LAS VEGAS (AP) — Rickea Jackson scored a career-high 30 points, Azura Stevens had 19 points and 10 rebounds and the Los Angeles Sparks beat the Las Vegas Aces 97-89 on Wednesday night.
The Aces were without star center A’ja Wilson for the final 11 minutes of the game after she left with 1:17 left in the third quarter with a head injury. She was accidentally hit in the face on Dearica Hamby’s drive to the basket.
Jackson went 11 of 17 from the field, including 4 of 8 from 3-point range, and 4 of 5 at the free-throw line to top her previous best of 25 points against Dallas last season.
Hamby scored 19 points for Los Angeles (4-7) to go with eight rebounds and seven assists. Kelsey Plum had 13 points and nine assists against her former team.
Jackie Young tied her career high with 34 points and Chelsea Gray added 28 for Las Vegas (4-4), which has lost two straight games. Wilson was 2 of 12 from the field and 9 of 10 at the free-throw line to finish with 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists in 28 minutes.
STORM 94, LYNX 84
SEATTLE (AP) — Nneka Ogwumike had 21 points and 10 rebounds, Erica Wheeler added 20 points and six assists and Seattle ended Minnesota’s season-opening winning streak at nine, beating the Lynx.
After Minnesota had a basket taken away following an official review for a shot-clock violation, Skylar Diggins made a 3-pointer to give Seattle (6-4) an 83-79 lead. Diggins also found Ezi Magbegor under the basket for a six-point advantage.
Kayla McBridemade a 3-pointer from the wing with 1:07 left to pull Minnesota (9-1) to 85-84, but Wheeler answered with a 3-pointer at the other end. After Alanna Smith missed an open layup under the basket, Wheeler added two free throws with 25 seconds left to seal it.
Diggins finished with 18 points and six assists for Seattle. Magbegor had 13 points and eight rebounds, and Gabby Williams had 12 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and four steals.
Napheesa Collier had 25 points, nine rebounds and five assists for Minnesota. McBride added 19 points, going 5 of 11 from 3-point range.
MERCURY 93, WINGS 80
PHOENIX (AP) — Satou Sabally had 20 points and 10 rebounds against her former team, Alyssa Thomas added 11 points and 10 assists, and Phoenix beat Dallas to spoil Paige Bueckers’ 35-point performance.
Bueckers, who returned after missing four games due to concussion protocol and an illness, made her first six shots of the game and finished 13 of 19. She became the fourth rookie in Dallas history to score 30-plus points in a single game, with Arike Ogunbowale the last to do it in 2019.
But the rest of the Wings combined to go 16 of 48 (33%) from the field.
Kitija Laksa had 14 points and four 3-pointers for Phoenix (7-4). Kathryn Westbeld scored all 11 of her points in the first half and Lexi Held also finished with 11 points.
DiJonai Carrington added 11 points and eight rebounds for Dallas (1-10). Ogunbowale was just 2-of-10 shooting for 10 points.
