Stewart scores 24 points as Liberty beats Fever 91-80 – Winnipeg Free Press

NEW YORK (AP) – Brenna Stewart scored 24 points to lead New York's balanced offense as the Liberty beat Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever 91-80 on Saturday.

It was the second consecutive meeting between the teams that completed home-and-home sets. Indiana lost by 36 points on Thursday, but remained competitive thanks to a strong effort from Clark.

He finished with 22 points, the most of his young pro career, to go along with eight assists and six rebounds. He also had eight turnovers.

The No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft averaged 14.5 points, 4.5 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game.

It was Clark's first time playing in New York, as Iowa had never played in the city before he played in high school or with his AAU team.

Clark brought many sports stars to the game, including Billie Jean King, Sue Byrd, Megan Rapinoe, Michelle Wie West and Dawn Staley. Actor Jason Sudeikis attended several of Clark's games in college.

ACES 89, SPARKS 82

LAS VEGAS (AP) – Jackie Young and A'jah Wilson both scored 22 points and finished with double-doubles to lead Las Vegas past Los Angeles.

Young sank 8 of 18 shots, including 4 of 9 from 3-point range, and added 11 assists and six rebounds for two-time champion Las Vegas (2-0). Wilson made 9 of 20 3-pointers, grabbed 10 rebounds and added three steals. Kelsey Plum made three 3-pointers and scored 17 with five assists and three rebounds. Alisha Clark scored 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting with three 3s.

Diarica Hamby led Los Angeles (0-2) with 29 points. Hamby hit 12 of 16 from the floor and 5 of 11 from the free throw line. He added nine tackles and three interceptions. Lexi Brown scored 16 points. Kia Nurse and reserve Ricky Jackson each contributed 13 points.

Nurse scored half of LA's 18 points in the first quarter, leading the Sparks by two points. Nurse sank all four of her 3-pointers after scoring 23 points in LA's 92-81 season-opening loss to the visiting Atlanta Dream.

Jackson hit a back-to-back 3-pointer and Zia Cook added a basket to give the Sparks a 32-25 lead with 4:37 left in the second quarter. Young, Clark, Keith Martin and Wilson all hit 3-pointers in a 15-0 run as the Aces took a 40-32 lead with 53 seconds left in the half and never trailed again.

SKY 84, WING 73

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) – Diamond DeShields led a balanced offense with 16 points and Chicago dominated the fourth quarter to beat Dallas to split the season-opening series.

Chicago outscored Dallas 28-11 in the fourth quarter, erasing an eight-point deficit and getting contributions from a number of players, and Arike Ogunbowale had nine of the Wings' 11 points.

Marina Mabrey, who scored all 14 of her points in the second half, led the Sky with a 3-pointer in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter. Elizabeth Williams' Angel Reese three-pointer with 6:29 to go gave Chicago a 67-65 lead.

Reese capped a 14-0 run that made it 72-65 with 4 1/2 minutes left. Ogunbowale scored the next nine points for Dallas, but Chicago pulled away.

In Wednesday's season opener, Ogunbowale scored 14 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter as the Wings rallied from down two with 3:16 left to rally for an 87-79 victory. Dallas had a 60-42 advantage in that game, but the rematch was 28-24 for the Sky.

MERCURY 88, DREAM 85

PHOENIX (AP) – Kahlea Copper scored a career-high 38 points and combined with Sophie Cunningham for the final 16 as Phoenix rallied from a 10-point fourth-quarter lead to beat Atlanta.

Cheyenne Parker-Tews had 11 points and Allisha Gray 10 in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 81-74 at the 4:11 mark from down 70-60 with 8:43 to play. Parker-Tuce's play secured Atlanta's first win, 73-72.

Cunningham answered with a 3-pointer, and Copper's four free throws brought the Mercury within 83-81 with 1 1/2 minutes to play. After a layup by Tina Charles, Copper hit Cunningham with a 3-pointer down the left side with 1:11 to go. Natasha Cloud then blocked Rhyne Howard's layup and Copper made a layup to make it 86-83 with 28.1 seconds left.

Parker-Tews made it a one-point game again, but Copper answered and Howard missed a 3-point attempt to tie.

Diana Taurasi had 15 points and Cunningham 10 for the Mercury (1-1), which gave Nate Tibbetts her first WNBA win.