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WNBA: Clark leads Fever past Sun in testy matchup

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Caitlin Clark had 20 points, six assists and four 3-pointers and the Indiana Fever beat the Connecticut Sun 88-71 on Tuesday night in a physical game that included three late ejections.

With 46.1 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Connecticut guard Jacy Sheldon made a steal and raced the other way before being wrapped up by Sophie Cunningham under the basket for a hard foul. Sheldon got up quickly and got into a shoving match with Cunningham, leading to Cunningham, Sheldon and Lindsay Allen all getting ejected.

Sheldon was also the center of another official review in the third quarter after she poked Clark in the eye and then Marina Mabrey came in late to shove Clark to the floor. Three technical fouls were called, leading to Clark’s three free throws for a 58-45 lead.

The Indiana win, combined with an Atlanta loss to New York, secured the Fever's spot in the Commissioner’s Cup with a 4-1 record. The Fever held the tiebreaker with the Liberty after a 102-88 win on Saturday.

Kelsey Mitchell added 17 points and Natasha Howard had 16 points and 12 rebounds for Indiana (6-5), which went above .500 for the first time since the third game of the season. Damiris Dantas scored a season-high 13 and Howard secured her 50th career double-double.

Tina Charles led Connecticut (2-9) with 20 points. Olivia Nelson-Ododa added 14 points and Jaelyn Brown scored 13.

 

Ionescu scores 34 again as Liberty rally

Sabrina Ionescu had her second consecutive 34-point game, and the New York Liberty rallied from a 17-point deficit in the second half to edge the Atlanta Dream 86-81.

The Liberty trailed 62-47 midway through the third quarter before taking over behind Ionescu’s 15 points and Breanna Stewart’s 11.

Stewart finished with 23 points.

The game marked the end of the Commissioner's Cup games. Both teams entered with 3-1 records, tied with Indiana. Atlanta would have advanced to the final with a win but Indiana, which beat Connecticut 88-71, had the tiebreaker over the Liberty thanks to the Fever handing New York its first loss of the season on Saturday.

Jonquel Jones had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Liberty (10-1).

Rookie Te-Hina Paopao led the Dream (8-4) with 16 points, all in the first half. Allisha Gray added 14 points and Brionna Jones and Rhyne Howard both had 13.

The Dream were hot to start the second half, hitting their first seven shots and racing to a 64-47 lead, the largest deficit of the season for New York. Then the Liberty closed on a 13-4 run to get within eight after three quarters.

 

Lynx lose Collier in win over Aces

Courtney Williams scored 18 of her 20 points in the second half to rally the Minnesota Lynx to a spot in the Commissioner's Cup final with a 76-62 win over the Las Vegas Aces despite losing Napheesa Collier to a bad back early in the third quarter.

The Lynx, who won the Commissioner's Cup, last year, will be home against the Indiana Fever on July 1 in a game that does not count in the standings but gives players a financial bonus.

Despite being without MVP A'ja Wilson for the third straight game, the Aces led by as many as 14 points and were up 39-30 at halftime. It was the lowest scoring half of the season for Minnesota.

Collier, runner-up in the MVP voting last year, scored her seventh point early in the second half but left at the 7:57 mark and didn't return. Alanna Smith helped pick up the slack with 10 points and 13 rebounds.

Reserves Diamond Miller and Natisha Hiedeman gave the Lynx (11-1) a big boost with 12 points each. Williams had five assists, four rebounds, three steals and two blocks.