Griner scores 17 points as Mercury beat Wings
ARLINGTON, Texas — Brittney Griner had 17 points and eight rebounds, DeWanna Bonner added
14 points, and the Phoenix Mercury beat the Dallas Wings 70-66 on Saturday night.
Leilani Mitchell added 13 points and hit three free throws with 19.9 seconds left to give the Mercury (98) a 67-63 lead. Bonner split a pair of free throws with
14.2 seconds left and Griner made two foul shots with
8.5 seconds left to seal the victory.
The Wings (5-14) had a brief rally late after missing their first 13 field-goal attempts of the fourth quarter and falling behind 62-56. Glory Johnson broke the field-goal drought with a driving layup and Theresa Plaisance followed with a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to one with 1:28 left.
Kayla Thornton had 16 points, Johnson added 15 and Plaisance scored 10 for Dallas.
The Mercury beat the Wings 69-64 in Phoenix on Wednesday.
Liberty 83, Sparks 78
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Rookie Marine Johannes scored 17 points, making all six of her shots, to lead New York past Los Angeles.
New York’s bench scored 43 points, led by rookie Marine Johannes with 17, in the Liberty’s 83-78 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks on Saturday.
Johannes hit all six of her field goal attempts, including four 3-pointers, in her third game with New York. She missed the first part of the season helping France reach the Olympic qualifiers.
“She’s a scorer. We need production,” Smith said. “We need that to happen. We need those in the ballgame to impact the game and give a max effort. “
The victory ended a three-game skid for New York (8-10).
“Our defense was better than we did the last three games,” Smith said. “Really pleased, we got a lot of contributions from a lot of people, pleased we got out of here with a win.”
Johannes helped New York build a seven-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. The Sparks rallied behind Chelsea Gray and Chiney Ogwumike to get to 79-78 with 17.4 seconds left. Tina Charles hit two free throws to make it a three-point game.
The Sparks (10-8) had one last chance, but Gray’s
3 from the top of the key was short after she shook off defender Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe to get an open look with 9.4 seconds left.
Charles hit two more free throws to seal the win. “We kept putting them at the line and they got some buckets. We got good looks down the stretch in the fourth. Maybe in another game we’ll convert them,” said Chelsea Gray, who had 19 points and five steals for Los Angeles.
Nneka Ogwumike had 20 points and 12 rebounds to lead Los Angeles.
The game got off to a slow start as both teams struggled to score. The Liberty bench provided a spark, scoring 11 points in the opening period to help New York take a 19-12 lead. The Liberty led 44-37 at the half. Johannes had 11 of her 13 points in the second quarter. She dazzled the crowd with a trio of 3-pointers, including one just before the end of half as the shot clock was winding down. The 24-year-old made all five of her shots in the first half.