Candace Parker leads Sky past Fever

Candace Parker had 20 points and 14 rebounds and Allie Quigley scored six of her 16 points in the final two minutes to help the Chicago Sky beat the Indiana Fever 83-79 on Saturday.

Quigley's 3-pointer with 1:50 left gave the Sky (4-7) the lead for good at 80-77. She made 1 of 2 free throws 19 seconds later and hit a jumper in the lane to cap the scoring with 49 seconds left.

Kahleah Copper added 14 points and Stefanie Dolson scored 11 points for Chicago.

Teaira McCowan had 20 points and 13 rebounds for the Fever (1-11). Kelsey Mitchell added 16 points, Lindsay Allen scored 12 and Tiffany Mitchell 10.

Indiana had a 10-2 run in the third quarter to erase most of its nine-point deficit from early in the period. The Sky's four-point margin of victory was the largest lead by either team during the fourth quarter.

Lynx cruise to victory over Sparks

Crystal Dangerfield was 4 of 5 from 3-point range and finished with 16 points and Minnesota beat the Los Angeles Sparks 80-64 on Saturday night, spoiling the return of Lynx great — and current Sparks assistant coach — Seimone Augustus.

Augustus made her return to Minnesota for the first time since announcing her retirement in May. The eight-time All-Star spent 14 of her 15 WNBA seasons with the Lynx, where she won four WNBA titles, before playing last season with the Sparks.

The first overall pick in the 2006 draft is Minnesota's all-time scoring leader with 5,881 points, and also ranks first in franchise history in regular season games played (370), games started (365) and minutes played (10,917).

Augustus retired 10th in league scoring with 6,005 points. She held career averages of 15.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists. She also earned three Olympic gold medals with team USA in 2008, 2012, and 2016.

Crystal Dangerfield made back-to-back 3-pointer in a tiebreaking 10-0 run to close the first quarter and open the second and her 3 with 10.2 seconds left in the second quarter made it 49-35 at halftime. The Lynx never again trailed.

L.A. used a 12-0 run to tie it at 54-all on a jumper by Te'a Cooper with 1:54 left in the third quarter and her 3-pointer less than a minute later made it 57-57, but Rachel Banham answered each time with a 3-pointer.

Cooper led the Sparks (4-5) with 17 points. Amanda Zahui B. added 15 points and eight rebounds and Kristi Toliver added 13 points and five assists.

L.A. shot just 32.9 per cent from 3-point range.

Minnesota's Aerial Powers, who returned from a five-game absence due a hamstring injury, appeared to have dislocated her thumb late in the first half. She finished the second quarter and played about five minutes in the third before leaving the game for good.

Chatham, Ont., native Bridget Carleton finished with four points, seven rebounds and two assists in 17 minutes for the Lynx. Fellow Canadian and Lynx teammate Natalie Achonwa (Guelph, Ont.) finished with two points, and one rebound in four minutes of play.

WATCH | Nurse's buzzer-beater and more from 2021 season:

What are the expectations for the Canadian Women’s team in Tokyo?

3 years ago

Duration 13:07

Vivek Jacob, Jevohn Shepherd, and Meghan McPeak discuss the WNBA’s #WearOrange initiative, Kia Nurse’s emergence with the Phoenix Mercury, and Team Canada’s lofty expectations heading into the Olympics.