Alyssa Thomas breaks WNBA triple-double record as Sun cruise past Sky | CBC Sports

Alyssa Thomas had a historic triple-double, DeWanna Bonner scored 26 points to move into ninth in WNBA history and Connecticut cruised to a 96-72 win over the visiting Chicago Sky on Sunday.

Thomas had 14 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds for her fourth career regular-season triple-double, the most in WNBA history. Candace Parker and Sabrina Ionescu both have three triple-doubles.

It was her second triple-double this season, the first coming on Tuesday, the game the Sun lost star Brionna Jones. Thomas also has two playoff triple-doubles.

Bonner has 6,454 career points, moving past Katie Smith.

The Sun matched its best 15-game start in history (12-3), winning for the sixth time in seven games, heading into a Tuesday showdown with the New York Liberty. They have won two straight since Jones suffered a season-ending Achilles injury. Jones had surgery on Friday.

Connecticut allowed a season-high 27 first-quarter points and trailed by one but used a 16-4 run to take charge in the second quarter. Thomas had 10 points, seven rebounds and seven assists to help the Sun, who had 18 assists on 23 baskets, to a 54-42 lead. They finished with 30 assists on 40 baskets.

Chicago had a 10-0 run in the third quarter to stay in the game but the Sky only had nine points in the fourth quarter.

DiJonai Carrington had 17 points and Natisha Hiedeman 14 for the Sun, who had a season-high for points. Connecticut scored at least 80 points for the 11th straight game. Thomas became the all-time rebounding leader in franchise history.

Stewart sinks Mystics in OT

Breanna Stewart’s three-point play with 19.7 seconds left in overtime lifted the New York Liberty to an 89-88 win over the visiting Washington Mystics on Sunday.

Sabrina Ionescu scored 31 points and Stewart added 18 for New York, which trailed by 17 in the first quarter and by eight with 2:28 left in regulation before tying the game with two seconds left on a layup by Courtney Vandersloot.

The teams exchanged the lead many times in overtime before Natasha Cloud had a three-point play with 1:59 left that made it 88-86. Neither team scored until Stewart drove the lane with 19.7 seconds left making the basket and drawing the foul.

She sank the free throw to give New York (9-3) the lead.

After a timeout, Washington (8-5) got the ball to Elena Delle Donne, whose runner bounced off the rim with just over 5 seconds left. The ball went out of bounds off the Liberty, giving the Mystics one last chance. Myisha Hines-Allen’s contested shot with a second left missed and New York came away with the victory.

Ariel Atkins led Washington with 24 points and Cloud added 23 and 11 assists.

The loss ended a three-game winning streak for the Mystics, who lost forward Shakira Austin to a hip injury early in the fourth quarter.

Washington jumped on New York at the start, scoring the first 13 points of the game. The Liberty missed its first seven shots before Betnijah Laney hit a reverse layup with 6:01 left in the quarter. Washington extended its lead to 17 in the period before New York rallied to within 27-17 at the end of the quarter.

The Liberty got their offence going in the second quarter behind Ionescu and Laney and cut their deficit to 45-39 at the half. Stewart missed all seven of her field-goal attempts in the first half. It’s only the third time in her career that she was held without a field goal in the first half.

Right before the game Stewart was selected as an All-Star Game captain. It’s the second consecutive year that she’s held that position.