Around the W - Week 2
A vast summary of what took place in the WNBA during the 2nd week.
Atlanta Dream
Weekly Record: 1-1
Overall Record: 1-2
The Atlanta Dream lost to the Chicago Sky on Wednesday, May 19th with a final score of 85-77. Courtney Williams led the team in scoring with 24 points. She also tied her teammate Monique Billings with a team-high eight rebounds. Second-year player Chennedy Carter had 21 points and a team-high six assists in the game. Crystal Bradford was the only other player to score in double figures with 12 points.
The Dream did pick up their first victory of the season on Friday, May 21st when they defeated the Indiana Fever 83-79. Chennedy Carter led the team with 23 points. Courtney Williams added 16 points and Tiffany Hayes contributed with 14 points.
The third overall pick from the 2021 WNBA Draft, Aari McDonald, did not play at all in Friday’s game and played just 11 minutes earlier in the week, not scoring a single point. McDonald has not had a lot of opportunities yet during her rookie season.
Chicago Sky
Weekly Record: 1-1
Overall Record: 2-1
The Chicago Sky beat the Atlanta Dream 85-77. The Sky used a balanced attack with five players scoring in double figures. Kahleah Copper led the team with 23 points. Former Oregon Duck, Ruthy Hebard, had an impressive double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Astou Ndour also had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Courtney Vandersloot scored 12 points and had a team-high eight assists. While Diamond DeShields was the 5th player in double figures with 11 points.
The Sky lost on Sunday to the New York Liberty by a final score of 93-85. Candace Parker was unable to play due to a severely sprained ankle. Diamond DeShields led the team in scoring with 22 points. Astou Ndour scored 17 points. Ruthy Hebard had another double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Courtney Vandersloot had a very impressive double-double with 14 points and 16 assists.
Connecticut Sun
Weekly Record: 3-0
Overall Record: 5-0
The Connecticut Sun are the hottest team in the WNBA to start this season. They are the only remaining undefeated team in the WNBA. Despite losing Alyssa Thomas prior to the season to a torn Achilles, they have been the most impressive team so far. With a returning Jonquel Jones and elite-level play by DeWanna Bonner, they’ve already picked up five wins this season. They’re doing it a lot on the defensive end where they’ve held four of their five opponents to under 70 points per game. The Sun haven’t given up 80 points all season long.
On Wednesday, they beat the Indiana Fever 88-67. The Sun had four players score in double figures led by the 19 points of Natisha Hiedeman. Hiedeman also had a team-high six assists. Jonquel Jones put up a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Coming off an impressive 2020 season in the Wubble, Brionna Jones has had a strong start to this year with 16 points. DeWanna Bonner rounded out the group with 13 points and seven rebounds.
On Friday, the Sun defeated the Phoenix Mercury 84-67. They had four more players score in double figures with Jonquel Jones leading the way with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Jasmine Thomas added 15 points while DeWanna Bonner chipped in 14 points, seven rebounds, and a team-high five assists. Lastly, Natisha Hiedeman provided 12 points.
The Connecticut Sun had their most impressive victory of the season when they went into Las Vegas on Sunday and defeated the Aces 72-65. DeWanna Bonner led the team with 22 points. Jonquel Jones had another double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Brionna Jones had another impressive outing with 19 points, five rebounds, and four assists.
Dallas Wings
Weekly Record: 0-1
Overall Record: 1-1
The Dallas Wings only played one game all week long while several other teams were playing three games in five days. Dallas lost to the Seattle Storm in a thrilling back and forth game that went to overtime. The Wings lost 100-97 to the Storm.
No surprise, Arike Ogunbowale led the Wings in scoring with 28 points, seven rebounds, and a team-high six assists. Marina Mabrey shot lights out and connected on six three-pointers. She scored 26 points, pulled down eight rebounds, and dished out five assists. Isabelle Harrison and Kayla Thorton both had double-doubles with Harrison putting together 16 points and 11 rebounds and Thorton adding 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Indiana Fever
Weekly Record: 1-2
Overall Record: 1-4
On Wednesday, the Fever lost to the Connecticut Sun 88-67. They had just two players score in double figures with Danielle Robinson adding 12 points and surprisingly a team-high three assists. Tiffany Mitchell added 10 points. No other player scored in double figures.
On Friday, the Fever lost a close one 83-79 to the Atlanta Dream. They had three players score in double figures with Kelsey Mitchell leading the way with 19 points. Jessica Breland had a great game with 15 points and 16 rebounds. And 6’10” Bernadett Hater had 12 points for Indiana.
The Fever finally picked up their first win of the season with an impressive 89-77 victory over the Washington Mystics. Indiana had several contributions with five players scoring in double figures. Kelsey Mitchell led the way with 18 points. Both Teaira McCowan and Jessica Breland had double-doubles with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Danielle Robinson added 13 points and a team-high six assists. Victoria Vivians rounded out the group with 11 points off the bench.
Las Vegas Aces
Weekly Record: 2-1
Overall Record: 2-2
The Aces started off their week with their most impressive win of the season, a 96-80 dominant performance over the defending champion Seattle Storm. You can read the full detailed breakdown of the game at the link above.
They beat Seattle by having big scoring nights from almost every player on the team. Las Vegas had six players score in double figures and seven players who scored eight points or more. They were led by a career-high night from Jackie Young who had 21 points and 10 rebounds. Both A’ja Wilson and Liz Cambage scored 18 points. Wilson also had a double-double with 11 rebounds. Riquna Williams and Kelsey Plum rounded out the group with 10 points each.
On Friday, the Aces absolutely destroyed the Los Angeles Sparks in LA winning the game by nearly 30 points at 97-69. Las Vegas had five players score in double figures. Chelsea Gray led the team with 18 points and a team-high six assists. Three players scored 17 points including A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young, and Dearica Hamby. Hamby also had a double-double off the bench with 10 rebounds. Liz Cambage contributed another double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Then on Sunday, Las Vegas lost a close hard-fought game against the Connecticut Sun at home. They lost 72-65 after being outscored 45-32 in the 2nd half. The Aces had four players score in double figures, but no one had more than 14 points. Wilson led the team with 14 points and seven rebounds. Chelsea Gray had 13 points and a team-high five assists. Dearica Hamby added 12 points off the bench and Liz Cambage added another 10.
Los Angeles Sparks
Weekly Record: 0-1
Overall Record: 0-2
The Sparks had an entire week off to practice and improve after a difficult loss to the Dallas Wings in Week 1. Well, in Week 2 they did not improve from that first loss. They were embarrassed by the Las Vegas Aces on Friday losing by 28 points at 97-69.
Los Angles only had two players score in double figures and it was the Ogwumike sisters. Nneka Ogwumike scored 19 points and her younger sister Chiney added 11 points.
LA lost a lot of talent this offseason when Candace Parker decided to leave Los Angeles for the windy city of Chicago. They also lost All-Star point guard Chelsea Gray to the Las Vegas Aces.
What’s more concerning if you are a Sparks fan is that there is a real chance Los Angeles does not make the playoffs. Yes, it’s way too early to be talking about the playoffs. Especially, since this season we’re back up to 32 games instead of the 22 game season that we had in 2020. However, if the Sparks do miss the playoffs and end up with a Top 3 pick, well they won’t be able to reap that reward as Derek Fisher already traded that pick away to the Dallas Wings. A deal he made the night before the 2021 draft in order to acquire the 7th overall pick.
Minnesota Lynx
Weekly Record: 0-2
Overall Record: 0-3
In one of the bigger surprises to start the 2021 WNBA season, the Minnesota Lynx have started the year 0-3 and have yet to pick up a victory. On Tuesday, they lost to the New York Liberty 86-75. In the loss, they had three players score in double figures. They were led by former MVP Sylvia Fowles who had 26 points and 11 rebounds. Kayla McBride added 16 points and Jessica Shepard provided 12 points and six rebounds off the bench. It’s nice to see Shepard back after tearing her ACL and missing the entire 2020 season.
The Lynx then faced the Seattle Storm on Thursday. Minnesota dominated the game for about 35 minutes, leading by 19 points in the 1st half and by 14 points early in the 4th quarter. But the Storm outscored the Lynx 37-15 in the 4th quarter, including 23-3 over the final four and a half minutes. Seattle won the game 90-78. You can read all about it linked above.
Minnesota had three players score in double figures with 2020 rookie of the year Crystal Dangerfield leading the way with 22 points. Sylvia Fowles added 20 points and nine rebounds. Aerial Powers added 10 points for the losing team.
It should be noted that the Lynx have been without Napheesa Collier, who is arguably their best player. She finally joined the team for practice this weekend after completing her overseas commitments.
Surprisingly, Minnesota won’t play another game for eight days (from Thursday) when they face the Seattle Storm in Seattle on Friday, May 28th.
New York Liberty
Weekly Record: 2-1
Overall Record: 4-1
On Tuesday, the Liberty defeated the Minnesota Lynx 86-75. Four players scored in double figures for New York. Sabrina Ionescu earned a triple-double in just the 6th game of her WNBA career. It was the first triple-double in New York Liberty history and just the 10th in league history (regular season + playoffs). Ionescu finished the game with 26 points, 12 assists, and 10 rebounds. Betnijah Laney added 20 points and former Seattle Storm player, Sami Whitcomb, had 13 points and eight rebounds. Kylee Shook gave the Liberty 10 points.
On Friday, the New York Liberty came back down to earth as the Washington Mystics slaughtered them 101-72. Betnijah Laney led the team in scoring with 20 points. Kylee Shook added 11 points and Sabrina Ionescu gave them 10 points.
The Liberty rebounded well on Sunday defeating the Chicago Sky 93-85. Betnijah Laney continued her streak of scoring 20+ points with another 20 against the Sky. Sabrina Ionescu continues to prove why she was the #1 pick in 2020 scoring 19 points and adding 12 assists and five rebounds. Rebecca Allen (13 points), Natasha Howard (12 points), Sami Whitcomb (11 points), and Michaela Onyenwere (10 points) all scored in double figures as well.
This was Natasha Howard’s first game with her new team, returning from overseas play.
At 4-1, the New York Liberty are the biggest surprise of the 2021 season so far. Especially, considering the team won just two games in 2020, finishing the season 2-20. They’ve already doubled their total victories just two weeks into the season.
Phoenix Mercury
Weekly Record: 1-1
Overall Record: 2-2
The Phoenix Mercury had an impressive win on Tuesday against the Washington Mystics, 91-70. Phoenix had six players score in double figures with Diana Taurasi leading the way with 17 points. Both Brittney Griner (14 points, 10 rebounds) and Brianna Turner (10 points, 14 rebounds) each had double-doubles. Kia Nurse (12 points), Sophie Cunningham (12 points), and Skyla Diggins-Smith (10 points) were the other players in double-figures.
On Friday, the Mercury were handed a sizable defeat 84-67 by the Connecticut Sun. Skylar Diggins-Smith had 20 points and Diana Taurasi added 13 points. No other player from Phoenix scored in double figures.
Seattle Storm
Weekly Record: 2-1
Overall Record: 3-1
The Storm suffered their only defeat of the season so far on Tuesday against the Las Vegas Aces with a final score of 96-80. Breanna Stewart led the Storm with 26 points and 11 rebounds. Jewell Loyd added 17 points. Ezi Magbegor contributed 14 points and 13 rebounds in her first career start in the WNBA. And Katie Lou Samuelson had one of the best games of her WNBA career with 13 points on 71% FG shooting. Unfortunately, for Seattle, Sue Bird was held scoreless and no one from their bench scored more than four points. You can read the detailed game recap with player and coach quotes at the link above.
On Thursday, the Storm rallied from 19 points down to beat the Minnesota Lynd 90-78. It was even more impressive by the fact that Breanna Stewart didn’t have a superstar performance (just 13 points and seven rebounds). Jewell Loyd led the team with 23 points. Sue Bird bounced back with 21 points after being held scoreless the game before. Jordin Canada gave them a huge boost off the bench with 16 points. Candice Dupree added 10 points off the bench. You can read the detailed game recap at the link above.
In another crazy game, Seattle squeaked by the Dallas Wings on Saturday winning the game 100-97 in OT. Seattle led almost the entire game but had a late-game collapse that allowed the Wings to take a four-point lead with under 30 seconds left to play. A three-pointer by Jewell Loyd and a last-second shot by Jordin Canada sent the game into OT. Breanna Stewart had one of the single most impressive games of any performance in WNBA history scoring 36 points, collecting 11 rebounds, and getting five blocked shots. Jewell Loyd added 25 points, eight rebounds, and six assists. Jordin Canada gave them a spark off the bench scoring 14 points. To read the comprehensive game recap, check out the link listed above.
The Storm will host the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday in what should be a clash of two of the very best teams in the WNBA.
Washington Mystics
Weekly Record: 1-2
Overall Record: 1-3
The Washington Mystics are missing several key players including Elena Delle Donne (injury-out), Myisha Hines-Allen (out - overseas), Alysha Clark (injury-out for the season), and possibly Emma Meesseman (unsigned - training for the Olympics). So it’s not terribly surprising that they have struggled out of the gate. Their season will likely depend on how soon Elena Delle Donne can return from her back injuries.
On Tuesday, the Mystics were handled by the Phoenix Mercury 91-70. Tina Charles leads the team in Delle Donne’s absence with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Natasha Cloud added 18 points and Ariel Atkins chipped in with 12 points in the losing effort.
Washington got their biggest (and only) win of the season on Friday against the then-undefeated New York Liberty. The Mystics won 101-72. Tina Charles continued to dominate with 34 points and nine rebounds. Ariel Atkins scored 25 points and former Storm player Shavonte Zellous chipped in with 11 points off the bench.
On Sunday, the Mystics were stunned by the Indiana Fever as they lost 89-77. Tina Charles put up big numbers again with 31 points and nine rebounds. Ariel Atkins scored 16 points and Erica McCall added 10 points and nine rebounds.
Editor’s Notes: I appreciate everyone who’s signed up for the free newsletter. If you’re interested in highly detailed Seattle Storm articles please consider becoming a paid subscriber.