Powers scores career-high 32 to propel Lynx to rout of Aces

Aerial Powers scored a career-high 32 points on 10-of-17 shooting and the Minnesota Lynx beat the Las Vegas Aces 102-71 Sunday night.

Moriah Jefferson and Rachel Banham added 13 points apiece and Sylvia Fowles scored eight points with 11 rebounds and two blocks for Minnesota (7-15).

Powers scored the final six points in Minnesota's 13-0 opening run and the Aces never led. Dearica Hamby and Riquna Williams hit back-to-back three-pointers to pull Las Vegas to 44-35 with about three minutes left in the first half but Fowles answered with a layup 18 seconds later and the Lynx led by double figures the rest of the way.

Natalie Achonwa of Guelph, Ont., had six points, three assists and five rebounds to help the Lynx. Her teammate Bridget Carleton of Chatham, Ont., added three points, one assist and six rebounds.

Kelsey Plum led Las Vegas (15-6) with 12 points. Jackie Young and A'ja Wilson added 10 points apiece.

Minnesota shot 50 per cent (37 of 74) from the field, hit 12 three-pointers and outrebounded the Aces 53-25 — including 15-1 on the offensive glass — en route to a season-high scoring total.

The Lynx retired the jersey of Rebekkah Brunson before the game. She retired in February 2020 after helping the Lynx win four WNBA championships and is now with the team as an assistant coach. She becomes the third member of the Lynx to have her jersey retired, joining Seimone Augustus and Lindsay Whalen.

Ogwumike's 22-point lifts Sparks over Liberty

Nneka Ogwumike scored 22 points, Liz Cambage added 16 and the Los Angeles Sparks beat the New York Liberty 84-74 Sunday.

Chiney Ogwumike had 12 points and 10 rebounds, Katie Lou Samuelson also scored 12 points and Jordin Canada added 11 points and seven assists for the Sparks (9-11), who won consecutive games for the first time since the end of May.

Nneka Ogwumike made a layup midway through the third quarter to give the Sparks the lead for good at 53-52 and Chiney Ogwumike's jumper with 1:22 left in the period stretched the lead to 65-57.

Crystal Dangerfield made a three-pointer, Han Xu hit a hook shot and Marine Johannes followed with another three to trim the Liberty's deficit to 69-68 with 4:42 to play but Cambage made baskets to open and cap a 10-2 spurt that made it 79-70 with two minutes to go.

Johannes led the Liberty (8-12) with 17 points and Natasha Howard scored 13. Sabrina Ionescu had 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists but made just 5 of 18 from the field — including 3 of 12 from 3-point range — and committed six turnovers.

Kristi Tolliver left the game in the opening minutes due to a calf injury and did not return for the Sparks.

Dream defeat Storm in convincing fashion

Cheyenne Parker had 21 points and nine rebounds, Rhyne Howard scored 16 points and the Atlanta Dream never trailed Sunday in their 90-76 win over the Seattle Storm.

Aari McDonald and AD Durr added 13 points apiece for Atlanta (10-11) and Tiffany Hayes scored 10 points. Durr made four of five from the field and three of three from three-point range.

Hayes made a layup to cap an 8-0 spurt that gave the Dream an 18-8 lead midway through the first quarter and McDonald and Hayes scored back-to-back driving layups to give Atlanta a 15-point lead with 5:35 left in the second, but the Storm scored 19 of the next 26 points to trim their deficit to 48-44 when Jewell Loyd hit a three-pointer about two minutes into the third quarter. Seattle went scoreless for three-plus minutes and the Dream scored 16 points in the final four minutes of the period to lead 72-54 going into the fourth.

Breanna Stewart, the only Storm player to score in double figures, finished with 19 points on 5-of-14 shooting. Tina Charles, who signed with the team on June 28, made one of six from the field and finished with two points, two rebounds and two turnovers.

The 2012 WNBA MVP, and the league's leading scorer (23.4 per game) last season, has 15 points on 7-of-21 shooting in three games with Seattle since Charles and the Phoenix Mercury mutually agreed to part ways after just 18 games together.

The Dream outrebounded Seattle (13-8) 44-30 — including a 9-2 advantage on the offensive glass.

Sun rally from 17 down to beat Mystics in overtime

Alyssa Thomas scored 14 of her 23 points after halftime and finished with nine rebounds as the Connecticut Sun rallied from a 17-point second-half deficit Sunday to beat the Washington Mystics 74-72 in overtime.

Courtney Williams added 15 points, Natisha Hiedeman scored 14 and Jonquel Jones had 11 points for Connecticut (14-7).

Williams and Thomas made back-to-back jumpers to open overtime and give Connecticut its biggest lead of the game at 70-66 with 3:42 to play and the Sun never again trailed.

The Mystics (13-10) committed nine of their 19 turnovers and were limited to seven points in the fourth — Washington's lowest-scoring quarter this season.

Ariel Atkins led Washington with 18 points, including 12 in the first quarter. Shakira Austin and Alysha Clark scored 13 apiece and Myisha Hines-Allen had eight points and a season-high 13 rebounds.

Shakira Austin made two free throws to give the Mystics a 17-point lead with about 6 minutes left in the third quarter but Heideman hit a three-pointer to spark a 20-4 run that made it 59-58 after Williams made back-to-back jumpers to open the fourth quarter.

Heideman made a basket with 4:35 left to give Connecticut a 62-61 lead — the Sun's first lead since the opening minutes.