Indiana falls to Connecticut in WNBA opener

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This article was published 14/05/2024 (850 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) — Caitlin Clark struggled early in her WNBA debut before finishing with 20 points as the Indiana Fever fell to the Connecticut Sun 92-71 on Tuesday night.

Alyssa Thomas led the Sun with 13 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds, registering the 12th triple-double of her career. DeWanna Bonner added 20 points and DiJonai Carrington had 16. She also was a major reason for Clark’s early offensive struggles, hounding the guard.

The NCAA’s all-time Division I scoring leader, who finished the game 5 for 15 from the field, had 10 turnovers and went scoreless in the first quarter. She missed her first four shots before finally getting on the board midway through the second period.

LIBERTY 85, MYSTICS 80

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jonquel Jones scored 25 points, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton added 20 and New York opened the season with an 85-80 victory over Washington.

New York trailed 67-59 entering the fourth quarter before scoring 22 of the next 29 points, going ahead for good at 72-71 with 5:56 left on a basket by Laney-Hamilton. She also stole an inbounds pass and converted a layup to make it 79-74 with 3:30 remaining.

Brittney Sykes scored eight straight points for Washington, including a layup on three straight possessions, to get within 81-80 with 2 minutes to go. But the Mystics would not score again, including a possession late that included two offensive rebounds.

Sabrina Ionescu gave New York a three-point lead with 15.8 seconds left and Karlie Samuelson was short on a long 3-pointer at the other end. Ionescu was fouled again and made two free throws to seal it with 0.2 left.

LYNX 83, STORM 70

SEATTLE (AP) — Alanna Smith scored 16 of her career-high 22 points in the first half, Napheesa Collier scored seven of her 20 points during a decisive fourth-quarter run, and Minnesota beat Seattle, spoiling the Seattle debuts of Skylar Diggins-Smith and Nneka Ogwumike.

Smith carried the Lynx in the first half before Collier took over late, and Minnesota leaned on its defense to frustrate the Storm into a difficult night at the offensive end. Seattle’s Jewell Loyd, last year’s leading scorer in the WNBA at 24.7 points, was held to 10 points on 3-of-19 shooting.

The opener was supposed to be the unveiling of the new-look Storm after they finished with the second-worst record in the league at 11-29 last season following the departure of Breanna Stewart in free agency and the retirement of Sue Bird.

Bird, who recently became part of Seattle’s ownership group, was in her courtside seat for the opener to see how Diggins-Smith and Ogwumike meshed with their new team. Diggins-Smith returned to the floor after missing the 2023 season while on maternity leave and Ogwumike left behind Southern California for the first time in her WNBA career to sign with Seattle after spending her first 12 seasons with the Los Angeles Sparks.

ACES 89, MERCURY 80

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A’ja Wilson had 30 points and 13 rebounds, and two-time champion Las Vegas opened their season by holding off a late rally by Phoenix.

Jackie Young added 23 points for Las Vegas and Kelsey Plum scored 19. Diana Taurasi led the Mercury with 23 points, Kahleah Copper scored 19 and Natasha Cloud and Rebecca Allen each finished with 14.

Before the game, the Aces were given their championship rings and the banner was unveiled, raised and placed next to the 2022 one. Then at the game’s first timeout, the announced sellout crowd of 10,419 was encouraged to sing along with “We are the Champions.” That’s the largest-ever crowd for the Aces in Michelob Ultra Arena.

Aces minority owner and seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert and Las Vegas Raiders coach Antonio Pierce were among those sitting courtside.