Chicago ties franchise record with 24 ‘regular-season’ wins
CHICAGO, Aug 6, (AP): Kahleah Copper scored 19 points, Allie Quigley added 18 points and the Chicago Sky beat the shorthanded Washington Mystics 93-83 on Friday night.
Chicago (24-8) tied a franchise record for most regular-season wins, last done by the 2013 team. The Sky have a two-game lead over second-place Las Vegas with four games to play. Chicago plays at Las Vegas on Thursday.
Rebekah Gardner and Azura Stevens each added 11 points for Chicago (24-8). Stevens also had six rebounds and five blocks. Emma Meesseman and Courtney Vandersloot each scored 10 points, and Candace Parker added nine.
Chicago dominated the first half, taking a 55-34 lead into the intermission.
Myisha Hines-Allen, who was in the starting lineup with Elena Delle Donne out on a rest day, scored 21 points to lead Washington (20-13). Shakira Austin added 17 points and Evina Westbrook scored 10.
Cheyenne Parker drove the baseline and made a go-ahead layup with 0.3 seconds left to lift the Atlanta Dream past the Los Angeles Sparks 88-86.
Los Angeles called a timeout after Parker’s make and Nneka Ogwumike sank a shot from the baseline but it was ruled after the buzzer. Officials reviewed the play and confirmed the ball was in Ogwumike’s hands when the buzzer sounded.
Rhyne Howard scored 28 points, reaching 20-plus points for the 10th time this season, for Atlanta (14-18). Parker finished with 15 points, and Aari McDonald and Maya Caldwell each scored 12.
Brittney Sykes scored 23 points and Ogwumike added 16 for Los Angeles (12-20), which has lost six straight games. Ogwumike moved past Angel McCoughtry for 17th in WNBA history with 2,021 made field goals.
Ogwumike tied it at 83 on a basket in traffic, but McDonald completed a threepoint play at the other end to give Atlanta the lead. After misses by both teams, Los Angeles forward Katie Lou Samuelson got her defender in the air with a ball fake and sank a 3-pointer to tie it at 86 with 3.2 left.
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Now that a bit of time has passed, Sue Bird knows she made the right decision announcing publicly what she knew inside that this would be her last season.
But the emotions that are likely to come when she plays what could be her final game in Seattle? Bird has no idea what that’ll be like.
“I’m looking forward to it. That’s for sure,” she said. “I know it’s going to be a really special day. Am I ready for it? I guess we’ll see. It’s gonna be a lot, in all the good ways.”
Bird will play the final regular-season home game of her career on Sunday when the Seattle Storm host the Las Vegas Aces. The Storm have clinched a playoff spot, but with the WNBA’s new playoff format, there’s no guarantee the Storm will end up with a home game in the first round.
Seattle is currently the No. 4 seed ahead of Washington with a week left in the regular season.
So in case the Storm don’t end up seeing their home floor again in the playoffs, Sunday is the day Bird gets feted for her remarkable career. Members of Seattle’s previous championships teams are expected to be in attendance. There will be a pregame ceremony. And the largest crowd in Storm history - more than 18,000 at Climate Pledge Arena - is expected.