 points apiece and the Chicago Sky beat the Los Angeles Sparks 96-78.
Cheyenne Parker added 12 points and Allie Quigley, Courtney Vandersloot and Gabby Williams scored 11 apiece for Chicago (2-0). Vandersloot finished with 10 assists. Stevens and Copper each grabbed a career-high nine rebounds. Brittney Sykes led the Sparks (1-1) with 16 points.
Parker and Williams made backto-back 3-pointers to give Chicago a 40-36 halftime lead and then the sky scored 15 of the first 17 third-quarter points, pushing their lead to 17 when Vandersloot made a two free throws midway through the period.
Sydney Wiese hit two 3s in an 11-0 run that cut LA’s deficit to 66-57 early in the fourth quarter, but Chicago answered with a 10-2 spurt – including six points by Copper – and the Sparks trailed by double figures the rest of the way.