COLLEGE PARK, Ga. — Angel Reese broke a WNBA record with her 29th double-double this season, Allisha Gray made six 3-pointers and finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds, and Atlanta beat league-leading Minnesota in its last game before the FIBA World Cup break.
Reese, who has already set records this year for rebounds in a season and a game, had 15 points and 11 rebounds to surpass Alyssa Thomas’ record of 28 double-doubles, set in 2023.
Minnesota (31-9), which had its eight-game road win streak snapped, has a 2 1/2-game lead over second-place Golden State. Atlanta (26-14) moved into a tie with Indiana for fourth.
Jordin Canada added 16 points and 10 assists for the Dream, and Rhyne Howard scored 12 of her 16 points in the fourth quarter.
LOS ANGELES — Nneka Ogwumike had 23 points and 12 rebounds, Rae Burrell scored 22 points, and the Los Angeles Sparks beat the Seattle Storm 90-74 on Sunday in their final game before the FIBA World Cup break.
LA scored the first 13 points in an opening 18-2 run and Dearica Hamby’s layup with 5:45 left in the first half capped an 11-0 spurt that gave the Sparks a 39-20 lead. Seattle shot 32% (12 of 38) from the field and 2 of 11 (18%) from behind the arc before going into halftime trailing by 19. The Storm were just as bad from 3-point range in the second half, finishing 4 of 22.
Cameron Brink had 11 points on 3-of-15 shooting for the Sparks (15-25).
Flau’jae Johnson scored 11 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter and Dominique Malonga had 17 points, on 8-of-21 shooting, and 15 rebounds for the Storm (8-32). Zia Cooke made 6 of 17 from the field for 14 points.
PORTLAND, Ore. — Tiffany Hayes scored 18 points, Kayla Thornton added 17 and the Golden State Valkyries beat the Portland Fire 86-69 on Sunday in their final game before the FIBA World Cup break.
The Valkyries (29-11) pulled within two games of WNBA-leading Minnesota. Golden State has four games remaining and its opponents (Portland twice, Seattle and Los Angeles) have a winning percentage of .325 (39-81).
The Lynx, who won the season series 2-1 and hold the playoff tiebreaker, play New York and Connecticut before back-to-back games against Indiana and Caitlin Clark — those teams are a combined 60-59 (.504) — to close the season.
Kaitlyn Chen had 15 points for Golden State. Veronica Burton and Kaila Charles each scored 11.