Tina Charles scored 27 points, becoming the fourth player in WNBA history to top 7,000 in a career, and the Seattle Storm beat the Atlanta Dream 82-72 on Sunday. Charles added 15 rebounds for her second straight double-double.
Charles, who signed with the Storm (18-10) on June 28 with 7,013 points, trails only Diana Taurasi (9,651, active), Tina Thompson (7,488) and Tamika Catchings (7,380) on the WNBA all-time list. She had 20 points and 10 rebounds in the first half
With Charles dominating the contest, the Storm pulled away from a 19-19 first-quarter tie for a 41-34 lead at intermission. League scoring leader Brianna Stewart scored 11 of her 23 points in the third quarter and Epiphanny Prince buried a 3-pointer in the final minute.
The Storm took a 63-53 lead in the final period and stayed in front. Stewart added 10 rebounds, four assists, three blocks and two steals for the Storm. Rhyne Howard — the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft — led Atlanta (12-16) with 23 points.
Arike Ogunbowale scored 16 of her 22 points in the second half and the Dallas Wings handed the Indiana Pacers a club-record 12th straight loss (96-86). Teaira McCowan finished with 17 points for Dallas (12-15), while Allisha Gray scored 16.
Kayla Thornton pitched in with 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the winning side. Gray hit a 3-pointer to push the lead to 10 just 1:11 into the third quarter and the Wings stayed in front from there. Dallas improved to .500 on the road with its seventh win.
Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana (5-25) with a season-high 34 points. She added six assists, five rebounds and three steals. Nalyssa Smith added 16 points, while the Fever dropped to a 3-12 at home.
Natisha Hiedeman had 19 points and Alyssa Thomas added a double-double to push the Connecticut Sun to an 86-79 victory over the Minnesota Lynx. Thomas finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for the Sun (19-9).
Jones had 11 points in the first half to help the Sun take a 42-32 lead into intermission. Moriah Jefferson hit a bucket and 1 of 2 free throws to give Minnesota a 47-46 lead with 4:40 left in the third quarter.
However, Bria Hartley buried a 3-pointer and Bonner capped an 8-0 run with a basket and the Sun never trailed again. Bonner finished with nine points, eight assists, six rebounds and five steals for the Sun, who have won five of their last six.
Aerial Powers led Minnesota (10-19) with 17 points. Rookie Nikolina Milic scored 14 before fouling out, while Rachel Banham came off the bench to score 11.
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