NEW YORK (AP) — Breanna Stewart scored 22 points and Leonie Fiebich, playing her first game since July 3, added 20 to help the New York Liberty beat the Indiana Fever 109-102 on Saturday night.
Jonquel Jones added 19 points and 10 rebounds for New York (23-15) in an entertaining game.
With the game tied at 100, Stewart made one of two free throws and then after Indiana missed, Fiebich had a basket and was fouled with 57.5 seconds. She missed the ensuing foul shot.
Caitlin Clark drove, but missed a running layup and Fiebich grabbed the rebound. Pauline Astier was fouled with 29.0 seconds left and hit both free throws to make it a five-point game.
Indiana (24-14) couldn’t recover.
Both teams knew how important this game was with playoff positioning at stake as the standings are so tight for the third through eighth spots. New York led by four at the half and then Sabrina Ionescu and Fiebich got going. The pair combined for 19 of the Liberty’s 31 points in the period as New York extended its lead to 85-78 heading into the fourth.
Indiana rallied to tie it on Kelsey Mitchell’s 3-pointer with 1:44 left. Mitchell finished with 25 points. Aliyah Boston had 22 and Clark 21.
SPARKS 77, SUNS 68
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rae Burrell scored 20 points and Los Angeles ended a six-game losing streak with a win over Connecticut.
Nneka Ogwumike, who announced her retirement on Wednesday, had 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Sparks (13-24), her 131st career double-double. Erica Wheeler also had 11 points and Dearica Hamby had 10.
Saniya Rivers scored 14 points off the bench to lead the Sun (9-27), who were without Brittney Griner (knee) and Aaliyah Edwards (ankle). Leila Lacan added 13 points and Kennedy Burke 10.
Los Angeles, which allows 93.6 points a game, held the league’s worst offense to 11 points below its average after giving up 124 points to Atlanta on Thursday. The Sparks did that despite giving up 30 points on 25 turnovers.
A 3-pointer from Wheeler at 6:12 of the fourth quarter produced a 77-55 lead but the Sun reeled off 13 straight for a single-digit deficit with less than two minutes to go but missed their last five shots.
DREAM 99, MERCURY 89
PHOENIX (AP) — Angel Reese scored a career-high 31 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for her 25th double-double of the season and Atlanta clinched a playoff berth with a win over Phoenix.
Rhyne Howard added 20 points, Allisha Gray had 17 and Jordin Canada 12 for the Dream (24-13), who have won five of their last six games. They moved a half-game ahead of Indiana, which lost earlier in night, for the fourth seed, with seven games to go for Atlanta.
Kahleah Copper had 38 points for the Mercury (13-24), who were in the WNBA Finals last season, but were eliminated from the playoff chase with the loss.
Alyssa Thomas had her 22nd regular-season triple-double with 11 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists. Thomas also has six triple-doubles in the playoffs. DeWanna Bonner added 12 points.
Reese, a 43% shooter for the season, was 14 of 21 from the field after going 9 of 9 the previous game. Her previous career high for points was 27 in 2024 when she was a rookie with Chicago. She has set the Atlanta single-season record for double-doubles and is three shy of the league record.
