Wings 77 Liberty 76: Wings sealed one of the two remaining Playoff spots after clinching a win against a stubborn Liberty outfit. The Wings started with a 23-18 lead as Marina Mabrey got her long-range bombs to fall early but the Liberty clawed their way back in the second quarter, taking a one-point lead to the half. In the third quarter, Natasha Howard and Sabrina Ionescu ran terrific pick and roll sets as Liberty stretched their advantage to ten points heading into the fourth period. However, Wings once again clawed their way back in the game and played much better defense while also taking care of the pick-and-roll game of Ionescu and Howard as the Liberty went cold. With two minutes to go, Satou Sabally hit a big three to lift the Wings up 75-74 with a couple of minutes to play, and then Sabally once again got into the mix, driving from the baseline and making a tough layup to put Wings up 77-74. However, persistent Howard had the answer on the next possession hitting a close shot to the rim cutting the lead to one point. It came down to the last possession as Sabrina took it inside the arc, got Allisha Gray to bite a shooting fake but Gray remained determined and blocked the shot with the buzzer going out. Mabrey led all scorers with 21 while Laney got 19, Ionescu poured in 18, Howard put on 16 points and 11 rebounds whereas Gray, Sabally, Thornton, and Ogunbowale scored 13 each for Wings.
Sun 76 Mercury 67: Connecticut Sun defense continued to click as they fended off Mercury’s multiple rallies. Sun went up by four points by the end of the first half as Brittney Griner also rose up for a dunk in the second period. Then a Kia Nurse corner trey tied the game at 55-55 with around 3 minutes to play. However, Jonquel Jones hit a tough and-one lay-up with about one and a half minutes to play in the third period to give Sun the lead again. Both teams hustled on the defensive end and Mercury tried incredibly hard to contain Sun but DeWanna Bonner’s thirty+ foot three-pointers started to put away the game from the reach of the Mercury. Brittney Griner continued her phenomenal season and hit jumpers along with post-up shots on her way to 25 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 assists. Peddy continued to be in great form, hitting scoop layups and three-pointers for 12 points, Turner got 10 points and 9 rebounds. For the Sun, Jonquel Jones contributed 12 points and 16 rebounds, Jasmine Thomas led the way with 17 points, Bonner hit deep threes for her 15 points, while Brionna Jones ended up 10 points and 6 rebounds.
