Recaps: Dream, Sun, Mystics, Mercury and Storm win on Sunday

Sunday featured five games. Here are the recaps!

Dream beat Liberty, 86-77

The Liberty’s season from hell continued Sunday with a loss to the Dream. For Atlanta, Renee Montgomery scored 30 points, including a WNBA record seven threes in one half, tying the WNBA record for eight three-pointers overall. For the Liberty, Tina Charles scored 26 points, but she contributed 20 of them in the first half.

The Liberty had a 16-point lead at one point in the game, but the Dream answered with 21 consecutive points in the third quarter to erase the deficit and win their sixth consecutive game.

Sun edge Sky, 82-75

Courtney Williams scored 22 points while Jonquel Jones added 17 more off the bench to help the Sun avenge Friday’s loss to the Sky. For the Sky, Stefanie Dolson scored 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting.

Chicago had some strong moments in the second and fourth quarters. However, a 27-8 Connecticut run in the third quarter proved to be the difference in this game along with winning the battle of the rebounds. Connecticut grabbed 51 rebounds as a team while Chicago grabbed just 33.

Mystics’ Atkins injured in career game against the Wings

Ariel Atkins scored a career-high 26 points in the Mystics’ 93-80 win over the Wings. While the Mystics now have their first 20-win season since 2010, Atkins was hurt in the fourth quarter after driving to the hoop:

Elena Delle Donne added 23 points and Kristi Toliver added 17 more points in the win.

For Dallas, Skylar Diggins-Smith scored 17 points. However, she also shot 5-of-21 from the field to hit those numbers.

The Mystics were in control for most of this game, especially in the second quarter when Elena Delle Donne started getting hot and in the third quarter when Atkins started making impact three after impact three. The Wings were able to shrink the deficit to single digits, but they never seriously threatened the Mystics in this game.

After the game, the Wings’ eighth loss in a row, Fred Williams was fired as head coach by team President and CEO Greg Bibb. Assistant Coach Taj McWilliams-Franklin will be the interim head coach for the remainder of the season.

Bonner leads the Mercury to 86-78 win over the Sparks

DeWanna Bonner scored 31 points while Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner scored 20 points each to lead the Mercury to a win over the Sparks. After an even first quarter, Phoenix outscored LA 46-32 in the next two quarters to give themselves the safety net they needed to get the win.

Candace Parker led the Sparks with 23 points, but Maria Vadeeva scored a career-high 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting off the bench for LA. Could tonight’s performance be a sign of things to come for the Russian rookie?

Storm defeat Lynx, 81-72

Natasha Howard led the Storm with 21 points to defeat the Lynx while Breanna Stewart added 17 points and 17 rebounds. Though Seattle did not blow Minnesota out, they were in control of the game for nearly the entire time, where they out-scored, out-rebounded and out-assisted their opponents.

For Minnesota, Sylvia Fowles had an excellent game with 28 points and 13 rebounds. But big stats didn’t matter in the loss. Minnesota now has a 17-14 record and must win all of their three remaining games to keep their streak of 20-win seasons alive.

Playoff standings update

The Storm still have the top seed in the WNBA playoffs, but if the second-place Dream win their two remaining games, they will be the top-seeded team in the WNBA Playoffs because they hold the tiebreaker.

The Mystics have a solid grasp on third place where they are just 1.5 games behind Atlanta for the second seed. Washington is two games ahead of the Connecticut Sun who are fourth.

The Sparks, Mercury, Lynx and Wings hold the fifth through eighth seeds, respectively. The Wings are just one game ahead of the Aces, who beat the Indiana Fever on Saturday night.