NEW YORK (AP) — Breanna Stewart scored 25 points and Natasha Cloud added 22 to help the New York Liberty beat the Las Vegas Aces 92-78 on Saturday in the season opener, right after the team unveiled its 2024 WNBA championship banner.
New York had a 15-minute ceremony before the game where the players received their championship rings and the banner was raised to the rafters of Barclays Center to the delight of the sellout crowd of 17,344.
The Liberty used the momentum and energy from that ceremony to beat the rival Aces, whom they eliminated in the WNBA playoff semifinals last year.
New York built a 14-point halftime lead before Las Vegas chipped away to get within 66-64 early in the fourth quarter. Cloud, who came to the Liberty in an offseason trade, then had consecutive three-point plays to start an 8-0 run that made it 74-64 with 5:47 left.
Las Vegas could only get within six the rest of the way.
A’ja Wilson led Las Vegas with 31 points and 16 rebounds. Jackie Young added 16 points for the Aces, who were missing reserve Crystal Bradford. Bradford was serving a one-game suspension for an incident from 2021. This was her first time on a regular-season roster since then.
FEVER 93, SKY 58
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Caitlin Clark opened the season with the third triple-double of her career, and new-look Indiana dominated the final 16 1/2 minutes to pull away from revamped Chicago.
Last season’s WNBA Rookie of the Year finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists while blocking a career-high four shots. Aliyah Boston added 19 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks, while Natasha Howard scored 15 points in her Fever debut.
DeWanna Bonner also scored seven points to move into third on the WNBA’s career scoring last, passing Tina Thompson. Bonner now has 7,489 points.
Angel Reese had 12 points and 17 rebounds for the Sky, who lost three of four last season to Indiana. Ariel Atkins added 11 points.
But the game was defined by the newest chapter in the Clark-Reese rivalry. This time, it came on a hard foul from Clark across Reese’s arm, which jarred the ball loose and knocked Reese to the floor with 4:38 left in the third quarter. When Reese jumped up to confront Clark, Fever center Aliyah Boston stepped between the two players as Clark walked away from the skirmish.
The referees upgraded Clark’s foul to a flagrant 1 and assessed technical fouls to Reese and Boston following a replay review.
But after Reese made one of two free throws and Courtney Vandersloot made a layup on the ensuing possession, Indiana closed the third quarter on a 9-0 run to take a 65-45 lead. The Sky never really threatened Indiana’s lead.
MERCURY 81, STORM 59
PHOENIX (AP) — Satou Sabally scored 27 points, Alyssa Thomas added 20 and Phoenix never trailed Saturday night as the Mercury beat Seattle in the season opener for both teams.
Thomas, who also had seven rebounds and six assists, and Sabally came to Phoenix in the offseason by way of sign-and-trade deals from Connecticut and Dallas, respectively.
Eight players made their debut for the Mercury, the most to do so in the same game for the franchise since nine did so in 1999 — the WNBA’s inaugural season.
Skylar Diggins scored 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting and Nneka Ogwumike made 5 of 10 from the field and finished with 12 points for the Storm. The rest of the team combined to shoot 23% (9 of 39).
