Recap: Dream, Sun, Aces and Sparks win big on Sunday

Sunday’s games provided a lot of excitement. Here are the recaps!

Dream win over the Storm 87-74, extend win streak to seven

Before the Dream got on their win streak, they were below .500 and at risk of missing the playoffs for the second straight season. Today, they are now 15-9 and on a franchise-high seven-game win streak!

Elizabeth Williams, Angel McCoughtry and Tiffany Hayes scored a combined 49 points in the win and took advantage of a 47-34 first half to put Seattle away early. Breanna Stewart led the Storm with 31 points while Sue Bird added 12 points and 6 assists.

Bird also became the WNBA’s all-time leader in games played, making her the WNBA’s standard of longevity. On top of that Bird, doesn’t show any signs of hanging up her basketball shoes anytime soon.

Sun blow out the Wings, 92-75

Sometimes, teams need to face pressure in order to perform at their best. The Connecticut Sun started off this season on a high note, but they have steadily fallen to eighth in the WNBA standings and were just one game ahead of the ninth place Aces. If things didn’t change quickly, Vegas would play their way into the playoffs while Connecticut would sit at home.

For most of Sunday, the Sun answered the bell as they blew out the Dallas Wings, who are now on a two-game losing streak. Shekinna Stricklen led the way with a season-high 24 points due to eight drained three-pointers!

Liz Cambage still did Liz Cambage things as she scored 25 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished 5 assists. But Dallas was out-rebounded and out-assisted, and shot just 4-of-21 (23 percent) from three.

With the win, the Sun maintain their thin margin over the Aces. Meanwhile, the Wings fall to seventh place.

Aces defeat Fever, 88-74, keep heat on the Sun

The Sun played today’s game as if it were a must-win matchup. And, for good reason: a playoff spot is within their sights. The Aces hosted the Fever and kept the pressure on, resulting in a win over the 12th place Fever.

Like most Fever games this season, Indiana kept things competitive, at least early on. They were only behind 40-37 at halftime. However, the Aces’ depth and talent came through in the second half.

A’ja Wilson scored 24 points, but she also shot 8-of-14 (57 percent) from the field, which is much more efficient than her season average of just 44 percent, which is low for a post player who doesn’t make threes.

For Indiana, Natalie Achonwa may not be happy her team lost Sunday, but she had an excellent game, scoring 21 points on 10-of-13 shooting on Sunday.

Sparks blow out the Sky after slow start, 93-76

After losing to the Fever last Friday, the Sparks stayed sluggish early on in their road match against the Sky. But after that, it was LA the rest of the way. Candace Parker scored 23 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and dished 7 assists, while every other Sparks starter scored in double digits to make easy work of the Sky, who are squarely at 11th place in the WNBA standings. The Sparks remain in third place.

Watch Parker’s highlights in the video below:

Though the Sky lost, Courtney Vandersloot still finished with a double-double — 15 points and 10 assists — while Stefanie Dolson scored a season-high 20 points and dished seven assists of her own. Dolson, who had a sluggish stretch earlier this month, has now scored in double digits in each of her last five games. Chicago will need Dolson to keep playing like this for the rest of the season so they can finish the second half of the season on a strong note.