After allowing 98 points in their season-opening overtime loss to the Los Angeles Sparks, the WNBA champion Chicago Sky got flat-out defensive Wednesday night.

Holding the New York Liberty to 7-of-35 shooting in the first half, Chicago established an insurmountable 19-point halftime on its way to a record-breaking 83-50 win that squared its record at 1-1.

The Sky will try to make it consecutive wins Saturday night in Minneapolis when they face the 0-3 Minnesota Lynx.

Chicago set a club record for allowing its fewest points in a game while limiting New York’s explosive offense to its lowest point total in eight years. It was also the largest margin of victory in Sky history, surpassing a 32-point win last year against Seattle.

Dana Evans, who tallied a career-high 24 points and four steals in the loss to Los Angeles, again led Chicago in scoring with 15. Evans went 3-for-3 from 3-point distance and bagged four rebounds and three assists in an impressive all-around outing, further suggesting the Sky are one of the league’s deepest teams.

“Dana is a really good player and she has a chip on her shoulder,” said Chicago coach James Wade.

The Sky also got a lift from 31-year old rookie Rebekah Gardner, a UCLA product who’s played overseas the last 10 years. Gardner scored 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting in her WNBA debut.

Meanwhile, Minnesota is still waiting for its first bit of good news, aside from the play of 36-year old center Sylvia Fowles, who’s in her final season. Retiring at the end of this season, Fowles is averaging 18.3 points and 8.7 rebounds, numbers that look similar to her career norms of 15.8 ppg and 9.8 boards.

But the Lynx are short-handed and struggling. They dropped an 82-76 decision Tuesday night at rebuilding Indiana, allowing the Fever to hit 9 of 20 3-pointers while making only 4 of 19 themselves. Minnesota also coughed up 19 turnovers, leading to 24 points.

“We’re going to spend our time tweaking and working and finding the right combination,” said Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve.

–Field Level Media

Coming off a rare losing season, the Los Angeles Sparks wanted to push the pace and pile up the points.

So far, the Sparks are meeting their goal of producing offense and hope to continue being productive in the finale of a season-opening four-game road trip when they visit the Connecticut Sun, who are playing their home opener at Uncasville, Conn.

Los Angeles (2-1) went 12-20 last season when it ranked last in the league with 72.8 points per game and were 11th in field goal percentage (41.1 percent), resulting in its first losing season since 2015 and seventh in team history.

To avoid a repeat of its disappointing season, the Sparks added Liz Cambage in free agency along with perimeter players Jordin Canada, Katie Lou Samuelson and Chennedy Carter. While Samuelson has yet to appear, Canada and Cambage each have averaged 16.7 points per game, while Neneka Ogwumike is at 16.3 points.

The Sparks are averaging 86.7 points, fourth best in the WNBA heading into play Friday, while shooting 43.8 percent. Los Angeles opened the season by shooting 49.2 percent in a seven-point overtime win at Chicago and a 47.9 percent in a 10-point win at Indiana on Sunday but dropped to 34.7 percent in a 77-75 loss at Atlanta on Wednesday.

“For a new group, and not having a lot of experience together, (they) still remain calm through adversity on the road,” Sparks coach Derek Fisher said. “Often it takes a little time for a team to stay together on the road. … I think our veteran leaders are setting a great example of how to stay the course and continue to play one possession at a time.

The Sun (0-1), had the league’s top regular season record last season at 26-6 before falling to the eventual champion Chicago Sky in the semifinals. They are again among preseason picks to win the title.

But Connecticut dropped its season-opener 81-79 to the New York Liberty last Saturday.

Alyssa Thomas, who was limited to seven games last season while recovering from a torn Achilles tendon, scored 25 points. Reigning WNBA MVP Jonquel Jones added 15, but the Sun shot 42.2 percent, missed 13 of 17 attempts from 3-point range and committed 15 turnovers.

“I thought we competed hard,” Sun coach Curt Miller said. “I thought at times we got outhustled. We tried to play with more tempo.”

–Field Level Media

The Phoenix Mercury are looking to defeat the Seattle Storm for the second time in four days when they meet on Saturday afternoon in Seattle.

Five players scored in double figures for the Mercury (1-1) in Wednesday’s 97-77 win over the short-handed Storm (1-2), who have lost two in a row.

Tina Charles paced Phoenix with a 22-point, 11-rebound double-double. The former league MVP knocked down three of her four attempts from 3-point distance.

“I just always want to get better,” Charles said. “I know my game still has a ways to go. I’m always looking at Diana (Taurasi) and she’s always looking for ways to get better. She’s never satisfied and like I said, she has high standards and believes in me, so when we’re playing our two-man game and I have a three, she tells me to take it, so I take it.”

Like Charles, Taurasi had a hot hand, burying four 3-pointers and scoring 15 points against Seattle as she helped deliver head coach Vanessa Nygaard’s first WNBA win.

“I’m just happy to see our team make progress,” Nygaard said. “For myself as a coach, I learned a lot during the game.”

The Storm were without three key players in Wednesday’s loss. Breanna Stewart and Epiphanny Prince are both currently out due to the league’s COVID-19 health and safety protocol. Mercedes Russell remains out with a non-basketball-related injury.

Jewell Loyd scored a season-best 26 points for Seattle, which will look to get back on track. Limiting mistakes will be key. The Storm had 15 turnovers Wednesday.

“Some of the things we have been talking about as a team defensively, we have to continue to grow and get better at,” Seattle head coach Noelle Quinn said. “Obviously taking care of the ball is one of those things. They scored off every one of our turnovers.”

–Field Level Media