Angel Reese and Kahleah Cooper Stars, August 22nd WNBA Recap
The first game of the night was between the Indiana Fever and the New York Liberty. A very competitive first quarter saw the game tied at 14 at the 4:54 mark. Continued back-and-forth until the Liberty managed to get a 26-21 lead at the 1:38 mark. The Liberty pushed the lead to seven and led 33-26 at the end of the first quarter. Kelsey Mitchell, Jonquel Jones, and Breanna Stewart had great starts in the first quarter. The Liberty extended their lead to 37-28 by the 8:23 mark in the second quarter. The Fever cut the lead and tied the game thanks to a Sophie Cunningham three and multiple baskets from Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell. The Liberty gained a four-point lead and led 53-49 at halftime.
The third quarter had both teams firing on all cylinders. Both teams scored 18 by the 4:42 mark. The score was 71-67, still in favor of the Liberty at that point. A quick Liberty run had their lead to 85-76 at the 49.5-second mark in the third quarter. The Fever would get a layup to make the score 85-78 at the end of the third quarter. The Liberty lead grew to 91-81 by the 8:38 mark in the fourth quarter. A Caitlin Clark jump shot at the 4:08 mark shrunk the Liberty lead to 96-95.
Kelsey Mitchell scores five points in a row to tie the game at 100 with 1:44 left. Liberty close on a 9-2 run and win 109-102. Breanna Stewart led the way with 22 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. Leonie Fiebich (20 points, five rebounds, and five assists) and Jonquel Jones (19 points and ten rebounds) played huge parts in the win. Aliyah Boston, Kelsey Mitchell, and Caitlin Clark all showed up for the Fever.
The second game of the day was between the Connecticut Sun and the Los Angeles Sparks. Over the first three and a half minutes of the game, it was competitive; the Sparks led 10-9 at that point. Over the next minute, the lead grew to 18-9 and then was 20-11 at the 4:28 mark. The Sparks led 33-22 at the end of the first. A more competitive second quarter saw the Sun outscore the Sparks 14-12 but trailed 44-36 at halftime. Out of halftime, the Sparks went on a 13-4 run to grow their lead to 57-40 by the 5:38 mark.
The lead ended up growing to 66-46 at the end of the third quarter. A very good fourth quarter saw them climb their way back into it. They ended up keeping the Sparks scoreless over the last 6 minutes and 12 seconds at 77, but they couldn’t score enough to complete a comeback, and the Sparks won 77-68. Rae Burrell led the way with 20 points.
The third game of the day was between the Atlanta Dream and the Phoenix Mercury. A strong start saw the Dream lead 14-3 at the 6:09 mark in the first. The lead grew to 29-15 with 42.9 seconds left in the quarter; the Dream ended up leading 29-18 at the end of the first quarter. For the most part through the second quarter, the lead was always between the 8–12-point mark, with it getting above 12 points a few times. Including the Dream leading 50-35 at halftime. The third quarter belonged to the Mercury, outscoring the Dream 33-23. Which means they only trailed 73-68 heading into the fourth quarter.
The five-point sadly was the closest the Mercury got and the Dream pulled a road win 99-89. Angel Reese was the star in this game with her 31 points and 14 rebounds. Rhyne Howard (20 points and five assists) and Allisha Gray (17 points, five rebounds, and four assists) also played big parts in the game. You have to shout out Kahleah Cooper with 38 points and Alyssa Thomas with her triple-double (11 points, 16 rebounds, and ten assists) on the Mercury.
Tonight brings us four games. The lone 4 pm EST game is between the Seattle Storm and the Dallas Wings. Then we have three games at 7 pm EST: those include the Chicago Sky hosting the Indiana Fever, the Portland Fire hosting the Washington Mystics, and the Las Vegas Aces playing against the Toronto Tempo.
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