Aces rally behind Wilson to defeat Fever and stay unbeaten

A’ja Wilson scored 27 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Candace Parker made two free throws with 24 seconds left and the Las Vegas Aces beat the Indiana Fever 84-80 Sunday to extend its franchise record for consecutive wins to open a season.

The Aces (6-0), who trailed by 10 points after Indiana’s Kelsey Mitchell hit a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter, closed the game on a 23-9 run.

Las Vegas used an 11-1 run capped by a Chelsea Gray’s three-point play that made it 72-all with 4:03 to play. Erica Wheeler answered with a layup and her 3 with 2:32 remaining gave the Fever a five-point lead but after Kelsey Plum scored inside for the Aces, Jackie Young made backto-back layups to make it 80-79.

Aliyah Boston tied it by making the second of two free throws for Indiana (14) with 47.1 to go, but Parker’s foul shots put the Aces in front.

Mitchell missed a layup with 15 seconds left and Las Vegas dribbled the clock down until Alysha Clark was fouled with 1.7 seconds left and hit two free throws to seal the game.

SKY 86, LIBERTY 82

Kahleah Copper scored 27 points and Courtney Williams added 12, including 10 in the fourth quarter, to help the Sky rally to beat the Liberty in the second meeting between the teams in three days.

The two teams played Friday night in Chicago, with the Liberty rallying for a one-point win on a shot by Breanna Stewart with 7.1 seconds left.

In this game, it was the Sky’s turn to rally. Down by 19 early in the third quarter, the Sky (4-3) pulled ahead for the first time in the game on Williams’ jumper with 4:24 left that made it 72-70. New York (4-2) could never regain the lead after that.

Stewart had 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead New York, which saw its four-game winning streak snapped.

SUN 80, WINGS 74

Dewanna Bonner scored 22 points, Brionna Jones added 21, and the Connecticut Sun held off a secondhalf rally by Dallas, defeating the Wings.

Leading 63-52 heading to the fourth quarter, the Sun held on although their lead was down to seven with seven minutes to go after Arike Ogunbowale hit a jumper for the Wings.

Jones hit a jumper to give the Sun a 74-65 lead at the two-minute mark and a jumper by the Wings’ Awak Kuier was the only made basket before the final minute in which the Sun went 6-for-6 at the foul line.

Alyssa Thomas had 13 points and 10 rebounds for Connecticut (6-1) and Tiffany Hayes added 17 points, six rebounds and four assists.

Satou Sabally had 26 points and 14 rebounds — both game highs — for Dallas (3-3).