WNBA Weekly BreakDown June 27-30: Clark and Fever Remain Hot

 Written by: Danny Albers 

This week in the WNBA saw a couple days with breaks in the action. But in the small amount of games played, a lot happened. We crowned a new Commissioner’s Cup Champion in the Minnesota Lynx. History was made when Breanna Stewart became the fastest woman to 5,000 points, and Angel Reese broke the record for most consecutive double-doubles. Let’s break down each game from this past week. 

Commissioner’s Cup Championship Game: New York Liberty VS Minnesota Lynx 

The Minnesota Lynx uncrowned the 2023 Commissioner’s Cup Champions the New York Liberty on Tuesday with a 94-89 victory. Napheesa Collier won the game’s MVP award as she scored 21 points and had 6 rebounds along with 3 assists and 3 steals. The Lynx had a big 3rd quarter that really helped them create some distance on the Liberty. New York led by 3 at half time, but the Lynx would dispel that outsourcing New York 19-10. The Liberty got major efforts from their stars in this game. Sabrina Ionescu managed to score 23 points despite shooting 2-11 from 3. And Breanna Stewart had 24 points. Both Stewart and Ionescu recorded double digits in rebounds to finish with a double-double. 

June 27, 2024

 

The Dallas Wings (4-13) beat the Minnesota Lynx (13-4) on Thursday in a major upset by a final score of 94-88. Guard Arike Ogunbowale led the charge for the Wings scoring 23 points and dishing out 9 assists. The Wings got a big boost from their interior presence in Teaira McCowan who recorded a double-double finishing with 17 points and 12 rebounds. The Wings 31-year old guard Odyssey Sims had a huge game off the bench scoring 18 points. Her 18-points alone outscored Minnesota’s bench. It was her season debut. The Wings snapped their 11-game losing streak despite a 29 point effort from Minnesota star Napheesa Collier.

The Connecticut Sun (14-3) beat the Washington Mystics (4-14) 94-91 in overtime Thursday. Sun guard DiJonai Carrington scored 10 of her 22 points in overtime to carry her team to victory. The Sun also got massive contributions from star forward Dewanna Bonner and Tyasha Harris. Bonner had 24 points and 10 rebounds, and Harris scored 23 points. It was a solid team effort for the Mystics who got a career game for Myisha Hines-Allen scoring 21-points. The Mystics Shatori Walker-Kimrough and Jade Melbourne scored 26 off the bench. 

The Las Vegas Aces (9-6) beat the Chicago Sky (6-10) 95-83 behind 31 points by A’Ja Wilson. The Sky got another double-double from Angel Reese who finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds. This was Reese’s 9th straight double-double, tying her with Candice Parker for the longest double-double streak in WNBA history. Jackie Young scored 22 points for the Aces to help the Aces effort. This was the third win in a row for the Aces after a slow and sluggish start to the season. 

In the final game of Thursday the Seattle Storm (11-6) beat the Indiana Fever (7-12). Storm guard Jewell Loyd had a huge game scoring 34 points in the game. The Storm also got a double-double from 34-year old Nneka Ogwumike who scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. The Fever were rarely quiet offensively. Caitlin Clark led all Indiana scoring finishing with 15-points. 

June 28, 2024

 

The Atlanta Dream (7-9) picked up a major upset win over the Connecticut Sun (14-4) beating them by a score of 78-74. The dream got a big boost from veteran guard Alisha Gray who nailed a clutch two-pointer with 1:44 left to go up by 3 on the Sun. She finished with 17 points on the night. The Sun’s only weakness on the season is the lack of their offensive production. As dominant as their defense has been all season. When a team is able to get hot like the Dream were down the stretch in the 4th quarter, the Sun are at a disadvantage. 

The Phoenix Mercury (9-8) beat the struggling Los Angeles Sparks (4-14) on Friday 92-78. Kahleah Copper continued her strong 2024 season scoring 24 points. She scored 11 of those points in the 3rd quarter. Diana Taurasi added another 20 points on the night. The Mercury’s center Britney Griner has been a dominant presence in the paint contributing another double-double. She had 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. 

June 29, 2024 

The Las Vegas Aces (10-6) picked up their fourth straight victory over the Washington Mystics (4-15) by a score of 88-77. The Aces Chelsea Gray scored 22 points en route to their victory. But the main catalyst was Jackie Young who shot 3-6 from behind the 3 and scored 26 points. Washington jumped out to a 28-20 lead at the end of the fourth, and led by 6 at half. They even led by 3-points going into the fourth quarter. But Washington scored only 8 points in the fourth quarter and got outscored 21-8.

The Seattle Storm (12-6) stayed hot behind Jewell Loyd’s 30 points. They beat the Dallas Wings (4-14) 97-76. The Storm have now won 3-games in a row and these are back-to-back games where Jewell Loyd scored over 30 points. 

June 30, 2024 

The New York Liberty (16-3) beat the Atlanta Dream (7-10) Sunday 81-75. This game was the first of the two historic milestones as Breanna Stewart became the fastest WNBA player to reach 5,000 career points in history. She was in rare form in this game where she scored 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, recording her 9th double-double this season. The Dream relied heavily on Alisha Gray in this game on offense. Her 24 points were a team high, however, she was only 1 of 3 players to score over 10 points for Atlanta. You will need a lot more offensive production than that to beat the efficient New York Liberty. 

In the second game to see a historic milestone, Angel Reese became the first person ever to record 10 straight double-doubles in the Chicago Sky’s (6-11) 70-62 loss to the Minnesota Lynx (14-4). Reese scored only 10 points but grabbed 16 rebounds alongside fellow first round pick Kamilla Cardoso who had 10 rebounds as well. It wasn’t a very good night offensively for the Minnesota Lynx as well. Veteran guard Kayla McBride led all scoring for the Lynx with 16 points. 

The Indiana Fever (8-12) stayed hot on Sunday coming back to beat the Phoenix Mercury (9-9) 88-82. The Fever were fueled by a dominant 3rd quarter that saw them outscore Phoenix 29-15. The Fever’s guard Kelsey Mitchell scored 16 points for a team high. Caitlin Clark scored 15 points, but was key in this victory with solid ball distribution finishing with 12 assists. The Indiana Fever ended June with a 7-4 record after a terrible start to the season.