Sports

Aliyah Boston stuffs the stat sheet to help propel Fever over Mystics

Rookie Aliyah Boston had 23 points, 14 rebounds and six assists and the Indiana Fever beat the Washington Mystics 87-66 on Tuesday night for their first home victory of the season.

Storm top Mercury; Gray, Jones lead Dream to victory over Liberty

A close-up of a women's basketball player.
Indiana Fever forward Aliyah Boston scored 23 points in an 87-66 win over the Washington Mystics on Tuesday night. (Abbie Parr/AP Photo/File)

Rookie Aliyah Boston had 23 points, 14 rebounds and six assists and the Indiana Fever beat the Washington Mystics 87-66 on Tuesday night for their first home victory of the season.

Indiana snapped a six-game losing streak against Washington — with its first double-digit victory since 2021.

The Fever trailed 45-41 early in the third quarter before scoring 18 of the next 20 points to take control at 59-47.

Kelsey Mitchell added 19 points and NaLyssa Smith, who scored a career-high 27 points on Sunday, had eight points for Indiana (3-6). Boston was 11 of 14 from the field to became the youngest player in WNBA history with a game of 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists while shooting 75 per cent, according to ESPN Stats & Info.

Mitchell moved into second place on Indiana's all-time scoring list, passing Katie Douglas (2,564). Tamika Catchings holds the record with 7,380 points.

Elena Delle Donne was the lone double-digit scorer for Washington (5-4) with 17 points. The Mystics were held to 22-of-66 shooting (33 per cent).

Storm reign down 12 3-pointers on Mercury

Sami Whitcomb scored 18 points on six 3-pointers, Jewell Loyd added 17 points and the visiting Seattle Storm beat the Phoenix Mercury 83-69 on Tuesday night.

It was Seattle's first victory over Phoenix since Sept. 3, 2021 after getting swept in three matchups last season.

Seattle scored 12 of the opening 15 points and cruised to a 50-36 lead at halftime. The Mercury scored just 33 points in the second half.

Phoenix stars Brittney Griner and Diana Taurasi combined for just two points. Griner had two points and two rebounds in nine first-half minutes and did not play in the second half due to a hip injury. Taurasi was held scoreless for the first time since Aug. 2, 2022.

Ivana Dojkic added 14 points and rookie Jordan Horston had 13 points and 14 rebounds for Seattle (2-6), which secured its first road victory of the season. Kia Nurse of Hamilton, Ont., added eight points, five rebounds and three assists for the Storm.

Sophie Cunningham led Phoenix (2-6) with 21 points. Sug Sutton added 15 points and Michaela Onyenwere had 10 points.

Dream beat short-handed Liberty

Allisha Gray scored 16 points, rookie Haley Jones had 13 points and nine rebounds in her second start and the Atlanta Dream beat the short-handed Liberty 86-79 in New York on Tuesday night.

Gray was fouled far from the basket with 42.2 seconds left and made two free throws to give Atlanta an 84-79 lead. Marine Johannes had a 3-pointer rattle out for New York and Gray sealed it with two free throws at 35.4.

AD Durr also scored 13 points for Atlanta (3-5). Nia Coffey, Rhyne Howard and Monique Billings each added 12 points. Cheyenne Parker grabbed 11 rebounds to go with six points.

Jones sank a long jumper just before the third-quarter buzzer to tie it at 60-all. She added a three-point play early in the fourth to start a 9-0 run for a 74-63 lead.

New York (6-3) was without Sabrina Ionescu, who scored a career-high 37 points on Friday in a 106-83 victory over Atlanta.

Johannes scored a season-high 18 points for New York. Betnijah Laney added 17 points and Breanna Stewart had 12 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and four blocks. Jonquel Jones also scored 12 points and Courtney Vandersloot had 11 points, six rebounds and six assists.

Laney made a steal and raced the other way before getting fouled with 1:19 left. She made both free throws to pull New York within 80-77, but Billings answered with two free throws for a five-point lead.

With files from CBC Sports

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