ATLANTA (AP) — Rhyne Howard scored 21 points, Allisha Gray added 17 and Angel Reese recorded her third double-double of the season as the Atlanta Dream used a late surge to beat the Phoenix Mercury 82-80 on Sunday.
Reese finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Jordin Canada had 11 points and 14 rebounds for her first double-double of the season.
The Dream (4-1) used a 9-0 run in a span of 85 seconds to tie the game at 73 with just over a minute remaining.
Canada was fouled on a drive to the basket and converted a free throw to give Atlanta the lead. Howard hit a 3-pointer to make it a four-point game with 24 seconds remaining. The Mercury’s Kahleah Copper hit a 3-pointer on the next possession, cutting their deficit to a point.
Reese was fouled and made one of the two shots, and the Dream recovered the rebound. Gray was fouled and made both free throws to give Atlanta an 82-78 edge,
Copper was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made two of three shots with 3.5 seconds remaining for the final two-point margin.
WINGS 91, LIBERTY 76
NEW YORK (AP) — Paige Bueckers scored 24 points and Azzi Fudd added 17 of her season-high 24 in the third quarter to lift Dallas to a win over New York, spoiling the season-debut of Sabrina Ionescu.
Fudd, the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft in April, took over in the third quarter with her team trailing by one at the start of the half. She missed her first 3-pointer of the period, but then made her next five — including banking one in that gave Dallas a 66-53 lead with 3:15 left in the period.
Dallas made seven 3-pointers in the quarter to go up 71-61 heading to the final 10 minutes.
New York couldn’t make any headway in the fourth quarter as Bueckers and Arike Ogunbowale answered any Liberty challenge. Ogunbowale finished with 19 points for Dallas (4-3).
Ionescu missed New York’s first five games after suffering a foot injury in a preseason game against Connecticut. She finished with 11 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Her last points came with 5:11 left in the first half, hitting a deep 3-pointer.
STORM 97, MYSTICS 85
SEATTLE (AP) — Natisha Hiedeman tied her career high with 24 points, rookie Flau’jae Johnson scored a season-best 17, and Seattle beat Washington in a game that featured 75 total free throws, including 52 in the second half.
Seattle’s Awa Fam, the No. 3 overall draft pick, made her WNBA debut and finished with 10 points in 20 minutes. The 6-foot-4 center, who turns 20 on June 17, joined the Storm on Friday after helping Valencia win the Spanish League title. She scored her first WNBA points with a layup off a pick-and-roll with Johnson late in the second quarter.
Seattle made a season-high 13 3-pointers on 28 attempts and hit 32 of 34 (94%) shots from the line.
The Mystics hit 35 of 41 (85%) from the foul line, and shot just 20% (4 of 20) from beyond the arc.
Stefanie Dolson scored 16 points with perfect shooting. She went 3 of 3 from the field, 2 of 2 from 3-point range, and 8 of 8 from the line for the Storm (3-4). Zia Cooke added 10 points.
