Liberty hold off Sky for second straight win

(TSX / STATS) -- Shavonte Zellous hit a pair of free throws with 2.9 seconds left to help shut down a late Chicago Sky rally as the New York Liberty claimed an 86-82 WNBA victory on Sunday at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill.

New York (12-10) has won two straight and four if its last five as Tina Charles shook off a slow first half to close with a team-high 15 points and 12 rebounds. Sugar Rodgers scored 14, Epiphanny Prince added 12 and Kiah Stokes and Zellous each added 10.

Allie Quigley scored a game-high 22 points for Chicago (8-16), which has lost three straight.

Jessica Breland had 13 points and 10 rebounds, Courtney Vandersloot scored 12 points and Stefanie Dolson added 11 for the Sky.

The Sky led 24-20 after one quarter as Quigley hit 3 of 4 3-pointers and scored 13 points.

But the Liberty opened the second quarter with 10 unanswered points to grab the lead en route to a 46-39 halftime advantage despite just five points from Charles.

New York maintained a 72-66 edge after three quarters and never trailed in the fourth.

Chicago was without two players for Sunday's game. Center Imani Boyette was out with an ankle injury. Keisha Hampton was initially cleared to play, but was pulled prior to the game due to a knee injury.

New York continues a five-game road trip on Tuesday at San Antonio and wraps up on Friday at Los Angeles before returning home for an Aug. 8 game against Indiana.

Chicago is at Indiana on Friday and hosts Atlanta on Saturday.

Currie, Mercury charge past Stars

(TSX / STATS) -- Phoenix wing Monique Currie scored 20 points against her old team, guard Diana Taurasi added 13 points, and the Mercury completed a season sweep of the San Antonio Stars with an 81-64 victory on Sunday at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix.

Currie, acquired in a trade in late June, came off the bench to help pick up the scoring slack for injured center Brittney Griner. Currie made 4 of 7 3-point shots for Phoenix (13-10), which won all three games this season against the last-place Stars (3-21).

Taurasi hit 3 of 6 shots from behind the arc, and she tied for the team high with six rebounds. Point guard Danielle Robinson has 10 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals.

San Antonio guard Shay Murphy came off the bench for a team-high 14 points. Starting guard Kayla McBride added 13 for the Stars, who never got closer than 14 points in the fourth quarter. Center Isabelle Harrison was a bright spot, producing 10 points and 13 rebounds.

Although the Stars had a plus-13 rebounding margin, they were chasing the Mercury most of the game because of poor shooting. They hit 22 of 65 shots from the field, 33.8 percent. Phoenix made 26 of 64 shots, 40.6 percent.

The Mercury brought in Currie -- who played in Phoenix during the 2015 season -- to complement the scoring of Taurasi and Griner, who is likely out until at least mid-August with knee and ankle injuries. Currie has scored 38 points in the Mercury's two-game winning streak.

Currie hit a 3-pointer as part of a 7-0 run that gave the Mercury a 17-6 lead in the first quarter. Phoenix led by as many as 14 points before settling for a 42-35 halftime advantage.

The third quarter was decisive as the Stars -- the lowest-scoring team in the WNBA at 74.1 points per game entering Sunday -- were held to 10 points. Phoenix guard Yvonne Turner hit a 3-point shot late in the period for a 63-45 lead.

Phoenix starts a three-game road trip Friday at the Connecticut Sun. San Antonio begins a three-game homestand Tuesday against the New York Liberty.

Parker, Ogwumike help Sparks overcome Wings

(TSX / STATS) -- Candace Parker poured in 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Nneka Ogwumike added 22 points as the Los Angeles Sparks found their stride at the end of the third quarter and rolled to a 95-74 victory over the Dallas Wings on Sunday afternoon at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Parker followed up the sixth triple-double in WNBA history with her seventh double-double of the season in leading the Sparks (17-6) to their third straight victory. Chelsey Gray added 16 points for Los Angeles and Alana Beard hit for 13 points.

The Wings (11-14) were led by Aerial Powers' 23 points while Allisha Gray added 16, Skylar Diggins-Smith scored 14 and Glory Johnson tallied 10 for Dallas.

Los Angeles outshot Dallas 56.3-28.8 percent but the Wings stayed within shouting distance through the first 28 minutes thanks to a 30-12 advantage in made free throws.

Los Angeles led by as many as 16 in the first half and settled for a 49-42 advantage at halftime as Parker scored 17 points (7-of-8 shooting from the floor) and Ogwumike had 14 (6-for-6).

Dallas shot only 29.4 percent in the first half but stayed in the game thanks to 14 points from Powers and 11 by Gray and by taking 21 free throws and making 19 over the first 20 minutes.

The Wings were within 61-53 after three Diggins-Smith free throws with 5:14 to play in the third quarter before Los Angeles pulled away. The Sparks scored 12 of the final 14 points in the period to assume a 79-60 lead with a quarter to play.

The teams return to action Friday as Los Angeles hosts Los Angeles and Dallas entertains Seattle.

Meesseman's 30 lead Mystics past Dream

(TSX / STATS) -- Emma Meesseman dominated in the post, and Kristi Toliver hit five 3-pointers to fuel the Washington Mystics' 77-70 win over the host Atlanta Dream on Sunday at McCamish Pavilion.

Meeseeman finished with a career-high 30 points, scoring on an array of post moves, and Toliver added 19 points for the Mystics, who won their third straight game.

The Mystics came back from a 21-point deficit to beat the Dream in overtime on July 19. Tolliver hit seven 3-pointers and scored 29 points in that win. She was at it again Sunday and connected on four 3-pointers in the first half, as Washington took command.

Toliver and Meesseman each scored 14 points in the first half, and the Mystics led 44-29 at halftime.

Atlanta opened the second half with an 18-9 spurt and cut the Mystics' lead to 53-45 on a layup from Bria Holmes with five minutes left in the third quarter. Toliver answered with a 3-pointer, though, and the Mystics took a 68-56 lead into the fourth quarter.

Atlanta trimmed the lead to seven multiple times in the fourth quarter and had chances to get even closer, but Washington answered every challenge down the stretch to seal the win.

Atlanta forward Elizabeth Williams scored 18 points, and point guard Layshia Clarendon recorded her third double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 assists to lead the Dream, who have lost three of four.

Rookie guard Brittany Sykes finished with 14 points, while Atlanta's leading scorer, Tiffany Haynes, was limited to just three points on one-of-six shooting.

The Mystics outrebounded the Dream 47-32. Krystal Thomas had 12 rebounds for Washington.

Washington returns home to host the San Antonio Stars on Friday.

Things don't get any easier for the Dream, as they head to Minnesota to take on the powerful Lynx on Thursday. Minnesota owns the league's best record at 18-2.

Sun cruise past fever

(TSX / STATS) -- Jasmine Thomas led five players in double figures with 15 points and the Connecticut Sun never trailed, cruising to an 89-73 home victory over the Indiana Fever on Sunday.

The Sun, in first place in the Eastern Conference and third overall in the playoff standings, improved to 14-9 with their seventh home win in their last eight games at Mohegan Sun Arena -- where they lost the first two home games of the season.

This win opened a four-game homestand for Connecticut.

Overall, the Sun improved to 13-4 since starting what was supposed to be a rebuilding season with five losses in the first six games.

The Sun, who were tied only at 2-2, built a 27-8 lead with 1:39 left in the first quarter and never looked back.

Jonquel Jones posted a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds, adding three blocked shots and two steals in the Sun's second win in three tries against the Fever. She had to log just 23:50 and was a plus-33 in the easy win.

Alyssa Thomas (plus-32) also scored 14 points, adding eight assists, five rebounds and four steals, while Alex Bentley had 11 points, four assists and three rebounds off the bench and Courtney Williams scored 10 points and grabbed six boards. Jasmine Thomas, who was a game-high plus-35) added four assists in the balanced attack.

Erica Wheeler and Jazmon Gwathney led the fading Fever (8-16 but losers of nine of their 10 July games) with 13 points apiece, while Jennifer Hamson had 11 points and five rebounds and Tiffany Mitchell 10 points in the loss.

The Sun went 8-for-21 from 3-point range and won the rebounding battle 39-30.

The Fever go home for their next two games, hosting the Chicago Sky and Minnesota Lynx Friday and Sunday while the Sun welcome former UConn star Diana Taurasi and her Phoenix Mercury on Friday night.

Storm outside of playoff spot as Wings visit

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(TSX / STATS) -- The Seattle Storm hope to set the tone before heading out on a difficult stretch of road games when the Dallas Wings visit Seattle's KeyArena on Friday for a showdown between two teams in need of strong finishes to stay in the playoff hunt.

The Storm (9-12) sit in ninth place in the league standings after suffering a 68-60 road loss to the Los Angeles Sparks on Tuesday. The top eight teams qualify for the playoffs. The regular season ends the first week of September.

After Friday's game against the Wings, Seattle's next four contests are on the road, including stops at first-place Minnesota and third-place Connecticut.

"There's always a sense of urgency in the WNBA because the season is so condensed," forward Alysha Clark told the Seattle Times early in the week. "We had a lot of games in this first half that were close and we didn't finish them for whatever reasons. Coming back after the break, a focus for us is finishing games."

The Wings are in seventh place in the league standings and are coming off an 84-82 win over the Indiana Fever on Tuesday. Dallas guard Skylar Diggins-Smith scored 21 points, her sixth straight 20-plus-point performance.

Diggins-Smith was held to just 13 points in an 89-69 blowout loss to the Storm on July 1 in Dallas. The Wings made just 1 of 17 3-point attempts and had no answer for Seattle forward Breanna Stewart, who poured in 30 points. The Storm have won the last two meetings with the Wings.

The Wings received a boost from the return of second-year guard Aerial Powers, who missed the first 22 games of the season with ankle injuries. Powers scored nine points in 18 minutes of action in Dallas' win over the Fever.

"It was like Christmas," Powers told the Dallas Morning News after the game. "When I stepped out there I was a little nervous and finally like, 'Yes. I'm back here. I'm on the court.'"

Dallas is 4-7 on the road this season, but did win at Seattle last July.

The teams will face each other again on Aug. 4 in Dallas.

Chicago looks to stay hot against Phoenix

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(TSX / STATS) -- The improving Chicago Sky hope to avoid a three-game series sweep when they host the slumping Phoenix Mercury on Friday at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill.

After going 3-12 over their first 15 games, the Sky are now 5-2 in their past seven despite an 83-72 loss at Connecticut on Tuesday.

"We were not playing clean defense, we fouled too much, gave up offensive rebounds and we just didn't bring the defensive intensity," Sky guard Allie Quigley said.

Chicago (8-14) climbed to within one point in the third quarter but couldn't overtake Connecticut, which then went on to a 22-7 run to secure the win.

Quigley tops the Sky and is 10th in WNBA scoring at 16.8 points per a game. Courtney Vandersloot leads the league in assists (7.1 per game), while Jessica Breland is tops on the team in rebounds, averaging six per game.

Phoenix (11-10) has lost four straight and sits fifth in the WNBA. The top eight teams make the playoffs.

The Mercury are coming off a 99-91 overtime loss at Atlanta and are still without league scoring leader Brittney Griner, who averaged 27.5 points against Chicago in two previous meetings. The Mercury beat the Sky 99-91 on June 2 and 86-78 on June 16.

Griner bruised a bone in her left knee and sprained a right ankle in mid-July. She could be out up to four weeks.

"No one can replace Brittney Griner," Phoenix coach Sandy Brondello said following the loss to the Dream. "We need all the post players to step up, no one in particular. We need the guards to step up because that's 22 points that we're missing. It's a team effort. All players have to step up to fill that hole."

Diana Taurasi, the WNBA's all-time scoring leader, has picked up the some of the slack in Griner's absence, producing a 32.5-point average in the past four games.

The Sky and Mercury are 8-8 in their past 16 meetings, and the Sky hold a 5-4 edge at Allstate Arena.

Chicago's days playing at the suburban arena are now numbered after the team announced this week that it would move back to Chicago with a five-year deal to play at Wintrust Arena near the McCormick Place exposition center starting in 2018.

The Sky played four seasons at the University of Illinois at Chicago Pavilion before moving to Allstate Arena in 2010.

Chicago continues a short homestand on Sunday, hosting the New York Liberty. Phoenix plays host to the San Antonio Stars on Sunday.

Sparks look to add to woes of Stars

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(TSX / STATS) -- Despite a roster with three of the best players in the WNBA and wearing the crown as defending league champions, the Los Angeles Sparks have not been nearly as dominating this season as last, mostly due to their struggle to close out close games.

That hasn't stopped Los Angeles from forging the second-best record in the league, a mark on which it will look to improve when it squares off against the hapless San Antonio Stars on Friday at the AT&T Center in San Antonio.

The Sparks head to the Alamo City on the heels of a 68-60 home win over Seattle on Tuesday in which Candace Parker scored 17 points -- 14 of them in the first half -- and pulled down 10 rebounds.

Los Angeles (15-6), which finished off a four-game homestand, put away a late Seattle charge as Nneka Ogwumike scored eight of her 13 points in the final 7:58 of the game and took 10 rebounds. Los Angeles also got 14 points from Jantel Lavender and 11 off the bench from Riquna Williams.

Los Angeles' bench outscored Seattle's reserves 25-2 in the game and 47-2 over the past two meeting between the two teams.

"We played very well defensively (in the win over Seattle)," Sparks coach Brian Agler said. "The other thing is that we got 13 offensive rebounds, which is a high for us this year, which gave us opportunities. I like that and the direction we're moving, so we'll see how it plays out."

San Antonio (3-19) is still the only team in the WNBA without consecutive victories this season and has gone since July 2015 (when they defeated Indiana and Atlanta in consecutive home games) without back-to-back wins.

The Stars' most recent game was also Tuesday, when they crawled out of the gate and fell behind by as many as 19 points before making a late-game surge that was not nearly enough in an 85-76 loss at home to the Washington Mystics.

Any chance San Antonio had against the Mystics was doomed early on when it scored just nine points -- a season low for any quarter this season -- in the opening period. The Stars had a 3 1/2-minute scoreless stretch in the period and then failed to score for the final 2:09 of the quarter.

"In the second, third and fourth quarters, we were very aggressive -- that was a team that I could recognize," Stars coach Vickie Johnson said. "But the first quarter was very bad for us."

Kelsey Plum hit for 15 points for the Stars (3-19), the third straight game the league's top draft pick has scored in double figures. Dearica Hamby also scored 15 points, Kayla McBride hit for 12 points and Alex Montgomery grabbed 11 rebounds for San Antonio.

"That's what I was brought here to do," Plum said. "To try to create, to be aggressive, to score and to look for my teammates -- especially when we're down and there's nothing to lose. You have to get in the game and bring something, so I was trying to bring a spark."

The two teams played in Los Angeles on June 15 with the Sparks garnering an 80-75 win that allowed them to extend their winning streak against San Antonio to nine games. Parker (20 points), Chelsea Gray (19) and Ogwumike (16) combined for 55 points in that victory while Moriah Jefferson led San Antonio with 24 points off the bench.

The Stars have not defeated Los Angeles since July, 8, 2015, but have a 19-19 overall home record against the Sparks.

Dream face tall task against Lynx

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(TSX / STATS) -- The Atlanta Dream is coming off the type of win -- a back-and-forth, come-from-behind overtime victory over the Phoenix Mercury on Tuesday -- that can spark a late-season surge.

Following it up with an upset of the powerful Minnesota Lynx in Atlanta on Friday would certainly get the league's attention.

The Lynx own the best record in the WNBA at 17-2 and have won four straight games. Guard Lindsay Whalen hit a double-clutch, turnaround jumper to help Minnesota pull out a 76-75 win over the New York Liberty on Tuesday.

"We were fortunate to win the game," Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve told reporters after the hard-fought victory.

The Dream (10-11) also got clutch play from their backcourt in the thrilling win over Phoenix. Atlanta trailed by as many as 18 points in the first half before rookie guard Brittany Sykes fueled a second-half rally.

Sykes finished with 20 points, including a layup with two seconds left to force overtime.

"She's a scorer; we utilized her ability to get to the basket," Dream coach Michael Cooper said. "I don't look at her as the rookie anymore. I look at her like a very good veteran. She's a confident young lady who could easily average between 20 and 25 points."

It was the third straight 20-point performance for Sykes, who is averaging 18.2 points since joining the starting lineup June 30.

Veteran point guard Layshia Clarendon also had a big game for the Dream, finishing with 15 points, nine assists and 10 rebounds. She was initially credited with 11 assists, which would have made her the sixth player in WNBA history to record a triple-double. However, after a league review, two of Clarendon's assists were rescinded due to a stat-keeper error.

While Cooper has praised his backcourt, he has been most pleased with the team's defense.

"One thing we're good at this year, as good as any team since I've been with the Dream, is our defense from sideline to sideline," Cooper said. "We're able to scramble, get to shooters, and get out there and contest shots."

The high-scoring Lynx, led by Whalen and Maya Moore, will test that defense. Minnesota has beaten the Dream six straight times and in nine out of the last 10 meetings overall.

Liberty, coming off tough loss, take on Fever

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(TSX / STATS) -- The New York Liberty will try to climb back above .500 when they visit the Indiana Fever on Friday night in Indianapolis.

New York (10-10) won two of its past three games but is coming off a one-point loss on the road to the Minnesota Lynx on Tuesday night. The contest against Indiana marks the Liberty's second game of a grueling five-game road trip that also features stops in Chicago, San Antonio and Los Angeles.

As the Liberty look to take another step forward in their pursuit of a playoff berth, Indiana (8-14) is hoping to regain its home-court advantage. The Fever lost four games in a row on their home court, with their last victory at Bankers Life Fieldhouse coming June 15 against the Atlanta Dream.

New York coach Bill Laimbeer likes what he has seen from his players heading into their matchup against the Fever. He recently shuffled the lineup by moving Epiphanny Prince from point guard to shooting guard and placing Bria Hartley in the starting lineup at the point.

Center Tina Charles leads the Liberty with 20.7 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, Prince is averaging 12.6 points per game to go along with a team-best 3.5 assists per contest.

"The structure that we have right now is good for us," Laimbeer told the team's official website. "We're pushing the pace better. We're getting easier baskets. We have good role definition."

Forward Candice Dupree leads Indiana with an average of 13.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Dupree was the Fever's lone representative in the All-Star Game last weekend.

Guards Erica Wheeler (11.1 points) and Tiffany Mitchell (10.5 points) also are averaging in double-digit scoring for the Fever. Guard Briann January is on the cusp of double digits with 9.9 points per game.

The Fever have lost seven of their past eight games to slip far out of the playoff race. However, players continue to battle hard during a difficult season that includes crowded flights on commercial airlines.

"I give our players a lot of credit, because I don't know how they do it," Fever president and general manager Kelly Krauskopf told the Indianapolis Star. "We take very early flights, depart at 6 or 7 a.m., to go between cities to play another game after we just played the night before. They're such troupers and good sports in terms of trying to find the time to get their rest and get enough sleep."

Sun face tall task in Delle Donne, Mystics

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(TSX / STATS) -- Elena Delle Donne's return from an ankle injury helped put the Washington Mystics back on the winning path.

She will need help against the Connecticut Sun on Friday in a battle of Eastern Conference contenders at the Verizon Center in Washington.

Delle Donne recorded 29 points and 10 rebounds in Washington's 85-76 victory at San Antonio on Tuesday. The Mystics (13-9) outscored the Stars 25-9 in the first quarter and led by as many as 20 points.

"It's always tough after the All-Star break, you only get one practice," Delle Donne said. "To be on the road, it's difficult to get wins, so I am glad we came out with this one. I think there are things we can clean up, especially defensively, but still very happy with the focus we came out with."

Delle Donne missed two games and last week's All-Star Game but showed no signs of rust in her return.

"She was terrific from the start," Mystics coach Mike Thibault said. "She has had 10 straight days of treatments. ... Her legs came back a little bit. She is sore, but she showed great concentration on her shots. I thought she could have gotten to the free-throw line a few more times, but overall she did a good job."

Delle Donne, who averages 19.3 points per game, hopes to get support from Tayler Hill (13.9 points), Emma Meesseman (11.7) and Kristi Toliver (10.6) -- Washington's other double-figure scorers.

The Sun (13-9) dominated the Chicago Sky 93-72 on Tuesday. Alyssa Thomas recorded 20 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Jonquel Jones had 12 points and 10 rebounds, and ex-Mystic Jasmine Thomas scored 17.

Connecticut and Washington split two meetings this season with each winning at home. The Sun took the most recent matchup 96-92 on July 8 as Jones had 22 points and nine rebounds.

"You know I'm so proud of the team tonight," Sun coach Curt Miller said after the win earlier this month.

Connecticut rallied from 22 points down with 5:04 left in the third quarter.

"That's a huge win, and in the manner that it happened is pretty incredible," Miller said. "Some are saying that this is the largest comeback in franchise history, so tremendous second half. The thing that I'm most pleased about is that they stuck together, they didn't panic, we didn't have to change a lot of basketball X's or O's while we made subtle adjustments."

The leading scorers for the Sun are Jones (15.6 points per game), Jasmine Thomas (14.7), Alyssa Thomas (13.9) and Courtney Williams (12.4).

WNBA fines protesting teams for uniform violations

NEW YORK (AP) - Social activism is coming at a cost for WNBA players.

The WNBA has fined the New York Liberty, Phoenix Mercury and Indiana Fever and their players for wearing black warm-up shirts in the wake of recent shootings by and against police officers.

All three teams were fined $5,000, and each player was fined $500.

The Liberty have worn the plain black shirts four times, including Wednesday morning against Washington. The Mercury and Fever wore them Tuesday night. While the shirts were the Adidas brand, the official outfitter of the league, WNBA rules state that uniforms may not be altered in any way.

"We are proud of WNBA players' engagement and passionate advocacy for non-violent solutions to difficult social issues but expect them to comply with the league's uniform guidelines," WNBA president Lisa Borders said in a statement provided to The Associated Press on Wednesday night.

The league sent out a memo earlier this week to the teams reminding them of the uniform policy.

The memo came out after Minnesota, New York and Phoenix all wore shirts in remembrance of two men who were shot by police and five Dallas police officers who were killed in an attack on July 7.

The Lynx wore their shirts only once and said they would shift their focus to addressing the issue in other ways.

The Liberty reached what the players called a compromise in which they wear plain black shirts bearing only the Adidas logo. New York's normal warm-up shirt is black but has its logo on it as well.