WNBA 2024 Season Weekly BreakDown July 1-7

Written By: Danny Albers 

It was a historic week for the WNBA as multiple records were broken. Caitlin Clark became the first rookie ever to record a triple-double. Angel Reese continued her incredible run by surpassing Candice Parker’s consecutive double-double record. The race for rookie of the year is heating up. Let’s break down each game from this past week. 

July 1: Sun Before The Storm 

The Seattle Storm (13-6) stayed hot when they beat a slumping Dallas Wings (4-15) team who lost their 2nd straight game. The Storm used a massive 3rd quarter where they outscored the Wings 34-13 to jump ahead. Storm’s guard Jewel Loyd scored 26 points leading her team in scoring. 

The Connecticut Sun’s (15-4) shut down the star studded Phoenix Mercury (9-10) offense 83-72. Brionna Jones had a breakout offensive performance scoring 18 points. DiJonai Carrington has been a workhorse for the Sun all season scoring 16 points. The Mercury fought back into this game when Kahleah Copper and Britney Griner scored 21 points a piece. Mercury shot 17.6% from 3. Their cold streaks allowed for the limited Sun offense to gain some distance. 

July 2: Reese Reaches 11 

The Chicago Sky (7-11) got an important win against the Atlanta Dream (7-11) 85-77. Angel Reese’s double-double reached 11. She scored 12 points and 19 rebounds in the game. Chennedy Carter has been red hot. She scored 26 points in her return to Atlanta, a place where she spent her first two seasons. Atlanta kept this game close getting strong offensive performances from Alisha Gray and Tina Charles who scored 19 points a piece. Charles recorded a double-double in this game. 

The Washington Mystics (5-15) beat the Los Angeles Sparks (4-15) in a battle of last place teams. The Mystics won 82-80. The Mystics used a 30-16 fourth quarter to come back and win this game. Shatori Walker-Kimbrough scored 17 points off the bench. Stefanie Dolson scored on a layup with 1:18 left to go up 79-77. Rickea Jackson committed a foul, allowing Dolson to knock down a clutch free throw and go up 3. 

The New York Liberty (17-3) beat the Minnesota Lynx (14-5) 76-67, avenging their loss in the Commissioner’s Cup. The Liberty went on a 15-0 run in the fourth quarter and limited Minnesota to only 8 points. Jonquel Jones scored 21 points knocking down 3 three-pointers on 6 attempts. Breanna Stewart recorded another double-double scoring 17 points and grabbing 17 rebounds. Minnesota’s offense has gone on cold streaks at times throughout the season. 

The Las Vegas Aces (11-6) beat the Indiana Fever (8-13) by a score 88-69. Kelsey Plum took over scoring 34 points going 6 for 11 from 3. Center A’ja Wilson scored 28 points and grabbed 9 rebounds. Her defense was key in this game as she had 5 blocks. 

July 3 Mercury Rising 

The Phoenix Mercury (10-10) got back to .500 when they beat the Dallas Wings (4-16) on the road by a score of 104-96. Mercury star Kahleah Copper was unstoppable in this game scoring 34 points. Britney Griner’s presence in the paint was one sided. She scored 24 points in this game, but defensively allowed Natasha Howard to score 36 points. Despite a star studded lineup, the Mercury have not been able to get any sort of momentum started this season. 

July 4: Sun Make Statement 

The Connecticut Sun (16-4) made a statement on Independence Day when they beat the Minnesota Lynx (14-6) 78-73. The Sun got a massive game from DeWanna Bonner who scored 24 points. Dijonai Carrington scored 17 points for the Sun, and shot 3 for 4 from 3. Another standout performance was Alyssa Thomas, who scored a triple double (13-10-14). The Sun shot 40 % from 3, and when you couple that with the number 1 defense in the WNBA it’s hard to beat them. 

The Las Vegas Aces (12-6) beat the Washington Mystics (5-16) by a score of 98-77. This marks the 8th straight victory for the Aces. Ace's back court was the catalyst in this game for the defending champion. Kelsey Plum scored 28 points and knocked down 6 3-points, and Jackie Young scored 20 points. The Mystics lost despite a spectacular bench effort from Shatori Walker-Kimbrough who scored 19 points. 

July 5: Sky’s The Limit 

The Chicago Sky (8-11) beat the Seattle Storm (13-7) by a score of 88-84 when Angel Reese and Chennedy Carter combined for 60 points. Carter went off in this game scoring 33 points. Angel Reese is now just 1 game away from breaking Candace Parker’s consecutive double-double streak. She scored a season high 27 points and had 10 rebounds. The Sky got a massive upset win on the road, breaking up the momentum of the red hot Seattle Storm. Jordan Horston scored 20 points for the Storm in this game. The Storm shot poorly from 3, only shooting 15.8 %.

The Dallas Wings (5-16) beat the Atlanta Dream (7-12) 85-82. Dallas snapped their 3 game losing streak. Dallas guard Arike Ogunbowale, who’s averaging 23.1 points per game this season, led Dallas in scoring with 19 points. 

The Los Angeles Sparks (5-15) picked up a win against the defending champions Las Vegas Aces (12-7) 98-93 in overtime. Dearica Hamby recorded another double-double with 28 points and 14 rebounds. She’s now averaging a double-double this season. Sparks guard Aari McDonald shot 50% from 3 scoring 23 points. The Sparks nearly lost the game if it wasn’t for Stephanie Talbot hitting a jumper with 3.1 seconds.   

July 6: Caitlin Clark Makes History 

The Indiana Fever (9-13) upset the New York Liberty (17-4) 83-78. Caitlin Clark became the first rookie in WNBA history to record a triple double. She scored 19 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, and dished out 13 assists. Fever forward Aliyah Boston has been underrated all season long averaging 13.4 points per game. She dropped 18 to complement Caitlin’s historic game. The Fever needed to keep up that insane pace to beat the Liberty. Sabrina Ionescu scored 22 points shooting 4-13 from 3. 

The Minnesota Lynx (15-6) beat the Washington Mystics (5-17) 74-67. The Lynx got a big effort from Kayla McBride who scored 17 points. Lynx veteran Courtney Williams has been the workhorse for this team. She scored 17 points, but got other players involved with 7 assists. She also was active on the board grabbing 6 rebounds. 

July 7: Reese breaks Candice Parker’s Double-Double Record 

The Seattle Storm (14-7) beat the Chicago Sky (8-12) in the second game against them this week by a final score of 84-71. After dropping the first game, Seattle guard Jewell Loyd scored 20 points, complementing the 24 points by Nneka Ogwumike. Ogwumike also grabbed 13 rebounds for a double-double. Speaking of double-doubles, Angel Reese broke Candice Parker's streak for consecutive games with a double-double when she scored 17 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. Sky guard Chennedy Carter continues to have a hot hand scoring 21 points in this game. 

The Las Vegas Aces (13-7) stayed red hot beating the Dallas Wings (5-17) 104-85. Wings guard Odyssey Sims shot 3-5 from 3 and scored 25 points in the game. But it wasn’t enough to keep up with the star power of the Aces. A’ja Wilson scored 28 points in this game. Along with Wilson, the Aces got big games from both Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum. Plum scored 23 points, and Young scored 18. 

The Connecticut Sun (17-4) beat the Atlanta Dream (7-13) by a score of 80-67. The Sun’s lock down defense came to play against Atlanta, only allowing 24 points in the first half. The Sun got a great offensive performance from DeWanna Bonner who scored 23 points. Bonner shot lights out from 3, knocking down 7 of 9 attempts. On par with how the season has gone, Bonner was the main source of offense, as nobody else scored over 13 points. 

In the final game of the week, the Phoenix Mercury (11-10) beat the spiraling Los Angeles Sparks (5-16) 84-78. The Sparks have been abysmal since the injury to Cameron Brink. Veteran Natasha Cloud went off for the Mercury as she scored 31 points and shot 4-6 from 3. The Mercury also got a strong contribution from Kahleah Copper who scored 25 points. Sparks center Dearica Hamby remains on an island all by herself in Los Angeles, scoring 25 points. Rickea Jackson broke out for 22 points.