Fever 88, Mercury 82

Caitlin Clark had 15 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds and Indiana rallied for a victory over Phoenix on Sunday.

Clark was just 4 of 14 from the field, and 2 of 10 from 3-point range. But she made a pair of free throws with 19.9 seconds to play to put the Fever up three. Indiana had trailed by as many as 15 in the first half.

Kelsey Mitchell’s basket with 35 seconds to play gave Indiana the lead for good. She made two free throws with 12.9 seconds to go to seal it.

Aliyah Boston had 17 points and eight rebounds and NaLyssa Smith had 12 points and 15 rebounds for the Fever, who closed out June 7-4 after going 1-8 in May. Temi Fagbenle had 10 points for Indiana.

Brittney Griner scored 24 points, Diana Taurasi had 19 and Natasha Cloud score 15 for Phoenix.

Kahleah Copper, who entered Sunday third in the WNBA at 22.7 points per game, scored just seven points on 3-of-15 shooting before fouling out in the final seconds, but had most of the responsibility of guarding Clark.

It was the first on-court meeting between Taurasi and Clark. Taurasi, 42, is the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer and is in her 20th WNBA season. She was a student at Connecticut when Clark was born. The Fever rookie said before the game Taurasi was one of her idols going back to when she first learned about the WNBA.

When Clark was drafted No. 1 overall after a career at Iowa that saw her lead the Hawkeyes to back-to-back NCAA Championship games, Taurasi said, “Reality is coming,” when asked about Clark entering the league. Later Taurasi said that she meant that it would be a difficult transition to pro basketball.

The Mercury jumped to an 8-0 lead and was ahead 49-38 at halftime, with Griner and Taurasi each scoring 13 points. The Fever went on a 17-0 run to lead by as many as 10 points in the third quarter, but Phoenix closed with 67-64 at the end of the period.

There were two skirmishes during the first half, both during dead ball situations. Griner was assessed a technical foul while the teams were lining up for a free throw in the first quarter, and the second one occurred after a foul had been called and the teams got into it while huddling near each other under the Indiana basket.

Two players from each team were given technicals — Fagbenle and Erica Wheeler for the Fever, and Copper and Cloud for the Mercury.

In the final minute of the half, Smith was charged with a flagrant-1 foul against Taurasi. Cloud later received a flagrant-1 for a foul against Katie Lou Samuelson, who made both free throws to cut the deficit to 78-77 with 2:17 remaining.

Phoenix hosts Connecticut on Monday. Indiana finishes a five-game road trip at Las Vegas on Tuesday.

Liberty 81, Dream 75

Breanna Stewart had 22 points and 12 rebounds to help New York rally to beat Atlanta.

New York, which was down 16 in the first half, led 60-59 heading into the fourth quarter. The Liberty (16-3) scored the first 10 points of the period, started on a free throw by Stewart. The Dream, who were coming off a win at Connecticut on Friday night, cut it to 70-67 before back-to-back 3s by Sabrina Ionescu and Leonie Fiebich put the game away.

"We continued to compete, playing our style of basketball," Stewart said of recovering from the slow start. "We had some off days we weren't used to and had to get the rhythm back."

New York, which hadn't played since losing to Minnesota in the Commissioner's Cup final on Tuesday, also got 18 points from Betnijah Laney-Hamilton.

Stewart scored her 5,000th career point, becoming the fastest player to reach that milestone doing it in her 242nd game. Diana Taurasi, the all-time leading scorer in WNBA history, did it in 243.

Allisha Gray had 24 points and Tina Charles added 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Dream (7-10). Atlanta was still missing Rhyne Howard (ankle) and Aerial Powers (leg) with injuries.

"At some point we'll be able to put it all together hopefully when we have everyone back full force," Atlanta coach Tanisha Wright said. "Tonight our crew played hard, they got fatigued. when you get fatigued, it's hard to push through and do the things you're supposed to do because you let fatigue take over. I don't fault them for that."

This was a homecoming for Charles, who grew up in New York and played for the Liberty from 2014-19. She received a warm ovation from the crowd when she was introduced pregame.

New York put Courtney Vandersloot back in the starting lineup for the first time since she spent a few weeks away to be with her mom before she passed away from cancer. The guard left the team at the beginning of the month and then played in her first game since June 4 in the Commissioner's Cup final last Tuesday.

The Liberty were down 31-15 early in the second quarter and trailed by 14 with 1:40 left in the half before Stewart and Vandersloot rallied them to 41-36 at the break. Stewart missed six of her first seven shots before finishing by hitting four of her last five to finish the half with 12 points.

Lynx 70, Sky 62

Kayla McBride scored 16 points, Napheesa Collier had 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Minnesota spoiled a record-setting day from Chicago rookie Angel Reese, rallying for a victory.

Reese broke a WNBA single-season record with her 10th straight double-double, finishing with 10 points and 16 rebounds. Candace Parker of the Los Angeles Sparks set the previous record in 2015.

McBride made two 3-pointers and added five rebounds and five assists for the Western Conference-leading Lynx (14-4), who were coming off a 94-88 loss at last-place Dallas that ended their seven-game winning streak.

Collier had six assists while recording her 11th double-double of the season. Alanna Smith had 11 points and seven rebounds.

Reese had a poor shooting day, going 4 of 16 from the floor and 2 of 4 from the free-throw line. She got to 10 points on the second of two free throws with 23 seconds to play.

Chennedy Carter scored 15 points for Chicago. Lindsay Allen made three 3-pointers and scored 13, adding seven assists and six rebounds. Marina Mabrey scored 11 on 4-of-17 shooting.

The Lynx trailed by 51-42 on a jumper by Carter with 2:58 left in the third quarter but cut the deficit to by five at the end of the period on a long jumper at the buzzer by Collier.

Minnesota clamped down defensively in the fourth quarter, outscoring Chicago 18-5.

A three-point play by Courtney Williams put the Lynx up 61-59 with 3:14 to go. McBride sank four straight free throws and Minnesota maintained a two-possession lead over the final two minutes.

The Lynx held the Sky to 30.5% shooting from the floor after allowing the last-place Wings to shoot 48.7%, make 9 of 15 from beyond the arc and score the most points against them this season.

Chicago selected Reese with the seventh overall pick in the draft, a spot Minnesota traded down from.

The Sky fell to 3-7 at home.