Powers' career night carries Lynx to double-OT victory over Mercury

Aerial Powers had career highs of 35 points and 12 rebounds, Rachel Banham added season highs of 25 points and seven assists, and the Minnesota Lynx beat the Phoenix Mercury 118-107 in two overtimes on Tuesday night in Minneapolis, Minn.

Kayla McBride was nine of nine from the free throw line and finished with 17 points for Minnesota (9-15). Sylvia Fowles had 14 points and 14 rebounds, and Jessica Shepard added 13 points, 12 rebounds and two steals.

McBride made two free throws to give the Lynx a 103-101 lead with 2.1 seconds left in the first overtime. After a timeout, Skylar Diggins-Smith made a driving layup to force a second OT.

Powers made a layup and Banham hit her sixth and final three-pointer to make it 108-103 with 3:37 to play as Minnesota finally pulled away.

Sophie Cunningham scored 36 points, hit six three-pointers and had five steals — all career highs — for Phoenix (10-15). Diggins-Smith added a season-high 32 points and 10 assists, and Diana Taurasi scored 17 points.

Taurasi, who shot five of 17 from behind the arc and five of 23 overall, drove to the basket and initiated contact with Fowles, then attempted a fadeaway as she kicked her right leg into Fowles' midsection. No foul was called but, after Powers secured the rebound, the Lynx called a timeout with Fowles in obvious pain and 33 seconds to play.

Powers muscled her way into the lane for a layup and Banham made a free throw to give the Lynx an 89-86 lead, but Cunningham hit a second-chance three with 4.0 seconds left to force overtime.

Delle Donne's 26 lifts Mystics past Sparks

Elena Delle Donne tied her season high with 26 points, making four three-pointers and shooting 10 for 14 overall, and Natasha Cloud added a season-best 21 points and nine assists to lead the Washington Mystics to a 94-81 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks on Tuesday night in Los Angeles.

Cloud was six of 10 from the field, three of four from three-point range and six of six from the free throw line. Shatori Walker-Kimbrough scored 12 points and Ariel Atkins added 10 for Washington (15-10).

Katie Lou Samuelson made a layup to open the scoring but Delle Donne answered with a three-pointer 13 seconds later and the Mystics led the rest of the way.

Samuelson and Brittney Sykes led Los Angeles (10-13) with 16 points apiece. Kristi Tolliver scored 12 points and Chiney Ogwumike finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Nneka Ogwumike (non-COVID illness) did not play for the Sparks.

Parker's big night leads Sky to win

Candace Parker had 31 points and 11 rebounds, Kahleah Copper scored 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting and the Chicago Sky pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the Atlanta Dream 90-75 on Tuesday night in Chicago.

Emma Meesseman added 10 points, six rebounds and a season-high eight assists for Chicago (17-6).

Aari McDonald hit a three-pointer that gave the Dream a 70-65 lead with 7:50 to play, but Chicago scored the next 15 points. Atlanta went scoreless for nearly five minutes and the Sky never trailed again. Meesseman either scored or assisted on 18 of Chicago's 30 fourth-quarter points.

Cheyenne Parker led Atlanta (10-13) with 14 points. McDonald and Tiffany Hayes scored 12 apiece and Nia Coffey added 11.

The Sky, who have won seven of their last eight games, shot 53 per cent overall, had 24 assists on 35 made field goals and forced 17 turnovers, including 11 Chicago steals.

Aces hold off Liberty comeback effort to earn close win

Kelsey Plum scored 27 points and A'ja Wilson added 23 to help the Las Vegas Aces beat the New York Liberty 107-101 on Tuesday night in New York.

Wilson also had 14 rebounds for the Aces.

The teams played last week before the all-star break and combined for the highest-scoring regulation game in WNBA history, with New York winning 116-107. This game nearly matched it.

New York couldn't get much closer. Plum and Wilson were too much in the final period, not allowing the lead to dip below seven until the final 90 seconds. The Aces made their first 24 free throw attempts before Plum missed one with 1:38 left.

Natasha Howard converted a three-point play with 1:26 remaining to get New York within 95-89.

Jackie Young then worked the shot clock down before hitting a pull-up jumper from the elbow to give the Aces some breathing room.

It nearly wasn't enough as Sabrina Ionescu got going. She hit two three-pointers and converted a three-point play in the final 49 seconds, but Las Vegas made all 10 of its free throws, including eight by Young to seal the win. The Aces finished 34 for 35 from the foul line.

Ionescu finished with 27 points and Howard added 20 for New York, which was 15 for 31 from behind the arc.

The game marked the first appearance of Becky Hammon in New York as coach of the Aces. Hammon spent the first eight years of her playing career in New York playing for the Liberty and is in the team's Ring of Honour. She received a warm ovation from the crowd when she was introduced pregame.

Hammon, who is fourth on New York's career scoring list, said before the game that she was close to taking the vacant Liberty coaching position this off-season, choosing instead to take the job in Las Vegas.

"I had multiple conversations with the Tsais," Hammon said, referring to the Liberty's owners. "They are hard people to say no to."

Hammon became the league's first million dollar coach when she accepted the Aces' offer.

The teams will meet again on Thursday in a matinee game.

Storm best Wings for 3rd straight win

Breanna Stewart scored 15 of her 19 points in the second half and Ezi Magbegor had 13 points to help the Seattle Storm beat the Dallas Wings 83-74 on Tuesday in Seattle.

Seattle (16-8) has won three games in a row and five of its last six, putting it in a virtual tie with the Las Vegas Aces (15-7) for second in the WNBA standings. That's a game behind the Chicago Sky, the defending league champions.

Seattle took the lead for good with 6:51 left in the third quarter following a sequence in which Stewart made a layup, a three-pointer and a short jumper in a 65-second span and then found Sue Bird for a drive-and-kick three.

Bird's three-pointer gave her 2,445 career field goals, the seventh-most in WNBA history, passing Cappie Pondexter.

Teaira McCowan led Dallas with 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked two shots. The rest of the team combined to shoot 32.8 per cent (19 of 58) from the field. Arike Ogunbowale made finished with 12 points, while Tyasha Harris tied her season-high with 10 points and Satou Sabally also scored 10.

Allisha Gray did not play (personal reasons) for Dallas (10-14). The Wings have lost four of their last five games.