Kelsey Plum scored 23 points and Azura Stevens added 21 points with 11 rebounds as the Los Angeles Sparks turned an offensive surge near halftime into a rare home victory by coming out on top 92-88 against the Connecticut Sun on Sunday.

Rickea Jackson scored 19 points and Dearica Hamby had 17 points with seven rebounds for the Sparks (7-14), who ended a six-game home losing streak to win in their own building for the second time this season and first since May 25.

Los Angeles went on a 6-0 run to close out the first half and put together a 10-1 run to open the second half while ending its 13-game losing streak to Connecticut.

Bria Hartley scored a game-high 25 points and Saniya Rivers added 20 points for the Sun (3-18), who lost for the 12th time in their last 13 games. Connecticut leading scorer Tina Charles was held to nine points on 3-of-10 shooting.

The Sun were playing without Marina Mobley (knee) for the eighth consecutive game.

Plum gave the Sparks an 88-85 lead with 2:08 remaining on a step-through left-handed layup. After a Sun turnover, Plum made a pair of free throws for a 90-85 lead with 1:28 on the clock.

Rivers made just one of two free throws for Connecticut with 47 seconds remaining, while Leila Lacan missed a fastbreak layup attempt with 6.4 seconds remaining while under pressure from Hamby.

Connecticut got off to a hot start, shooting 54.5 percent from the floor in the first quarter to take a 30-27 lead. The Sun increased their advantage to as many as eight points in the second quarter before taking a 49-47 lead into halftime.

Jackson led all scorers in the first half with 17 points for the Sparks, while Hartley scored 12 points for the Sun.

Plum moved into sole possession of 15th on the all-time list of 3-pointers made at 537 with a shot from long range in the first quarter. She made 3 of 7 from distance for the game.

Both teams have one game remaining before the All-Star break.

–Field Level Media

The Washington Mystics tallied 27 fourth-quarter points and overcame a poor shooting night from distance to knock off the host Seattle Storm 74-69 on Sunday and climb above the .500 mark for the first time since May.

Led by rookie All-Star Kiki Iriafen, Shakira Austin and leading scorer Brittney Sykes (17.5 points per game), Washington held down the paint. The Mystics outrebounded the Storm 36-29 and outscored them 48-30 in the paint to claim their third win in a row, matching a season high. Iriafen, with 10 points and 10 rebounds, matched the franchise’s single-season rookie record with six double-doubles.

Ezi Magbegor led Seattle with a season-high 19 points.

The Mystics entered the fourth quarter down by 55-47 before outscoring Seattle 27-14 in the final frame.

Washington’s second rookie All-Star, Sonia Citron, went on a personal 5-0 run to help snatch the lead from Seattle and take a 62-61 advantage with 4:28 left in the game. She finished the night with 17 points.

Sykes, who tallied a team-high 19 points, converted a layup to put Washington up by three with 20 seconds left. Facing a 72-69 deficit, the Storm’s Skylar Diggins caught a pass in the corner but narrowly stepped out of bounds, turning it over to effectively seal the game with 17 seconds left.

Diggins, who leads Seattle in points and assists per game, had a quiet shooting night, going 4-for-14 from the field and scoring only 10 points.

The third frame swung the game in Seattle’s favor, as it outscored Washington 27-16 and took an eight-point lead.

Washington’s offense looked anemic for most of the third quarter. After Stefanie Dolson made a three at the 9:28 mark, the Mystics didn’t convert another field goal for almost eight minutes. They notched only four paint points in the quarter, and their shooting remained cold.

The visitors misfired on 11 of 14 shots from behind the arc for the contest.

In the first quarter, Washington’s defensive tenacity seemed to roll over from their 70-68 win over the Las Vegas Aces on Thursday. Seattle started the game 3-for-18 from the field, with two of their made attempts being 3-pointers from forward Nneka Ogwumike, who scored 16 points in the game.

Still, the Storm found themselves down only 16-10 after one quarter.

Seattle’s offense shook off the slow start in the second quarter, taking a 22-20 lead on a Gabby Williams layup at the 6:41 mark. Despite poor shooting, the Mystics rallied and led 31-28 at halftime. Washington went 0-for-7 from three and 5-for-11 on free throws in the first half.

Both teams struggled with turnovers in the first half, committing eight each.

–Field Level Media

Two surprise teams in the Western Conference go head-to-head for a second time — this time at closer to full strength — when the Phoenix Mercury visit the Golden State Valkyries on Monday night in San Francisco.

The clubs met in Phoenix as part of the Commissioner’s Cup on June 5, with rookie Lexi Held pouring in a season-best 24 points off the bench in an 86-77 Mercury home win.

Phoenix played that game without two of its top three scorers, missing Kahleah Copper (arthroscopic surgery on left knee) and All-Star forward Alyssa Thomas (strained left calf).

While Thomas has returned to play in the last 10 games, during which the Mercury have gone 8-2, Copper wasn’t able to make her season debut until June 15. She has since suffered a strained right hamstring, causing her to miss two more games and she reportedly is out for Monday’s contest.

Without Copper, the Mercury are coming off an impressive homestand in which they beat the Dallas Wings 102-72 before handing the Minnesota Lynx just their third defeat, 79-71. Sami Whitcomb exploded for a career-high 36 points in the win over the Wings, before Thomas led the way against the Lynx with 29.

The Mercury, a below-.500 team in 2024 (19-21), are 14-6 this season and trail only the Lynx (18-4) in the West. Coach Nate Tibbetts believes the best is still to come.

“It’s a really new team. I believe our three best players have played three games together this year, maybe four,” Tibbetts noted to reporters last week. “So we’re still building.”

Meanwhile, the expansion Valkyries held their own on a just-completed four-game trip in which they lost three times by a total of 22 points to the Lynx, Atlanta Dream and Las Vegas Aces. Interspersed was a decisive 80-61 win in Indianapolis over the Indiana Fever.

The Valkyries faced the Mercury last month without second-leading scorer Tiffany Hayes (nose injury), then went through an extended period without Janelle Salaun, Cecilia Zandalasini and Temi Fagbenle as they represented their respective countries in EuroBasket.

Those three contributed a total of 41 points to the 104-102 loss in Las Vegas on Saturday.

The Valkyries had their best offensive game of the year against the Aces but also set a season high in points allowed. The latter bothered coach Natalie Nakase more than the former impressed her.

“We never know what our shooting percentage is going to be. It’s something that’s out of our control,” she told a media gathering after the loss. “But most importantly, we are going to win based on our defense, so we have to show up (defensively) every day.”

–Field Level Media

Leonie Fiebich scored a game-high 21 points on 8-of-9 shooting as the host New York Liberty rallied from a 19-point, first-half deficit to defeat the Atlanta Dream 79-72 on Sunday afternoon.

Breanna Stewart had 18 points, 10 rebounds and four assists for New York. She was also clutch. After Atlanta put together a 6-0 run late in the fourth quarter to cut its deficit to four points, Stewart had two assists and two buckets in New York’s next four possessions.

The Liberty – the reigning WNBA champions – have won two straight games and three of their past four.

Atlanta has done the opposite, losing two straight and three of four.

Through three quarters, Fiebich had a game-high 16 points on 6-for-6 shooting, including 4-for-4 on 3-pointers. She finished the game 4-of-5 on 3-pointers.

Liberty All-Star guard Sabrina Ionescu – who was coming off a 28-point game – was held to just nine points on 3-for-20 shooting, including 0-for-7 from deep. She missed her first nine shots.

Allisha Gray led Atlanta with 16 points, but she made just 3-of-13 shots, including 1-of-7 from deep.

Brittney Grinter had a double-double for Atlanta with 10 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks.

The Liberty got two players off the injured list for this game: Natasha Cloud (hip) and Isabelle Harrison (knee). Cloud had two points, four assists and two steals. Harrison scored nine points and added six rebounds off the bench.

However, Liberty star center Jonquel Jones (ankle) missed her 11th game of the season.

Early in the game, New York raced to a 9-4 lead. But Atlanta stormed back to take a 26-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Dream stretched their lead to 19 points in the second quarter, but Atlanta settled for a 42-31 lead at halftime.

At the start of the third quarter, New York cut its deficit to 43-38, forcing a Dream timeout.

New York finally caught Atlanta as Marine Johannes nailed a 3-pointer to tie the score 49-49 with 2:42 left in the third. Then, with 57 seconds left in the third, Fiebich hit a 3-pointer to give New York a 52-51 advantage – its first lead since the first quarter.

The Liberty entered the fourth quarter with a 55-53 lead. A 3-pointer by Nyara Sabally stretched New York’s lead to 70-60 with five minutes left, and Atlanta never got closer than a four-point deficit the rest of the way.

–Field Level Media

Kelsey Mitchell scored 20 points and Indiana relied on a 36-point second quarter and a strong all-around game from Caitlin Clark to race past the Dallas Wings 102-83 on Sunday in Indianapolis.

The Fever’s 64 first-half points was a league best for the season. Indiana shot 16-for-21 (76.2 percent) in the second quarter and 27-for-42 (64.3 percent) for the first half. Slightly more pedestrian was their 40-for-77 mark (51.9 percent) for the game.

Dallas actually took a 16-11 lead midway through the first quarter on a Paige Bueckers 3-pointer and trailed just 28-27 after the first quarter. But Indiana ran away with its second-quarter barrage (including 10 points from Natasha Howard) and never looked back.

The Fever lead stretched as far as 76-47 in the middle of the third quarter. Dallas never pulled closer than 16 points for the rest of the game.

Indiana (11-10) placed five players in double figures. In her third game back after a groin injury, Clark scored 14 points, dished a season-best 13 assists, and tied a career-high with five steals. All-Star guard Mitchell was 8-for-12 shooting. Also reaching double figures were Howard with 18 points on 8-for-9 shooting, Aliyah Boston with 17 points and reserve Sophie Cunningham with 13 points on 5-for-6 shooting.

Indiana’s 102 points tied a season best, two games after the Fever were held to 61 points by the Golden State Valkyries.

Dallas (6-16) got a strong game from star rookie Bueckers, who tallied 21 points on 9-for-15 shooting. Center Lu Yueru added 16 points and rookies JJ Quinerly (13 points) and reserve Aziaha James (11 points) also scored in double figures.

The Wings got little help from returning star Arike Ogunbowale, who had been sidelined with a thumb injury. She shot 0-for-10 from the floor and scored just two points in her return to action. The Wings committed 18 turnovers.

Indiana will next be in action on Tuesday against host Connecticut. Dallas will host Las Vegas on Wednesday ahead of Saturday’s All-Star game.

–Field Level Media

The Chicago Sky just beat the WNBA-leading Minnesota Lynx for their most noteworthy victory in a disappointing season. Repeating that feat would be even more impressive.

Aiming for a season-high third consecutive victory Monday night, the Sky will try to take down the Lynx at Chicago for the second time in three days.

In the bottom half of the league standings, Chicago (7-13) blew a 14-point lead during an 80-75 loss at Minnesota on July 6. The Sky followed with a two-point loss at Washington on Tuesday, then won 87-76 over Dallas one night later.

On Saturday, Chicago didn’t waste a 57-44 halftime lead, while shooting 46.1 percent and owning a 45-28 rebounding advantage overall for a little payback with its 87-81 victory over the Lynx (18-4).

“Either you come out and show up, or you don’t,” said Sky star Angel Reese, who had 19 points with 11 rebounds Saturday, and joined Tina Charles as the only players with at least 40 double-doubles in each of their first two seasons.

Reese, Chicago’s lone All-Star, has averaged 17.6 points and 15.5 boards in the last eight games.

Ariel Atkins (14.5 ppg) scored 27 and Kamila Cardoso added 17 points with 15 rebounds Saturday for Chicago, which is 4-4 at home.

“I think part of being a good team is being able to replicate when we have (games like Saturday),” Chicago coach Tyler Marsh said.

That won’t be easy, considering Minnesota hasn’t lost back-to-back games this season. However, the Lynx have dropped two of three after winning five in a row.

Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve expects her team to answer the bell in this rematch after being severely outplayed, especially in the first half, Saturday. The Lynx made 10 3-pointers and showed fight in the second half, but shot 39.5 percent from the field overall.

“(Chicago) had a will to win,” Reeve said.

“We can’t not show up. Cannot come out not ready to compete. … Playing hard is not an adjustment.”

After scoring 21 against the Sky last week, Lynx star and league scoring leader Napheesa Collier (23.6 ppg) dropped 26 on Saturday. She also recorded eight rebounds, five assists, three steals and three blocks.

–Field Level Media