A'ja Wilson, Dearica Hamby's double-doubles power Aces to victory over Storm

A'ja Wilson and Dearica Hamby posted double-doubles and Kelsey Plum provided a spark in the fourth quarter to lead the Las Vegas Aces to an 85-74 victory over the Seattle Storm on Sunday night.

Wilson had 20 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks, while Hamby added 10 points and 19 rebounds. Plum scored 10 of her 18 points in the first four minutes of the final quarter. Her three-pointer with 8:48 remaining in the game gave Las Vegas (2-0) a 64-61 lead, and the Aces never trailed again.

Breanna Stewart had 21 points and eight rebounds for the Storm (1-1). Jewell Loyd added 19 points and Epiphanny Prince came off the bench to score 11 points in 10 minutes. Prince's three-pointer with 3.1 seconds left gave Seattle a 59-58 lead heading into the final quarter.

Jackie Young had 19 points for Las Vegas, and Chelsea Gray scored 12. Plum added seven assists.

Seattle shot just 30.8 per cent (12-of-39) in the first half, including four of 16 from three-point range, and trailed 39-33.

Cloud, Austin lift Mystics past Lynx

Natasha Cloud scored all 19 of her points in the first half, Shakira Austin had a double-double in her first career start and the Washington Mystics beat the Minnesota Lynx 78-66 on Sunday night.

Cloud added six rebounds and six assists. Austin, the No. 3 overall pick out of Ole Miss in last month's draft, had 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting and 10 rebounds. Ariel Atkins had 20 points and five assists and Myisha Hines-Allen added 11 points and eight boards. Shatori Walker-Kimbrough scored 10 points.

Jessica Shepard led Minnesota (0-2) with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Sylvia Fowles had 13 points and eight boards. Reserves Yvonne Turner finished with 11 points and Odyssey Sims added 10.

Cloud hit three three-pointers and had a three-point play to help Washington (2-0) grab a 24-19 lead after one quarter. Cloud scored five points in the first minute of the second period to push the lead to 10 points.

Austin moved into Elena Delle Donne's starting spot. Delle Donne, who had 21 points and nine rebounds in the Mystics' season-opening win over Indiana, sat out the second game. Delle Donne has undergone two surgeries for a herniated disk in the past year and had played just 52 minutes before this season since leading Washington to the WNBA title in 2019.

The Lynx shot just 22.6 per cent (7-of-31) in the first half, including one of seven from three-point range. The Mystics outscored Minnesota 21-4 in the second quarter to take a 47-23 lead into halftime.

Cambage leads Sparks to 2nd straight win

Liz Cambage had 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds, Brittney Sykes added 17 points and had five steals and the Los Angeles Sparks beat the Indiana Fever 87-77 on Sunday.

Nneka Ogwumike had 13 points, eight rebounds and three steals for Los Angeles (2-0), which won its first two games for the first time since 2018. Chennedy Carter had 12 points, five assists and two blocks, and Jordin Canada scored 10 points with five assists.

Indiana (0-2) tied the score three times from there, the last coming when Alanna Smith's layup made it 64-all with 7 minutes to play but Canada answered with a driving layup to ignite a 10-0 spurt and the Fever couldn't recover.

Destanni Henderson, the No. 20 overall selection in last month's draft, scored a season-high 19 points for Indiana. Kelsey Mitchell had 15 points and seven assists, NaLyssa Smith had 13 points and nine rebounds and Alanna Smith finished with 10 points.

The Sparks shot 47.9 per cent (34 of 71) overall — despite hitting just 1 of 10 from 3-point range — and made 18 of 20 from the free-throw line.

Indiana made 10 of 26 (38.5 per cent) from behind the arc but shot just 36.5 per cent (19 of 52) from two-point range.