WNBA ROUNDUP
Tina Charles scored 25 points, Sugar Rodgers made two free throws with 11.2 seconds left and the New York Liberty beat the Indiana Fever 85-84 on Friday night in Indianapolis.
Charles drew a double team in the paint and found Bria Hartley for an open 3-pointer with 1:19 left to give New York an 83-82 lead. After empty possessions at both ends, Indiana’s Erica Wheeler had a layup blocked out of bounds by Kiah Stokes and Candice Dupree missed a baseline jumper.
After Rodgers’ free throws, Natalie Achonwa made a layup with three seconds left but New York’s Epiphanny Prince ran out the clock.
Hartley added 17 points for New York (11-10) and Shavonte Zellous had 11.
New York went on an 18-4 run in the third quarter, getting to 64-63 on Hartley’s fast-break layup.
Achonwa led Indiana (8-15) with 19 points. Dupree and Tiffany Mitchell each had 14. Sylvia Fowles had 29 points and eight rebounds to help Minnesota beat Atlanta. Fowles was 11 of 15 from the floor and 7 of 10 at the line. Minnesota was ahead 42-28 with 4:03 left in the second quarter, but Atlanta closed the half on a 13-3 run to pull to 45-41. Minnesota extended a 67-59 lead by going on a 10-0 run, with six points from reserve Natasha Howard. Maya Moore added 17 points for Minnesota (182), and Seimone Augustus had 14 points and 10 assists for her second career double-double. The Lynx had 30 assists on 37 field goals, and shot 56 percent. Tiffany Hayes scored 25 points for Atlanta (1012). Brittney Sykes added 13 points and Sancho Lyttle became the leading rebounder in Dream history.
Candace Parker had 11 points, 17 rebounds and 11 assists to become the sixth WNBA player with a triple-double as Los Angeles beat the San Antonio. This week, Atlanta’s Layshia Clarendon had a triple-double rescinded after two of her assists were later taken away in a league review. Parker is the first to accomplish the feat since Temeka Johnson on July 24, 2014.
Odyssey Sims led Los Angeles (16-6) with a season-high 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting. Jantel Lavender added 18 points.
Lavender made a 3-pointer on two straight possessions to extend Los Angeles’ lead to 66-54 early in the fourth quarter. San Antonio pulled to 75-70 with 4:05 to go but the Stars went scoreless for three-plus minutes and trailed 85-70.
Kayla McBride scored 18 of her 20 points in the second half for San Antonio (3-20).
The Stars closed the first half on a 12-0 run to pull to 39-35.
Camille Little scored 19 points, Cayla George had career highs of 14 points and 14 rebounds, and Phoenix beat Chicago.
Monique Currie scored 10 of her 18 points at the free throw line for Phoenix (12-10).