Carter, Williams help Dream defeat Sun in WNBA bubble
BRADENTON, Florida, Sept 12, (AP): Rookie Chennedy Carter scored 22 points, Courtney Williams had 20 points and nine rebounds and the Atlanta Dream beat the Connecticut Sun 82-75 on Friday night.
Atlanta (7-14) entered a game behind eighth-place Dallas for the final playoff spot. Connecticut (1012) have already clinched a playoff spot, sitting in seventh.
Betnijah Laney had 14 points, 10 rebounds and four assists, and Monique Billings added 13 points and eight boards for Atlanta, who close the regular season Sunday aga ins t Washington.
DeWanna Bonner led Connecticut with 17 points and eight rebounds. Natisha Hiedeman and Kaila Charles each scored 13 points, and Alyssa Thomas had nine points and nine rebounds. The Sun’s next game will be in the playoffs.
Bonner scored 11 points in the first half, making all three of her shots from behind the arc, as the Sun held a 36-33 lead.
Storm 83, Mercury 60
Jordin Canada scored 13 points and Seattle routed Phoenix for their seventh victory in a row.
Phoenix (13-9) dropped into fifth in their regular-season finale.
Seattle led by 24 points at halftime and started the second half on a 14-0 run as Phoenix didn’t score for the first six-plus minutes. Canada scored 11 first-half points, Natasha Howard had 10 and Seattle led 50-26 at the break.
Breanna Stewart and Sue Bird did not play for Seattle.
Shatori Walker-Kimbrough scored 24 points to lead Phoenix. Diana Taurasi scored five points in 12 minutes.
Sky 95, Wings 88
Cheyenne Parker had 23 points and seven rebounds, Ruthy Hebard added 22 points and eight rebounds
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and Chicago beat Dallas, spoiling Arike Ogunbowale’s 38-point game.
Dallas (7-14) are tied with Atlanta for ninth place, a half-game behind Washington for the final playoff spot. The Wings will face New York to close the regular season Sunday. Sixth-seeded Chicago (1210) will face No. 7 Connecticut in the playoffs next week.
Courtney Vandersloot added 15 points, five rebounds and 12 assists for Chicago. Kahleah Copper had 12 points, six rebounds and five assists.
Vandersloot became the fifth player in WNBA history to reach 1,900 assists, joining Ticha Penicheiro, Sue Bird, Lindsay Whalen and Diana Taurasi. Vandersloot finished with 219 assists (9.95 per game) to set a single-season record for assists per game.