Kelsey Plum scored 14 of her 22 points after halftime, and the Las Vegas Aces beat the Connecticut Sun 91-83 Sunday in a matchup between two of the top teams in the WNBA. Chelsea Gray was also a huge contributor for the Aces with 21 points and nine assists.
Las Vegas (18-7) has won three games in a row and is second in the league standings, one game behind the defending champion Chicago Sky. Connecticut (16-9), which is 4-5 in its last nine games, fell a half-game behind the Seattle Storm into fourth in the WNBA standinds.
A’ja Wilson scored 20 points, Jackie Young added 12 and Riquna Williams hit three of six from three-point range for the Aces. Connecticut led for much of the first half and had a 37-35 advantage at the end of the second quarter.
The Aces made a run in the third quarter followed by a three-point shot from Gray. The Aces made a 13-2 run at the start of the second half to take the lead for good. DeWanna Bonner led the Sun with 19 points.
Elena Delle Donne scored 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting and had 10 rebounds and the Washington Mystics beat the Minnesota Lynx 70-57 on Sunday. Ariel Atkins added 15 points, while Shatori Walker-Kimbrough finished with with 11 points for Washington (16-11).
Minnesota went scoreless for more than six minutes in the third quarter as Washington scored 12 consecutive points to take a 19-point lead. Kayla McBride scored 16 points and Aerial Powers added 11 for Minnesota (10-17). Sylvia Fowles had nine points and 12 rebounds.
Cheyenne Parker registered a season-high 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and the Atlanta Dream beat the Phoenix Mercury 85-75. Tiffany Hayes added 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the winning side.
Sophie Cunningham hit a three-pointer with 5:39 left in the fourth quarter to give Phoenix a 73-70 lead but Erica Wheeler answered with back-to-back threes and Hayes made a floater to make 78-73 and the Dream led the rest of the way.
Wheeler added 14 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for Atlanta (11-14). Rhyne Howard (right shoulder), Nia Coffey (right knee) and Monique Billings (right ankle) did not play for the Dream.
Diana Taurasi led Phoenix (11-16) 23 points and Skylar Diggins-Smith scored 14 but the duo combined to make just 12 of 36 from the field and two of 15 from three-point range. Shed Peddy had 16 for Phoenix.
Breanna Stewart scored 25 points Jewell Loyd and Tina Charles added 15 points apiece to help the Seattle Storm best Indiana 81-65 Sunday night. Seattle (17-8) is a half-game behind the Las Vegas Aces (18-7) and two games back of the WNBA-leading and defending-champion Chicago Sky (19-6).
Danielle Robinson hit a pull-up jumper that capped a 10-2 spurt by the Fever to open the second half and trim their deficit to 44-41 with six minutes left in the third quarter but Indiana got no closer.
NaLyssa Smith led Indiana (5-22) with 15 points and nine rebounds. Emma Cannon scored a career-high 14 points and Queen Egbo added 13. The Fever have lost 10 of their last 11 games.
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