Carla Leite scored 20 points as the Portland Fire won their third straight game against the Connecticut Sun. In other action, the Minnesota Lynx beat the Atlanta Dream 96-81, the New York Liberty closed strong to defeat Phoenix, Toronto topped Chicago behind N
PORTLAND, Ore. — Carla Leite scored 20 points and the expansion Portland Fire picked up its third straight win with a victory over the Connecticut Sun.
Bridget Carleton added 13 points for Portland, which was coming off road victories over the Toronto Tempo and the New York Liberty.
For Connecticut, Aneesah Moorow finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds, but the Sun opened the season with just one win. The game was also the last of a five-game trip that began with an 83-82 loss to the Fire in Portland.
Connecticut led 55-50 with 8:04 left, but Teja Oblak answered with two baskets to pull within one at 55-54. Frieda Buhner then gave Portland the lead for good with a layup.
Buhner added another layup to make it 58-55 with 4:25 remaining, and the Fire didn’t relinquish the advantage the rest of the way.
The Sun were 0 for 13 from beyond the arc in the first half. Moorow hit Connecticut’s first three-pointer with 8:23 left in the third quarter to close the gap to 39-32.
Portland still survived a late swing. Olivia Nelson-Ododa scored to pull the Sun within 43-42, then Moorow’s layup gave Connecticut the lead. The game was tied at 50 going into the final quarter.
Brittney Griner, who led the Sun with 16 points in the previous meeting with the Fire, was not available with a right rib injury. Griner remains one point away from 6,000 career points.
MINNEAPOLIS — Courtney Williams had 25 points and seven assists, Natasha Howard added 22 points and eight rebounds, and the Minnesota Lynx beat the Atlanta Dream 96-81 on Wednesday night.
Minnesota’s lead was 44-40 early in the third quarter, before the Lynx scored the next 13 points. They outscored Atlanta 28-19 in the frame to make it 70-56 after three.
Olivia Miles, the rookie, converted a three-point play early in the fourth to give Minnesota a 77-60 lead. Williams then drilled a wide-open three-pointer with 3:04 left to extend the advantage to 88-75.
All five starters for Minnesota finished in double figures. Miles scored 16, Nia Coffey had 14, and Kayla McBride added 12. Minnesota also set a season-high with 26 assists on 40 made field goals and shot 60 per cent from the field.
Allisha Gray scored 21 points and made five three-pointers for Atlanta, which dropped its first road game of the season. Naz Hillmon added 15 points, Angel Reese scored 10 points with eight rebounds, and Rhyne Howard scored 10.
Eleven of Atlanta’s 29 made field goals came from beyond the arc.
The Lynx evened the season series with Atlanta 1-1 after dropping the season opener 91-90. In that opener, Minnesota led by 19 points before the Dream took their first lead with 11.3 seconds left.
NEW YORK — Marine Johannes scored 21 points, Jonquel Jones added 17 points and keyed a huge run to close the third quarter as New York beat Phoenix.
The game came as a rematch of last season’s first-round playoff series that the Mercury won on the way to reaching the WNBA Finals. Both teams look different this season with Satou Sabally now in New York after coming from Phoenix. Sabally entered the game questionable because of an illness that kept her out of Monday’s contest. She warmed up but was scratched an hour before tipoff.
With Sabally out, along with Sabrina Ionescu (back), the Liberty welcomed back Betnijah Laney-Hamilton and Leonie Fiebich. Laney-Hamilton had missed a few games for personal reasons, and Fiebich was recovering from winning a Spanish league title.
New York trailed 55-49 with 6:09 left in the third quarter before coach Chris DeMarco inserted Laney-Hamilton. The Liberty answered with a 23-0 run to end the quarter, including 10 points from Jones. Phoenix had eight turnovers during the stretch, including three offensive fouls.
The Liberty led 72-55 heading into the fourth. and Phoenix finally snapped a nearly seven-minute scoring drought with a corner three-pointer from Monique Akoa Makani. New York held Phoenix to a comeback that never really gathered steam; the Mercury could only get within 10 in the fourth as they dropped their fourth straight game.
Akoa Makani made her first appearance of the season after finishing overseas commitments. Kahleah Copper scored 19 to lead Phoenix.
CHICAGO — Nyara Sabally scored a career-high 29 points, Marina Mabrey added 24 points and seven assists, and Toronto beat Chicago.
Toronto’s lead was cut to 98-96 with 3:33 left in the fourth quarter before the Tempo went on an 8-2 run to regain control. Mabrey sank a step-back jumper to make it 101-96 and Sabally added a three-pointer with 1:43 remaining for an eight-point lead.
Sabally went 11 of 14 from the floor. Mabrey made 9 of her 13 shots as Toronto shot 56 per cent. Sabally, Mabrey and Maria Conde each hit three of Toronto’s 12 made three-pointers.
Brittney Sykes scored 20 points, and rookie Kiki Rice added 14 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for Toronto (4-4). Conde finished with 12 points off the bench.
For Chicago (3-4), rookie Sydney Taylor poured in a season-high 27 points. Skylar Diggins had 23 points and nine assists, and Natasha Cloud added 18 points and nine assists.
SEATTLE — Shakira Austin posted 18 points, 13 rebounds and five assists, Michaela Onyenwere made her season debut and finished with 14 points, and Washington beat Seattle.
The Mystics (3-3) had lost back-to-back games and three of their last four.
Kiki Iriafen added 13 points and nine rebounds for Washington. Alicia Flórez Getino, signed May 7 to a developmental contract, made her WNBA debut and finished with nine points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals with one turnover in 23 minutes.
Onyenwere, who missed the first seven games due to left knee injury management, hit two 3s and scored eight points in a 12-2 opening run as Washington never trailed.
Lexie Brown hit a three-pointer with 7:48 left in the first half to trim Seattle’s deficit to seven points, but the Storm went scoreless until Zia Cooke made a driving layup with 1:08 remaining. Washington then pushed to a 48-29 lead at halftime.
Jade Melbourne sparked an 8-0 run to begin the third quarter with back-to-back layups, making it an 11-point game, but Sonia Citron scored seven points in a 13-4 spurt that pushed the lead to 20 points with 4:03 left in the period.
Melbourne led Seattle (3-5) with 15 points. Mackenzie Holmes added eight points and a career-high 10 rebounds.
WNBA Portland Fire Connecticut Sun Carla Leite Courtney Williams Minnesota Lynx Atlanta Dream New York Liberty Phoenix Mercury Toronto Tempo Chicago Sky Washington Mystics Seattle Storm