Another week in the WNBA brought us a real shake-up in power rankings! Golden State is shocking the entire league, Minnesota continues to dominate and the Fever experience a slip due to a slump from their star. As happens to every player, Caitlin Clark's first "down week" came (and hopefully went) in recent games. Take a look on how that reflects in the power rankings below:
1. Minnesota Lynx (13-1)
The Lynx have begun to separate themselves as the league's frontrunner in the last week. After their singular loss to the Seattle Storm, they haven't let that happen again. Not only are they going to the Commissioner's Cup Final for the second consecutive year, but they also managed to win three games this past week, even after Napheesa Collier injured her back. Their other stars in Courtney Williams, Alanna Smith, Kayla McBride, Bridget Carleton and Natisha Hiedeman have been holding it down.
2. New York Liberty (10-3)
After their own first loss of the season, the Liberty have added two more losses to their record. One to Atlanta and one to Seattle. They also lost Jonquel Jones from the lineup for the next month-ish after she sustained a mid-game ankle injury last week. It's not time to panic, but the adversity hit the Liberty this week for the first time this season.
3. Phoenix Mercury (11-4)
It's getting HOT in the desert as the Phoenix Mercury are on a five-game winning streak at the moment. Since Kahleah Copper returning to the Mercury lineup, the team has leveled up from an already impressive point. The experiment of adding Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally with Copper has been working great, and their supporting cast of undrafted and international talent have been a joy to watch come together. They've landed themselves in the top three conversation and may stay there a while.
4. Atlanta Dream (10-4)
Not very far behind Phoenix is Atlanta, who have won two games in a row now, and delivered New York their second loss last week. Allisha Gray is having a career best season, averaging 20.1 points per game along with 5.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists. She leads the WNBA in Win Shares, at 3.2, as well. Karl Smesko has been coaching this team to their best season in years, and it's exciting to see the pieces come together after years of rebuilding.
5. Seattle Storm (9-5)
The Storm are the only team this season so far to have beaten both the Minnesota Lynx and New York Liberty, a huge accomplishment. A bright spot for the Storm this season has been Gabby Williams, who is scoring 14.2 points per game, a career high by a wide margin. She also has a career-high in three-point percentage (41.2%), assists per game (4.9), and steals per game (2.6). The Storm beat the Liberty, Las Vegas Aces, and the LA Sparks this week.
6. Indiana Fever (6-7)
The Fever fell below .500 this week after losing two games in a row to begin their West Coast road trip. The lost to the Golden State Valkyries and then to the Las Vegas Aces. Despite ending the game with 19 points and 10 assists, Caitlin Clark shot 1-10 (10%) from three-point range against the Aces, going 7-20 total from the field. In the Golden State game, Clark only made three field goals total, shooting 3-14 from the field and 0-7 from three. They now sit in 8th place in the WNBA standings, and will face Seattle, Los Angeles, and Dallas this week.
7. Golden State Valkyries (7-6)
Expansion. Is. FUN! The Golden State Valkyries were held to zero expectations entering their first ever season, and they have done nothing but impress. Their home-court advantage and atmosphere is electric, and this week they grabbed back to back wins and hold the 6th spot in the league's official standings. They are in for another roster shuffle as players begin to return from EuroBasket, but a playoff run in their first season would be incredible for Natalie Nakase's team.
8. Las Vegas Aces (6-7)
The outlook in Las Vegas right now is concerning, given we are nearing the halfway point in the season and they are teetering on the edge of a playoff spot. A'ja Wilson returned from concussion protocol this week, giving the team the boost they needed desperately. They ended up beating the Indiana Fever, which was likely a great morale boost for them, especially with the win being at home.
Their next game is also against the Connecticut Sun, which they should win as well. With Wilson back, they look more cohesive offensively, but their defense needs work. Holding Caitlin Clark to 1 for 10 shooting from 3-point range was another highlight and something they can build upon.
9. Washington Mystics (6-8)
Our favorite underdog team continues to impress, given where they ranked at the start of the season, They continue to hang around the .500 level, which is impressive, and their rookies continue to be incredibly fun to watch. They most recently beat Dallas in an overtime game where Sonia Citron scored 27 points on 69.2 percent shooting from the field, grabbed 11 rebounds, made 2 assists and 2 steals. It was her first career double-double.
10. Los Angeles Sparks (4-10)
Unfortunately the LA Sparks have landed in a forgettable zone — not good enough to be in playoff talks but not bad enough to be in worst team in the league talks. Looking at their statistics, it's the same thing, as they rank top-5 league wide in a few categories (steals, free throws, defensive rebounds), and bottom-3 in others (total rebounds, turnovers, blocks), but mostly sit middle of the pack for the rest. They've lost three games in a row now.
11. Dallas Wings (3-12)
Dallas has made significant improvement in their rankings this week, now at three wins in their season. It's even been reflected in the WNBA standings, where they have risen from the last spot and into 12th place after beating the Connecticut Sun last week. They make the extra leap in these rankings because of how they look on the court in comparison to the Chicago Sky. While both teams have a ton to improve on (offense, decision making, shot selection to name a few) Dallas seems to be making improvements slowly while the Sky feel stagnant.
12. Chicago Sky (3-10)
It was a rough week for the Chicago Sky, who lost three games in a row. They can't seem to score on the perimeter, despite bringing in several veterans who were supposed to take on that task. They rank No. 11 league-wide in three-point percentage, No. 13 in total points scored, and No. 12 in both 3-pointers made and attempted. They also rank No. 13 overall in opponent points per game, meaning they are allowing the most points to be scored on them in the league.
13. Connecticut Sun (2-12)
The Sun's rebuilding season continues, and they take over the bottom spot this week from the Wings. The Sun are 13th league-wide in wins, points per game, margin per game, field goal percentage (39.6 percent), and total rebounds per game, to name a few categories. They've now lost six games in a row going into the new week.