Allisha Gray scored a game-high 27 points to help the Atlanta Dream post a 75-73 victory over the visiting Minnesota Lynx on Thursday in College Park, Ga.

Rhyne Howard added 16 points for the Dream (23-13), who have won eight of their last 10 games and sit atop the Eastern Conference standings. Atlanta trails Minnesota by 5 1/2 games for the league’s best record.

Bridget Carleton paced the Lynx (28-7) with 16 points. Jessica Shepard had 15 points and 16 rebounds, while Kayla McBride also chipped in 15 points for Minnesota, which lost back-to-back games for the first time this season. Alanna Smith added 10 points and Courtney Williams led the team with nine assists.

Trailing by six entering the fourth, Atlanta scored the first 12 points of the final quarter, taking a 66-60 lead on Te-Hina Paopao’s triple.

Howard’s second 3-pointer later gave the Dream a five-point advantage at the 1:32 mark, before Smith answered with a triple to pull the Lynx within two. After an Atlanta turnover, Gray rebounded Smith’s missed layup and Maya Caldwell knocked down a pair of free throws to give Atlanta a 75-71 lead with 22.4 seconds remaining.

Shepard’s layup then cut Minnesota’s deficit in half, before Atlanta committed its second eight-second violation in the final minute. Ultimately, the Lynx weren’t able to get a shot off at the buzzer en route to a rare loss.

Leading by two points at halftime, Atlanta began the third quarter on a 6-0 run to jump out to a 48-40 advantage. Layups from Williams and Smith were then followed by McBride’s triple to pull the Lynx’s deficit to a point with 7:20 left in the third.

After Brionna Jones’ layup gave Atlanta a 52-47 lead, Minnesota finished the quarter on a 13-2 run to take a six-point lead into the fourth.

After falling behind by nine points early, Atlanta finished the opening quarter on a 10-0 run – including four points each from Brittney Griner and Howard – to grab a 25-24 edge entering the second quarter.

A string of Atlanta triples from Caldwell, Paopao and Gray extended Atlanta’s lead to 42-32 with 3:58 remaining in the second quarter, before McBride and Smith’s layups were followed by Shepard’s consecutive baskets to help the Lynx trim their halftime deficit to 42-40.

-Field Level Media

Kamilla Cardoso scored 22 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and dished five assists as the Chicago Sky upset the host New York Liberty 91-85 on Thursday to end a five-game losing streak.

The Sky outshot the Liberty 50 percent to 41.7 percent. Chicago outrebounded New York 42-27, and the visitors had a 52-26 advantage on points in the paint.

Angel Reese, in just her second game since returning from a back injury, added 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Sky. Ariel Atkins put up 19 points, and Michaela Onyenwere had 13 points.

Chicago (9-26) had lost 13 of its previous 14 contests.

Jonquel Jones led New York with a game-high 25 points thanks in part to 5-of-11 shooting from 3-point range. Sabrina Ionescu scored 16 points, but she went 0-for-5 from beyond the arc. Natasha Cloud had 14 points.

The Liberty — the reigning WNBA champions — fell to 14-5 at home and 22-14 overall.

Chicago improved to 1-2 against New York this season and 4-13 on the road.

The Liberty were again without seven-time All-Star forward Breanna Stewart, who has been idle since she sustained a bone bruise on her right knee July 26. She has promised to return prior to her 31st birthday on Wednesday.

In the final period, the score remained tight until Chicago scored the game’s final eight points. An Atkins free throw with 1:35 left snapped an 85-85 tie. The only points in the final 95 seconds were three free throws each by Atkins and Reese.

New York, in the final two minutes, went 0-for-4 from the floor and also had a turnover.

New York led 23-22 after the first quarter after Marine Johannes sank two 3-pointers in the final 67 seconds.

The Liberty finished the second quarter strong as well. This time, it was Cloud who made a 3-pointer with 0.7 seconds left to give New York a 46-44 edge at halftime.

New York led 68-65 entering the fourth, making it three straight quarters during which the Liberty outscored the Sky by one point before Chicago outscored New York 26-17 in the fourth quarter.

–Field Level Media

Tina Charles scored 12 of her 21 points in the third quarter on Thursday, lifting the Connecticut Sun to a home-and-home sweep of the Washington Mystics with a 67-56 victory in Uncasville, Conn.

Charles made 6 of 8 shots from the floor in the third quarter and finished 9 of 14 for the game. She also had six rebounds for the Sun (8-27), who followed up their 80-69 victory in Washington on Tuesday to record back-to-back wins for the first time this season.

Charles played in her 464th game to move past Tangela Smith into 10th place all-time in league history.

Former Mystic Aaliyah Edwards scored 10 points and Olivia Nelson-Ododa added eight off the bench.

Connecticut benefited from a season-high 15 steals and turned 20 turnovers into 20 points. The Sun also held a 34-27 edge in rebounds and 38-28 advantage in points in the paint.

Sonia Citron scored 15 points and fellow rookie Kiki Iriafen added 13 to go along with 10 rebounds for the Mystics (16-20), who fell two full games behind the Seattle Storm for the eighth and final playoff spot. Washington dropped to 6-12 on the road this season.

Connecticut was nursing a seven-point lead at halftime before Charles sank a pair of mid-range jumpers to start the third quarter. She mixed in an off-balance hook shot with a 19-foot shot on consecutive possessions before adding another pair of mid-range jumpers.

Nelson-Ododa and Edwards each converted a short basket and a free throw to extend the Sun’s lead to 62-47 with 7:07 remaining in the fourth quarter. Connecticut wasn’t seriously challenged the rest of the way.

Stefanie Dolson sank a 3-pointer to trim the Sun’s lead to 21-16 early in the second quarter before Connecticut ignited a 9-0 run. Washington, however, halved its deficit with a 10-3 run to end the quarter.

–Field Level Media

On the heels of her record-breaking 44-point performance, Paige Bueckers and the Dallas Wings host Seattle Friday night in Arlington, Texas.

Bueckers set the record for most points in a game by a WNBA rookie in an 81-80 loss to the LA Sparks Wednesday night. Afterwards, she acknowledged the achievement, but said she would have preferred a victory.

“I have always prided myself and the team on winning, so that’s obviously the main goal,” Bueckers said in the post-game press conference. “Honestly, I think I am just most proud of this team and the way we fight. This team means so much to me.”

Dallas (9-27) has lost eight of its last nine games and has been without standout Arike Ogunbowale with knee tendinitis for the last four games. Bueckers missed several games mid-season with a knee injury. Her 19.7 points per game average ranks fifth in the WNBA.

“People have gotten to see the struggles and injuries and the time I couldn’t play and for me to have that story and have people still follow me and still believe in me means a lot,” Bueckers said. “I am extra grateful for it and I will never take it for granted.”

The Storm (18-18) will be playing the second game of an important five-game road trip. Entering Friday, Seattle has a half-game lead on the Sparks for the last WNBA playoff spot.

Seattle has lost seven of its last nine games, but did overpower the Chicago Sky Tuesday night 94-88. Seattle has its own special rookie in 19-year-old center Dominique Malonga, who has hit double figures in six of her last eight games off the bench.

“There is nothing they can do with her when she decides what she’s going to do,” said Storm star Skylar Diggins about Malonga after the win over the Sky. “Every night she breaks records, like (being) the youngest player in WNBA history with 100 field goals. She is just scratching the surface. I tell her all the time she’s going to be a star for the next 20 years in this league.”

Seattle brought in Brittany Sykes from Washington in a trade August 5, but it hasn’t helped them in the win column. Sykes has averaged 14 points for Seattle since coming over in the deal, but the Storm are just 2-4 with her in the line-up.

Nneka Ogwumike leads the Storm with 18.4 points a game.

This will be the fourth and final meeting of the two teams Friday. Seattle has won two of three.

–Field Level Media

With three weeks left in the regular season, the WNBA already has broken the single-season attendance record by surpassing 2.5 million fans, the league confirmed Thursday.

The total attendance so far of 2,501,609 was set with 13 teams playing a total of 226 games through Wednesday.

The previous record of 2,364,736 fans was established in 2002 with 16 teams playing a total of 256 games.

Although the league’s spike in popularity largely has been attributed to the arrival of Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark in 2024, it’s worth noting that Clark has missed 22 games due to injuries this season.

–Field Level Media