Natasha Cloud leads Sky, Dream and Fever had good nights on the Road, August 18th WNBA Recap
The first of the two 7 pm games was between the Los Angeles Sparks and the Connecticut Sun. The Sun started hot, taking an early seven-point lead halfway through the first quarter. The Sparks cut it down to three multiple times until the Sun put it back to seven, leading 27-20 at the end of the first. The Sun led between seven and ten until the end of the second quarter, when they led 46-40 at halftime.
The Sun pushed the lead all the way to 19 throughout the third and led 72-55 at the end of the third. The Sun pushed the lead to 21 around the seven-minute mark. The Sparks went on a late run to cut the lead to single digits, but it was too late. The Sun won 85-77. Olivia Nelson-Ododa led the scoring with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Kennedy Burke also had 17 points and four rebounds.
The second 7 pm game was between the Indiana Fever and the Toronto Tempo. The Fever started hot, went up 16-4 by the five-minute mark. The Tempo cut the lead to six with 2:02 left in the first quarter, until Sophie Cunningham pushed the lead back to 13. A late basket by the Tempo put the lead at 10 (33-23) at the end of the first quarter for the Fever. The combination of Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell killed the Tempo in the middle of the second, which pushed the Fever's lead to 16. The Tempo cut the lead in half heading into the halftime break (57-49).
The third quarter started with back-to-back threes from Marina Mabrey, which put the Fever's lead down to four. Multiple threes from Caitlin Clark and a three from Sophie Cunningham pushed the lead back to 10 with three minutes left in the third. Two more threes from Kelsey Mitchell pushed the Fever's lead to 14 with 54.7 seconds left. The Fever led 81-69 at the end of the third. Five free throws went in, pushing the Fever's lead to 14 with six minutes left.
The Tempo went on a run late, but it was too late. Fever won 101-95. Kelsey Mitchell was the leading scorer as she had 29 points, while Caitlin Clark had 24 points and seven assists, and Aliyah Boston had 16 points and six rebounds. The Tempo had five players in double digits, including 22 points from Marina Mabrey.
The first of the 9 pm games was between the New York Liberty and the Chicago Sky. It was a very even first quarter; the Liberty had a six-point lead with a minute and a half left, and then the Sky tied it by the end of the first quarter. It was close throughout the second quarter until around the 4:31 mark, when Natasha Cloud made multiple threes, and Courtney Vandersloot made a three that pushed the lead to nine. The Sky led 54-43 at halftime. The third quarter was between the Sky extending the lead and the Liberty cutting into the lead.
The Sky extended it to 13 until the Liberty cut it to eight at the end of the third quarter (74-66). The Liberty cut the lead to two to start the fourth. Then a Sabrina Ionescu three pushed the lead to one with 5:45 left. The Sky managed to pull this game out down the stretch and won 93-86. Natasha Cloud was the best player in the WNBA tonight as she had 35 points, nine rebounds, and six assists. Kamilla Cardoso had her 17-point and 12-rebound double-double. The Liberty were led by Breanna Stewart (22 points and seven rebounds) and Sabrina Ionescu (18 points, 12 assists, and seven rebounds).
The final game of the night was between the Atlanta Dream and the Las Vegas Aces. Outside of the Dream leading by 6 at one point, this game was close heading into the second. The Aces led 25-24 at the end of the first. Then the Dream pulled away from the Aces, pushing the lead to 11 (52-41) at halftime. The third quarter was similar to the first quarter, where it was very even, and the Aces outscored the Dream by 1 (71-61).
Heading into the fourth, the Dream just extended their lead until the Aces cut into it. At the 5:13 mark, the Dream lead was 7 (83-76). Then, down the stretch, the Dream pushed the lead to 15 and won 97-82. The Dream had Rhyne Howard (23 points, four rebounds, and four steals), Angel Reese (21 points and ten rebounds), and Allisha Gray (21 points and six rebounds) score over 20 points, and Jordin Canada scored 17 points with six rebounds and five assists. A'ja Wilson delivered again for the Aces as she had 27 points, 14 rebounds, four blocks, and three assists.
Tonight brings us two games as the Toronto Tempo head to the Washington Mystics at 7:30 pm EST. And at 10 pm EST, the Minnesota Lynx play at the Golden State Valkyries.
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