Seattle sweeps Washington
Breanna Stewart had 21 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, Sue Bird added season highs of 18 points and 10 assists, and the Seattle Storm beat the Washington Mystics 97-84 on Sunday to sweep their openinground series.
No. 4 seed Seattle plays top-seeded Las Vegas in the second round. The best-offive series begins Sunday in Las Vegas.
Jewell Loyd was five for 10 from three-point range and finished with 19 points for the Storm. Gabby Williams, who suffered a concussion in the third quarter and did not return, scored 14 points and Tina Charles added 10.
Ariel Atkins hit a threepointer 13 seconds into the third quarter to give the Mystics a 46-45 lead, but Stewart answered with a three and Seattle never again trailed. Stewart made a fadeaway jumper to stretch the Storm’s lead to 17 with six minutes to play.
Natasha Cloud made five of eight from three-point range and finished with 21 points for Washington. Atkins added 15 points and seven assists, Elena Delle Donne and Shatori WalkerKimbrough scored 12 points apiece, and Alysha Clark had 10.
The Storm made 35 of 63 from the field, shot 12 for 23 from three-point range, finished with 27 assists and committed a season-low eight turnovers.
Dallas 89, at Connecticut 79: Kayla Thornton scored 20 points and Teaira McCowan had 17 points and 11 rebounds to help the Wings win Game 2 of the best-of-three series and avoid elimination. Game 3 is Wednesday in Dallas.
The sixth-seeded Wings never trailed in winning the franchise’s first playoff game since 2009. They led by double digits for the final 26-plus minutes, despite a 22-2 fourth-quarter run that trimmed a 31-point Sun deficit to 84-73 with less than two minutes left. Jonquel Jones had 20 points and nine rebounds for third-seeded Connecticut and Brionna Jones also scored 20. DiJonai Carrington added 14 points.