Atkins, Delle Donne lead Mystics past Dream in new arena

WASHINGTON — Ariel Atkins scored 21 points, Elena Delle Donne added 18 in her season debut and the Washington Mystics coasted to a 96-75 victory over the Atlanta Dream on Saturday night.

The Mystics christened their new Entertainment and Sports Arena by shooting 57 percent, led by Delle Donne, who was 5 for 5 for 10 points in the first quarter to help built a 26-16 lead.

It was 52-35 at the half as Delle Donne, who missed the season opener with a sore left knee, was 7 for 7 and Washington shot 61 percent.

Atkins finished 8 of 11 from the field with four 3-pointers. Emma Messeman added 14 points for Washington (1-1).

Tiffany Hayes and Alex Bentley each had 11 points for Atlanta (1-2).

ATLANTA (75)

Breland 2-7 0-0 4, Hayes 5-7 0-1 11, Montgomery 3-7 1-2 8, Sykes 4-8 1-1 9, Williams 2-7 2-3 6, Bentley 4-13 2-2 11, Billings 2-4 2-2 6, Cazorla 1-4 1-2 3, Coffey 3-4 0-2 8, Gulich 4-10 1-2 9, Peters 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-71 10-17 75.

WASHINGTON (96)

Atkins 8-11 1-1 21, Cloud 2-8 0-0 4, Delle Donne 7-9 4-4 18, Sanders 1-2 0-0 2, Toliver 4-6 0-0 10, Hawkins 3-5 0-0 8, Hines-Allen 2-5 2-4 6, Meesseman 7-9 0-0 14, Mestdagh 1-3 0-0 3, Walker-Kimbrough 3-9 4-4 10. Totals 38-67 11-13 96.

Atlanta .............. 16 19 14 26 — 75 Washington ........ 26 26 27 17 — 96 3-Point Goals—Atlanta 5-21 (Coffey 2-2, Hayes 1-1, Montgomery 1-5, Bentley 1-6, Gulich 0-2, Cazorla 0-2, Sykes 0-3), Washington 9-25 (Atkins 4-7, Toliver 2-3, Hawkins 2-3, Mestdagh 1-2, Meesseman 0-1, Hines-Allen 0-1, Delle Donne 0-1, Walker-Kimbrough 0-3, Cloud 0-4). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Atlanta 28 (Breland 7), Washington 35 (Hines-Allen 8). Assists—Atlanta 9 (Bentley 4), Washington 27 (Toliver 5). Total Fouls—Atlanta 19, Washington 22. Technicals—Washington coach Mystics (Delay of game), Toliver. Attendance—4,200 (4,200).

FEVER 92, LIBERTY 77

INDIANAPOLIS — Kelsey Mitchell hit five 3-pointers and scored 23 points and Indiana handed New York its 15th straight loss.

The Fever (2-1) scored the first 11 points of the game and made 11 of 16 shots in the first quarter to lead 26-7. The Liberty (0-2) were 2 of 22 in the period. It was 45-29 at the half, the largest halftime lead for Indiana since leading the Liberty by 30 late in the 2016 season.

Indiana beat New York 81-80 in the season-opener last weekend.

Tina Charles, had 15 points for New York. She moved into 15th place on the WNBA’s career scoring list.

NEW YORK (77)

Boyd 0-3 0-0 0, Charles 6-17 3-4 15, Durr 4-12 3-3 12, Nurse 4-8 3-4 14, Zahui B 4-9 1-3 11, Allen 0-7 2-2 2, Bias 0-1 2-2 2, Gray 5-9 1-3 11, Hartley 0-6 3-4 3, Raincock-Ekunwe 0-0 0-0 0, Wright 0-0 0-0 0, Xu 3-3 0-0 7. Totals 26-75 18-25 77.

INDIANA (92)

Achonwa 3-3 1-1 7, Dupree 3-5 2-2 8, K.Mitchell 8-14 2-2 23, Laney 4-7 1-2 9, Wheeler 4-7 2-2 10, Burke 1-1 4-4 7, Kea 4-6 1-2 10, Mavunga 1-4 0-0 2, McCall 1-4 0-0 2, McCowan 1-3 1-2 3, T.Mitchell 4-11 3-5 11. Totals 34-65 17-22 92.

New York ............. 7 22 21 27 — 77 Indiana ............. 26 19 28 19 — 92 3-Point Goals—New York 7-24 (Nurse 3-7, Zahui B 2-6, Xu 1-1, Durr 1-3, Boyd 0-1, Bias 0-1, Hartley 0-2, Allen 0-3), Indiana 7-16 (K.Mitchell 5-7, Kea 1-1, Burke 1-1, Wheeler 0-1, Laney 0-2, T.Mitchell 0-4). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—New York 39 (Gray 9), Indiana 31 (McCowan 6). Assists—New York 19 (Boyd 6), Indiana 19 (Wheeler 6). Total Fouls—New York 22, Indiana 19. Technicals—Indiana coach Fever (Defensive three second) 2, Achonwa. Attendance—5,003 (20,000).

SKY 83, STORM 79

CHICAGO — Allie Quigley scored 25 points, Diamond DeShields added 21 and the Chicago Sky beat the defending champion Seattle Storm.

In the last two minutes, Quigley scored twice to tie it before Courtney Vandersloot scored the final four points to give the Sky (1-1) the victory. It was a great finish for Quigley and Vandersloot, who were married after last season, in Chicago’s home opener on the first day of Pride Month.

Natasha Howard’s putback gave Seattle a 77-75 lead with 2:04 to play but Quigley answered with a floater. The Storm, playing their third road game in four nights, regained the lead on Crystal Langhorne’s layup. Quigley’s jumper tied it at the 1:17 mark.

After a Storm miss, Vandersloot hit a pullup jumper for an 81-79 Chicago lead. She grabbed a rebound after another Seattle miss and made it a two-possession game with a layup with 14.6 remaining.

The Storm missed a pair of 3-pointers before Vandersloot, who had 11 assists and 10 points, grabbed her eighth rebound to clinch it.

Quigley and DeShields, who was scoreless in Chicago’s season-opening loss, combined to go 20 of 31 from the floor with five 3s.

Howard scored 21 points and Jewell Loyd had 17 for the Storm (2-2). SEATTLE (79)

Canada 4-13 2-2 11, Langhorne 1-5 0-0 2, Loyd 7-20 0-0 17, Mosqueda-Lewis 6-9 3-3 16, N.Howard 9-16 3-4 21, A.Howard 1-3 0-0 2, Russell 2-4 1-2 5, Whitcomb 1-8 0-0 3, Zellous 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 31-79 11-13 79.

CHICAGO (83)

DeShields 9-14 1-1 21, Dolson 3-8 0-0 6, Lavender 4-8 0-0 8, Quigley 11-17 0-0 25, Vandersloot 3-6 3-4 10, Copper 2-6 0-0 4, Ndour 3-3 0-0 7, Parker 1-4 0-0 2, Williams 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 36-70 4-5 83. Seattle .............. 25 21 18 15 — 79 Chicago ............. 28 20 19 16 — 83 3-Point Goals—Seattle 6-28 (Loyd 3-8, Mosqueda-Lewis 1-3, Canada 1-4, Whitcomb 1-7, A.Howard 0-1, Langhorne 0-1, N.Howard 0-4), Chicago 7-22 (Quigley 3-6, DeShields 2-5, Ndour 1-1, Vandersloot 1-2, Copper 0-1, Parker 0-1, Lavender 0-1, Dolson 0-2, Williams 0-3). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds— Seattle 35 (N.Howard 9), Chicago 37 (Vandersloot 8). Assists—Seattle 18 (Canada 6), Chicago 27 (Vandersloot 11). Total Fouls—Seattle 8, Chicago 12. Attendance—7,063 (10,387).