Kelsey Plum’s 2nd-half showcase leads Aces past Sun in battle of WNBA’s best | CBC Sports

Kelsey Plum scored 14 of her 22 points after halftime, Chelsea Gray tied her season highs with 21 points and nine assists and the Las Vegas Aces beat the Connecticut Sun 91-83 Sunday in a matchup between two of the top teams in the WNBA.

Las Vegas (18-7) has won three games in a row and is second in the league standings, one game behind the defending champion Chicago Sky. Connecticut (16-9), which is 4-5 in its last nine games, fell a half-game behind the Seattle Storm into fourth.

A’ja Wilson scored 20 points, Jackie Young added 12 and Riquna Williams hit three of six from three-point range and finished with 11 points for Las Vegas.

Connecticut led for much of the first half and had a 37-35 advantage at the end of the second quarter before Gray opened the third with a three that gave the Aces the lead for good. Plum followed with back-to-back three-pointers just 23 seconds apart and then made two free throws before finding Wilson for a 14-foot jumper to make it 48-39 and cap a 13-2 run.

DeWanna Bonner led the Sun with 19 points. Natisha Hiedeman, Courtney Williams and Brionna Jones added 16 points apiece. Alyssa Thomas had 14 rebounds and six assists but scored just six points on 1-of-6 shooting and committed a career-high nine of Connecticut’s 22 turnovers — one shy of the team’s season high.

The Sun trailed by as many as 15 points before the Aces scored 19 of the next 24 points — including 11 straight to trim their deficit to 64-63 after Bonner hit a three-pointer about a minute into the fourth quarter. Williams scored eight points — including two threes — as Las Vegas responded with a 12-2 run and the Sun trailed by at least two possessions the rest of the way.

Delle Donne, Mystics cruise past Lynx

Elena Delle Donne scored 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting and had 10 rebounds, Ariel Atkins added 15 points and three steals and the Washington Mystics beat the Minnesota Lynx 70-57 on Sunday in Washington.

Shatori Walker-Kimbrough was four of five from the field, including two of three from three-point range, and finished with 11 points for Washington (16-11).

Natasha Cloud hit a three-pointer to cap an 8-0 run that made it 28-21 with 4:20 left in the second quarter and gave the Mystics the lead for good. Minnesota went scoreless for more than six minutes in the third quarter as Washington scored 12 consecutive points to take a 19-point lead.

Kayla McBride scored 16 points and Aerial Powers added 11 for Minnesota (10-17). Sylvia Fowles had nine points and 12 rebounds.