INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Aari McDonald scored a career-high 27 points, Aliyah Boston had 22 points and 12 rebounds, and the short-handed Indiana Fever beat the Phoenix Mercury 107-101 on Wednesday night for their third straight victory.
Indiana star Caitlin Clark was sidelined with a right groin injury and there’s no timetable for her return. The Fever improved to 7-7 without Clark this season.
Boston scored Indiana’s opening 14 points of the fourth quarter for an 88-79 lead. She finished with her fourth straight double-double.
Indiana’s 10th 3-pointer came on Chloe Bibby’s shot from the corner with 5:27 remaining to make it 91-83. Then Sophie Cunningham was fouled while making a 3-pointer and she made the free throw for an 11-point lead.
Cunningham and Damiris Dantas each scored 12 points for Indiana (15-12), which scored 100-plus for the third time this season. Kelsey Mitchell, who scored a season-high 35 points on Sunday, was held to eight points on 3-of-10 shooting.
Alyssa Thomas led Phoenix (16-10) with 32 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists. Kahleah Copper, who played in her 10th game this season, added 22 points and Sami Whitcomb scored 18. The Mercury have lost four of their last five games.
DREAM 88, WINGS 85
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Naz Hillmon made the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 2.6 seconds left and scored 12 of her career-high 21 points in the fourth quarter, leading Atlanta to a victory over Dallas.
Allisha Gray had 15 points, Brionna Jones scored 14 and Maya Caldwell added a season-high 13 points for Atlanta (16-11).
Paige Bueckers scored 21 points for the Wings, nine in the last five minutes, and has 11 20-point games this season.
Bueckers hit a 3-pointer that gave Dallas a one-point lead with 2:36 to play. Brionna Jones answered with a bucket inside but Bueckers was fouled as she made a driving layup and hit the free throw to make it 83-81 with 2 minutes remaining.
Te-Hina Paopao hit a driving layup and then made a backdoor cut, caught a pass from Jones and made a layup to give the Dream a two-point lead with 34 seconds left. Arike Ogunbowale answered with a fadeaway jumper with 21 seconds to go before Hillmon hit the winner.
LYNX 100, LIBERTY 93
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Napheesa Collier had 30 points and nine rebounds, Kayla McBride added 24 points, and Minnesota beat short-handed New York in a rematch of last year’s WNBA Finals.
Bridget Carleton made a 3-pointer from the corner with 7:08 remaining in the fourth quarter to give Minnesota a 79-66 lead. She added Minnesota’s 14th 3-pointer — on just 27 attempts — less than two minutes later to make it 84-69.
Minnesota’s lead reached 92-77 before New York scored 11 straight over a two-minute stretch to get within four. Collier ended the run on a three-point play with 50.1 seconds left for a seven-point lead.
Collier went 11 of 16 from the field and 6 of 9 at the free-throw line to record her fifth 30-point game of the season for Minnesota (23-5). The Lynx connected on a season-high 15 3-pointers and reached 100 points for the fourth time this season.
Sabrina Ionescu countered with 31 points for New York (17-9), which did not have star Breanna Stewart due to a bone bruise in her right knee. Isabelle Harrison added 15 points and Marine Johannes scored 14.
The Associated Press
