Storm’s Howard plays amid allegations

SEATTLE — Natasha Howard scored 14 points a day after abuse allegations were raised against her to help the Seattle Storm beat the New York Liberty 78-69 on Sunday.

The team says it is looking into allegations on social media that Howard physically threatened and abused her wife. No charges have been filed.

“We are in continued communication with the league and their investigation is now in progress,” the team said before the game in a statement confirming Howard would play.

Howard was not made available to the media before or after the game, and the team said she won’t comment on the allegations.

When asked about Howard’s performance amid the allegations, Seattle coach Dan Hughes said: “She’s an All-Star. I think that’s what that (performance) says.”

Howard was in her regular starting forward position, and there was no noticeable backlash from the 6,733 fans. She was the first of the five starters introduced, receiving the same loud round of applause as the other four starters. She scored 10 of her points during the first 6 1/2 minutes, and was cheered on all four baskets.

On Saturday, Howard’s wife posted a minute-long, expletive-filled video on Twitter from March in which she yelled at Howard about being threatened by the Storm forward. She also posted screen shots of conversations with Howard’s agent and the team’s general manager.

Howard, the 27-year-old former Florida State player, was selected to the All-Star Game for the first time in her career, being voted as a starter for the July 27 contest in Las Vegas.

This is the second domestic incident in the WNBA this season. Los Angeles Sparks guard Riquna Williams was arrested in April after authorities say she attacked her former girlfriend at a Florida home. Williams had her court hearing postponed last month and has been playing for the Sparks all season.

Crystal Langhorne came off the bench to lead Seattle (10-8) with 19 points, hitting a career-high four 3-pointers. Sami Whitcomb added 11 points.

The Storm, winning their second straight, scored the first six points and never trailed. They had 14 straight points in the second quarter to expand a 27-21 lead to 41-21. New York (7-10) cut it to 43-30 by halftime, closing the half with a 9-2 scoring surge.

Seattle put 16 straight points on the board during the third quarter to take a 27-point lead at 64-37.

Kia Nurse had 19 points to lead the Liberty. The have lost three in a row.

Lynx 75, Mercury 62

MINNEAPOLIS — Sylvia Fowles set a WNBA record with her 157th career double-double and Minnesota pulled away in the second half to beat Phoenix.

Fowles finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds for her fourth consecutive double-double and broke Lisa Leslie’s mark of 156 set from 1997-2009. Odyssey Sims led Minnesota (10-7) with 15 points and Napheesa Collier had 14 points, 11 rebounds and three steals. Danielle Robinson and Stephanie Talbot added 13 points apiece.

Fowles scored on a putback of a miss by Sims to make it 36-35 at halftime and the Lynx led the rest of the way. Yvonne Turner hit a 3-pointer to pull Phoenix (7-8) within three late in the third quarter but Fowles and Sims answered with backto-back layups, Collier converted a 3-point play to close the period before Robinson scored the first seven points of the fourth to make it 62-46 with 7 1/2 minutes to play.

DeWanna Bonner led the Mercury with 27 points and Brittney Griner scored 12. Diana Taurasi, who made her season debut on Friday night after recovering from offseason back surgery, did not play Sunday. She scored five points in 16 minutes Friday in a loss at Connecticut, but tweaked her back and was examined by the team’s trainer after the game.

Sparks 76, Dream 71, OT

ATLANTA — Riquna Williams scored 23 points, hitting five 3-pointers, and Nneka Ogwumike added 17 points and 15 rebounds to help Los Angeles beat Atlanta.

Kalani Brown, the No. 7 overall pick in April’s draft, tied her season-high with 12 points and Chelsea Gray added 10 points and nine assists for Los Angeles.

Atlanta used a 9-2 run to close regulation and open the extra period to take a 67-64 lead with three minutes to play. Elizabeth Williams made 1 of 2 free throws to open the scoring in overtime and give the Dream their first lead since late in the first half before Tiffany Hayes made a short floater to cap the spurt. Williams made back-toback 3-pointers to give the Sparks a three-point lead with 1:29 remaining and the Sparks led the rest of the way. Her steal with 31.3 seconds left, and Gray’s pull-up jumper 20 seconds later, sealed it for Los Angeles.

Hayes led the Dream with 24 points, including a driving layup with a second left in regulation that forced OT. Alex Bentley scored 12 points and Monique Billings added nine points and a career-best 16 rebounds.

The Dream made just 2 of 19 (10.5 from 3-point range.

The Sparks have won five of their last six games.

SKY 89, WINGS 79

ARLINGTON, Texas — Diamond DeShields had a season-high 26 points, matching her career high with five 3-pointers, and Allie Quigley scored eight of her 12 points in the decisive third quarter in Chicago’s victory over Dallas.

Jantel Lavender had 16 points, and Courtney Vandersloot added eight points and eight assists for the Sky.

Quigley hit a 3-pointer to give Chicago (9-8) the lead for good and spark a 21-5 run that made it 71-57 with 30 seconds left in the third quarter. The Sky led by at least seven the rest of the way.

Cheyenne Parker’s layup gave the Sky a 10-point lead with 6:49 left in the second quarter but Dallas (5-11) scored 18 of the next 20 points during a 24-7 spurt to take a 46-41 lead into halftime. The Sky went 0 for 6 from the field and committed three turnovers during that span.

Arike Ogunbowale led the Wings with 20 points, and Isabelle Harrison had 15.

Chicago shot 50.8% from the field, including a season-high 55% (11 of 20) from 3-point range.

Dallas has lost four of its last five games.

Sun 76, Fever 63

INDIANAPOLIS — Jonquel Jones had 16 points, eight rebounds, three steals and three blocks and Connecticut beat Indiana to snap a four-game road losing streak.

Jasmine Thomas added 14 points and Shekinna Stricklen scored 12 points, hitting four 3-pointers, for the Sun.

Jones made a driving layup to spark a 9-1 run that gave Connecticut (11-6) a 22-15 lead when Morgan Tuck capped the spurt with a layup early in the second quarter and the Sun led the rest of the way. Natalie Achonwa converted a 3-point play to pulled the Fever within three points midway through the third quarter but Jones and Stricklen answered with back-to-back 3-pointers to spark an 18-1 run over the next five minutes and Indiana (6-12) trailed by at least nine the rest of the way.

Kelsey Mitchell led the Fever with 14 points. Indiana, which has lost three in a row and seven of its last eight, was 0-for-16 shooting from 3-point range. The Fever came into the game ranked third in the WNBA in 3-point field-goal percentage at .354.