ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Paige Bueckers scored 20 of her 26 points in the first half, Arike Ogunbowale had 22 points and six assists, and the Dallas Wings beat the Phoenix Mercury 87-82 on Saturday for their sixth straight victory.
Ogunbowale was fouled on a driving layup with 1:19 remaining and she completed the three-point play to extend the lead to 86-81.
Aziaha James made a key steal down the stretch and Bueckers was fouled with 9.7 seconds left before making 1 of 2 free throws to cap the scoring.
Dallas (26-16) passed New York and Washington for sixth place in the WNBA standings.
DREAM 106, SKY 81
COLLEGE PARK, Ga. (AP) — Angel Reese had 23 points and 10 rebounds to extend her WNBA single-season record for double-doubles to 31 and lead Atlanta to a victory over Chicago.
The Dream (28-14), who have won three straight and nine of 11, moved a half-game ahead of Indiana, and pulled within a half-game of third-place Las Vegas in the WNBA standings. The top four earn home court in the best-of-three first round of the playoffs, which begin Sept. 27.
Reese was 9-of-13 shooting and added three blocks and two steals. Rookie Isobel Borlase had 18 points and three steals, both season highs, for Atlanta. Allisha Gray scored 17, Rhyne Howard 14 and Jordin Canada had 11 points and 10 assists.
The Dream shot 53% (36 of 68) from the field, were 13 of 26 from 3-point range and had 13 steals.
Gabriela Jaquez led the Sky (15-27), who have lost five straight, with 14 points. Aicha Coulibaly and Kamilla Cardoso scored 11 apiece and Courtney Vandersloot and Morgan Maly each added 10.
VALKYRIES 70, STORM 57
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Kaila Charles had 16 points, matched her career high with 12 rebounds and made four steals, Tiffany Hayes scored 10 points a night before her 37th birthday, and Golden State concluded their regular-season home schedule by beating Seattle for a sixth straight win.
Rookie Juste Jocyte and Laeticia Amihere each added 11 points off the bench for the Valkyries (31-11), who are in second place behind Minnesota. The team said Jocyte sustained a left leg injury.
The Valkyries wrapped up a 17-5 home record with another sold-out crowd of 18,064, bringing the second-season attendance total to 397,408 — with a full house for every game at Chase Center over a second straight year.
It’s the only franchise in WNBA history to sell out every home game over its first two seasons.
The Associated Press
