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Nigerian-American female Basketball forward Nneka Ogwumike Over the weekend scored 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting, to help the Los Angeles Sparks beat the Phoenix Mercury, 80-72 points in the WNBA.
Odyssey Sims added 14 points, and Candace Parker had 10 in her season debut after missing the first three games with a back injury.
Gray made a layup to give the Sparks a 57-47 lead with 6:29 left in the third quarter, but they missed their next eight field-goal attempts before Odyssey Sims hit a 3-pointer to make it 67-65 with 8:55 to play. LA led the rest of the way.
Sancho Lyttle hit a jumper to pull Phoenix within two points nearly 90 seconds later, but the Sparks answered with an 11-4 spurt—pushing their lead to 80-71 on Gray’s fadeaway jumper in the lane with 1:46 left.
Phoenix committed 10 of their 18 turnovers, and shot three of nine from the field, while being outscored 18-7 in the fourth quarter.
Lyttle, who had 18 combined points in the first three games of the season, scored 20 for the Mercury.
Kristi Toliver had 19 points, including five 3-pointers, and Washington’s backups scored 58 points to help the Mystics overcome an 18-point deficit and beat the Minnesota Lynx 90-78.
Rookie Myisha Hines-Allen had season highs of 15 points and 13 rebounds, and fellow reserves Natasha Cloud and Ariel Atkins scored 14 points apiece for the Mystics. Shatori Walker-Kimbrough added nine points, on 4-of-4 shooting, in five minutes off the bench.
Back-to-back baskets by Sylvia Fowles gave the Lynx a 24-6 lead before Toliver hit her first three late in the first quarter that ignited Washington, who scored 35 second-quarter points take a 46-39 lead into the break. Maya Moore scored 10-of-18 points in the third quarter and Minnesota led 68-66 going into the fourth.
Toliver hit back-to-back threes to give the Mystics a 74-73 lead with six minutes to go and found Atkins for three that pushed the lead into double figures with 2:15 remaining.
Fowles had 17 points, on 8-of-8 shooting, and eight rebounds for the defending champion Lynx. Minnesota swept the Mystics last year in the league semifinals.
The Seattle Storm beat the Las Vegas Aces 105-98 on Breanna Stewart’s 23 points and nine rebounds. Natasha Howard had 21 points and five rebounds, and Jewell Loyd scored 20 points, grabbed four rebounds and dished nine assists.
A’ja Willson had 27 points, eight rebounds and three assists, Nia Coffey had 23 points and three rebounds, while Kayla McBride had 21 points, for rebounds and three assists for the Acers.
