WNBA

Liberty win, advance to Commissioner’s Cup final

The Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS — Sabrina Ionescu scored eight of her 34 points in overtime, and the New York Liberty clinched a berth in the Commissioner’s Cup championship with a 95-87 win over the Indiana Fever on Wednesday, despite blowing an 18-point fourth-quarter lead.

Aliyah Boston hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of regulation for Indiana, which had a chance to win its last two home games on last-second 3-point attempts. It was the rookie’s second 3 of the season.

That tied the game at 80 but the veteran Liberty pulled away in overtime as Ionescu hit two of her seven 3-pointers and the young Fever missed its last four shots.

Breanna Stewart had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Liberty (14-4), who play at Western Conference winner and defending champion Las Vegas for the Commissioner’s Cup on Aug. 15. Courtney Vandersloot had 12 assists, the last going to Betnijah Laney for a 3-pointer that broke an 85-85 tie with 1:52 left in overtime.

Vandersloot’s layup with 7:27 left in regulation had the Liberty up 74-56 but their next field goal was Ionescu’s 3 to open overtime. The Fever reeled off 16-straight points and Erica Wheeler had a three-point play with 12.9 seconds to go and Boston’s 3 completed the comeback.

Boston had 23 points for the Fever (5-15), who have lost eight-straight. Emma Cannon had a career-high 19 on 7-of-9 shooting, Kelsey Mitchell added 16 and Grace Berger also had a career high with 15.

The Fever had a different starting lineup for the first time this season with leading rebounder NaLyssa Smith and Lexie Hull injured. Smith will miss two weeks with a stress fracture in her left foot and Lexie Hull has a broken nose. Both played Sunday.

NEW YORK (95)

Laney 4-9 1-3 10, Stewart 4-15 8-8 18, Jones 5-8 0-0 12, Ionescu 9-18 9-9 34, Vandersloot 3-9 0-0 6, Sabally 2-3 3-4 7, Thornton 3-6 0-0 6, Willoughby 1-1 0-0 2, Johannès 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 31-74 21-24 95.

INDIANA (87)

Caldwell 0-0 0-0 0, Vivians 1-9 0-0 3, Boston 10-19 2-3 23, Mitchell 5-12 5-5 16, Wheeler 4-12 3-3 11, Cannon 7-9 3-4 19, Saxton 0-1 0-0 0, Zahui B 0-2 0-0 0, Berger 5-16 4-6 15, Wallace 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 32-82 17-21 87.

New York 22 26 20 12 15—95 Indiana 26 15 12 27 7—87

3-Point Goals—New York 12-36 (Ionescu 7-14, Jones 2-4, Stewart 2-5, Laney 1-3, Sabally 0-1, Thornton 0-2, Vandersloot 0-3, Johannès 0-4), Indiana 6-21 (Cannon 2-3, Boston 1-1, Berger 1-3, Mitchell 1-6, Vivi-ans 1-6, Wallace 0-1, Zahui B 0-1). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—New York 47 (Stewart 10), Indiana 40 (Boston, Vivians 9). Assists—New York 27 (Vandersloot 12), Indiana 20 (Wheeler 5). Total Fouls—New York 22, Indiana 22. A—6,123 (20,000).

SUN 84, SKY 72

CHICAGO — Tiffany Hayes scored 22 points, De-Wanna Bonner added 21 and the Connecticut Sun defeated the Chicago Sky.

Alyssa Thomas added 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Sun (15-5), who would have advanced to the Commissioner’s Cup championship game against Las Vegas if the New York Liberty hadn’t pulled out an overtime win at Indiana.

Kahleah Cooper had 22 points and Elizabeth Williams 16 for the Sky (8-12), who have lost three straight.

Bonner scored 10 points in the third quarter when the Sun turned a two-point halftime deficit into a 10-point lead.

The Sun, who have won three straight heading into the All-Star break, outscored the Sky 46-30 in the paint and had 26 points off 17 Chicago turnovers.

CONNECTICUT (84)

Allen 2-5 1-1 5, Thomas 8-13 3-6 19, Bonner 8-17 3-3 21, Hayes 8-15 2-3 22, Hiedeman 0-1 0-0 0, Carrington 5-12 1-2 11, Nelson-Ododa 0-0 0-0 0, Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Harris 3-6 0-2 6. Totals 34-69 10-17 84.

CHICAGO (72)

Copper 8-19 1-2 22, Smith 2-6 2-2 6, E.Williams 6-9 4-6 16, C.Williams 2-10 2-3 6, Mabrey 2-7 4-4 9, Bertsch 2-4 0-0 5, Hebard 0-0 0-0 0, Parks 0-0 0-0 0, Evans 3-7 1-1 8. Totals 25-62 14-18 72.

Connecticut 22 14 27 21—84 Chicago 17 21 15 19—72

3-Point Goals—Connecticut 6-20 (Hayes 4-8, Bonner 2-7, Hiedeman 0-1, Allen 0-2, Carrington 0-2), Chicago 8-20 (Copper 5-9, Bertsch 1-2, Mabrey 1-2, Evans 1-4, Smith 0-1, C.Williams 0-2). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Connecticut 30 (Hayes, Thomas 7), Chicago 31 (C.Williams, E.Williams 8). Assists—Connecticut 26 (Thomas 10), Chicago 19 (C.Williams 6). Total Fouls—Connecticut 14, Chicago 17. A—9,025 (10,387).

WINGS 107, LYNX 67

MINNEAPOLIS — Natasha Howard scored 28 with 14 rebounds, Arike Ogunbowale also had her first career double-double and the Dallas Wings blew out the Minnesota Lynx.

Satou Sabally, with five 3-pointers, and Teaira Mc-Cowan both had 19 points for the Wings (11-9). Ogunbowale had 16 with a career-high 11 assists.

Napheesa Collier had 11 points and Kayla McBride 10 for the Lynx (9-11), who gave up 113 points to Las Vegas on Sunday.

DALLAS (107)

Howard 11-20 4-6 28, Sabally 7-14 0-0 19, McCowan 8-9 3-5 19, Dangerfield 3-6 0-0 7, Ogunbowale 6-16 4-4 18, Kuier 4-5 0-0 8, Siegrist 1-3 2-2 4, Burton 0-3 0-0 0, Sims 1-3 2-2 4. Totals 41-79 15-19 107.

MINNESOTA (67)

Collier 5-12 0-0 11, Miller 4-12 1-1 9, Juhász 2-5 0-1 5, Allen 1-5 0-0 2, McBride 3-9 3-5 10, Carleton 1-3 1-1 3, Engstler 4-4 0-0 9, Milic 3-6 0-0 6, Banham 3-9 0-0 8, Traylor 2-5 0-0 4. Totals 28-70 5-8 67.

Dallas 28 22 31 26—107 Minnesota 19 15 18 15— 67

3-Point Goals—Dallas 10-26 (Sabally 5-8, Howard 2-3, Ogunbowale 2-9, Dangerfield 1-2, Burton 0-2, Siegrist 0-2), Minnesota 6-23 (Ban-ham 2-6, Engstler 1-1, Juhász 1-2, Collier 1-4, McBride 1-5, Carleton 0-1, Milic 0-2, Miller 0-2). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Dallas 43 (Howard 14), Minnesota 28 (Allen, Engstler, Milic 5). Assists—Dallas 31 (Ogunbowale 11), Minnesota 16 (Allen, Banham 6). Total Fouls—Dallas 13, Minnesota 16. A—13,531 (19,356).

DREAM 85, STORM 75

COLLEGE PARK, Ga. — Allisha Gray scored 19 points, Cheyenne Parker added 18 and Atlanta beat the Seattle Storm for the Dream’s sixth straight win.

Rhyne Howard added 15 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals, but made just 5 of 15 from the field and tied her season high with five turnovers for Atlanta (11-8).

SEATTLE (75)

Horston 8-16 4-7 23, Magbegor 0-8 0-0 0, Fankam Mendjiadeu 6-11 1-5 13, Dojkic 0-2 0-0 0, Nurse 1-5 0-0 3, Holmes 4-8 0-0 10, Williams 1-5 8-8 10, Loyd 0-0 0-0 0, Melbourne 2-5 3-4 7, Turner 0-0 0-0 0, Whitcomb 3-7 2-2 9. Totals 25-67 18-26 75.

ATLANTA (85)

Coffey 2-4 0-0 4, Howard 5-15 2-3 15, Parker 6-7 6-7 18, Gray 8-18 3-4 19, Robinson 2-3 0-0 4, Amihere 0-1 0-0 0, Billings 2-6 3-4 7, Hillmon 1-2 0-0 2, Jones 2-5 3-3 7, Rupert 1-1 0-0 2, Durr 3-7 0-0 7. Totals 32-69 17-21

85.

Seattle 17 16 16 26—75 Atlanta 27 21 21 16—85

3-Point Goals—Seattle 7-21 (Horston 3-4, Holmes 2-4, Nurse 1-4, Whitcomb 1-4, Melbourne 0-2, Williams 0-3), Atlanta 4-19 (Howard 3-10, Durr 1-4, Coffey 0-1, Gray 0-4). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Seattle 32 (Horston 10), Atlanta 45 (Coffey 7). Assists—Seattle 21 (Melbourne 5), Atlanta 18 (Howard, Robinson 5). Total Fouls—Seattle 20, Atlanta 21. A—2,546 (3,500).

MICHAEL CONROY/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Indiana Fever guard Erica Wheeler, right, defends New York Liberty guard Courtney Vandersloot in the first half of a WNBA game in Indianapolis on Wednesday.