Mabrey’s 26 points lead Sun to first win of the season, 85-83 over Fever
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) shoots over New York Liberty guard Marine Johannes (23) in the second half of a WNBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Marina Mabrey scored 15 of her 26 points in the third quarter, Tina Charles added 18 points and the Connecticut Sun snapped a five-game, season-opening losing streak with an 85-83 victory over the short-handed Indiana Fever on Friday night.
Indiana was without star Caitlin Clark, who missed her second game due to a strained left quad. Clark was injured while playing against New York on Saturday.
Connecticut led 74-59 early in the fourth quarter before the Fever stormed back and scored 16 straight points to take the lead.
Indiana, which hit only three of its first 12 3-point attempts, used a 19-2 run that was highlighted by three straight 3s for a 78-76 lead with 2:46 left.
The teams combined to make a 3-pointer on four consecutive possessions, with Lexie Hull’s corner 3 pulling Indiana within 82-81. Mabrey answered with a jumper from the line for a three-point lead with 1:15 left.
Connecticut rookie Saniya Rivers went 1 of 2 at the line with 5.8 seconds left for an 85-83 lead. After a timeout, Kelsey Mitchell mishandled an inbounds pass and was well short on a corner 3-pointer at the buzzer with Charles defending.
Rivers finished with 12 points and six assists for Connecticut.
Aliyah Boston had 17 points, five rebounds and seven assists for Indiana. Mitchell and Bonner finished with 13 points apiece.
LIBERTY 85, MYSTICS 63
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sabrina Ionescu hit four 3-pointers and finished with 28 points, Jonquel Jones had 14 points and 18 rebounds, and unbeaten New York beat Washington.
The defending WNBA champion Liberty (6-0) are off to the best start in franchise history.
Brittney Sykes hit two free throws to cut Washington’s deficit to four about three minutes into the second half but Ionescu was fouled as she hit a runner and made the free throw 12 seconds later to spark a 16-0 run that made it 63-43 with 1:54 left in the third quarter.
Sykes led Washington with 20 points. Kiki Iriafen scored 12 and Sonia Citron 10.
The Mystics had scoring droughts of six-plus minutes in the third quarter and four-plus minutes in the fourth. Washington shot 28% (21 of 74) from the field, 4 of 16 from 3-point range.
ACES 96, SPARKS 81
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A’ja Wilson had 35 points and 13 rebounds and Las Vegas bounced back from a 20-point loss five days earlier to beat Los Angeles.
This was the highest-scoring game for Wilson, who also had six assists, since her 41-point performance Sept. 1 at Phoenix. Jackie Young added 26 points for the Aces (3-2) and Chelsea Gray had 15.
Kelsey Plum led the Sparks (2-5) with 17 points, Odyssey Sims scored 15 points and former Dearica Hamby had 14. Plum and coach Lynne Roberts were hit with technical fouls for arguing with officials on separate occasions.
The Aces, expected to be WNBA title contenders, entered this game off a slow start to the season that included a 102-82 loss at Seattle on Sunday.
LYNX 74, MERCURY 71
PHOENIX (AP) — Natisha Hiedeman made a 3-pointer with 5.1 seconds remaining to lift undefeated Minnesota to a victory over Phoenix.
Hiedeman’s clutch shot gave Minnesota the lead for just the second time in the fourth quarter. After a timeout, Sami Whitcomb missed a 25-footer for Phoenix.
Minnesota trailed 71-68 with a minute to go but Courtney Williams hit a 3-pointer to tie it with 53 seconds remaining.
Kayla McBride scored 20 points and Alanna Smith had 19 for the Lynx (6-0). Williams had 11 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
Satou Sabally had 26 points and 11 rebounds for Phoenix (4-2). Kalani Brown had 15 points on 7-for-8 shooting, and Whitcomb added 13 points.
DREAM 94, STORM 87
SEATTLE (AP) — Rhyne Howard scored a season-high 33 point, Allisha Gray added a career-best 28 and Atlanta overcame a 17-point deficit to beat Seattle for their fourth victory in a row.
Seattle led by 17 points early in the third quarter but the Dream (5-2) scored 14 of the next 20 and Gray hit a 3-pointer to cap an 11-0 run that cut it to 61-59 with 2:48 left in the period. Gray made 2 of 3 from the free-throw line to give Atlanta its first lead since 3-2 and followed with a 3-pointer than made it 75-70 about 2 1/2 minutes into the fourth.
Howard and Gray, who had seven points on 2-of-6 shooting at halftime, combined to scored 40 second-half points. Brionna Jones finished with 15 points and Naz Hillmon added 11 points and six rebounds, five offensive.
Skylar Diggins hit a pull-up jumper that pulled the Storm to 82-80 with 3:12 left in the game but Gray answered 14 seconds later with two free throws and Howard scored six points from there to seal it.