Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- The Golden State Valkyries jumped four spots in the WNBA standings after winning three straight games this week.
- Marina Mabrey tied the league record with 53 points against the Los Angeles Sparks, nearly half from three-pointers.
- Seattle’s young roster produced dominant wins over top teams New York and Atlanta, led by rookie Flau’jae Johnson.
It's wild how much can change in the WNBA in just a week. Last week, the Atlanta Dream were on a winning streak and the Seattle Storm couldn't win a game. This week, it's the exact opposite — the Dream have taken a bit of a dive and while Seattle still might not be in the playoff conversation, they surely had a great week.
From big performances causing more movement at the top of the leaderboard to historic stat lines and overtime periods, the league gave us a lot to talk about this week. Here's a look at the current WNBA standings and some key takeaways from the last seven days.
WNBA standings as of July 1
TEAM | W-L (PCT) | GAMES BACK | AVG. POINT DIFF. |
|---|---|---|---|
1. Minnesota Lynx | 15-4 (.789) | --- | +11.2 |
2. Las Vegas Aces | 14-5 (.737) | 1 | +4.3 |
3. Golden State Valkyries | 13-7 (.650) | 2.5 | +5.0 |
4. Atlanta Dream | 12-7 (.632) | 3 | +4.5 |
5. New York Liberty | 12-8 (.600) | 3.5 | +4.3 |
6. Dallas Wings | 11-8 (.579) | 4 | +2.8 |
7. Indiana Fever | 11-8 (.579) | 4 | +3.9 |
8. Washington Mystics | 9-9 (.500) | 5.5 | -3.3 |
9. Toronto Tempo | 9-10 (.474) | 6 | -1.1 |
10. Los Angeles Sparks | 8-10 (.444) | 6.5 | -5.5 |
11. Portland Fire | 8-12 (.400) | 7.5 | -7.6 |
12. Phoenix Mercury | 7-13 (.350) | 8.5 | -2.9 |
13. Chicago Sky | 6-13 (.316) | 9 | -3.1 |
14. Seattle Storm | 5-15 (.250) | 10.5 | -5.1 |
15. Connecticut Sun | 4-15 (.211) | 11 | -7.3 |
Valkyries winning streak over top teams
The Golden State Valkyries are on an absolute heater right now, hence why they jumped up four spots in the rankings over this past week. They started the week with a 77-66 win over the Atlanta Dream. Golden State was able to hold three of the Dream's starters to less than 10 points. Atlanta struggled shooting in this first matchup, both from the field and the free-throw line. Those struggles continued into the second matchup against the Valkyries, when they handed the Dream a 78-75 loss. Golden State closed the week out with a 76-67 win over the New York Liberty.
Gabby Williams had two great showings against the Atlanta Dream. She recorded 23 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in the first matchup. During the second matchup, she put up 16 points, scoring 13 straight points in the fourth quarter to will the Valks to victory. In the matchup against New York, Golden State's first-half defense was on point, while the bench accounted for much of its offense. Overall, the Valkyries have bounced back seamlessly after back-to-back losses to Minnesota and Las Vegas last week. Their next test comes this Saturday, July 4, as they travel to Atlanta, looking for a season sweep of the Dream.
Marina Mabrey's 53-piece
If you haven't already heard about Marina Mabrey's unbelievable performance against the Los Angeles Sparks, you might live under a rock. All eyes were on Toronto as everything Mabrey put up went in. She finished the night with a whopping 53 points, tying the league record for most points in a single game. Nearly half of her points came from 3-balls — she drained nine from beyond the arc, yet again tying the league record. Toronto handed the Sparks a 125-97 loss. Those 125 points scored by the Tempo are the most by a team in regulation in WNBA history.
The Tempo have a tough stretch of games coming up, starting with the Wings and the Valkyries this week. These will be tough matchups for a squad that's still missing Kiki Rice and Brittney Sykes due to injury — both will be played in Toronto and the Tempo are 5-3 at home. Their home crowds have been impressive all season, especially when Mabrey is giving them a little extra to cheer about.
Mystics vs. Fire marathon
The Tempo wasn't the only team making history this week. We got plenty of free hoops this past weekend as the Washington Mystics and Portland Fire went into four overtimes — only the second game in WNBA history to do so. Both teams made hardly any substitutions through extra play, unless they were forced to due to players fouling out. So, even though the players were absolutely exhausted, they were putting on some legendary performances. Portland's Carla Leite was the one to force the first overtime when she hit an off-balance 3-pointer with less than two seconds left. She did it again to push the game to a second overtime as she drained another 3-ball with less than 20 seconds left. Leite finished the game with a career-high 32 points, 6 rebounds and 9 assists.
The Mystics ultimately walked away from this marathon of a game with a 124-123 victory, thanks to incredible performances from Sonia Citron, Michaela Onyenwere and their dynamic frontcourt. Both Citron and Onyenwere reached new career-highs, recording 32 and 30 points, respectively. Onyenwere drained 6-of-9 from 3-point land, as well. Kiki Iriafen and Shakira Austin combined for 24 rebounds and 12 assists. Iriafen also put up a career-high 27 points.
Storm youth movement
Just last week, I mentioned that I was confident that this Seattle Storm squad was on the brink of seeing more success. We saw a glimpse of it this week, as they took down two top-contending teams: the New York Liberty and the Atlanta Dream. While during the Liberty matchup the Storm were going against a Breanna Stewart-less team, they still fought off impressive performances by Jonquel Jones and Sabrina Ionescu. Against the Dream, Seattle shot incredibly well, especially from beyond the arc, draining 14 3-balls, shooting at 61 percent. They also won the rebound battle.
Each player in Seattle's starting lineup scored 10+ points in the win over the Liberty, with each scoring 15+ points against the Dream. These were two of the most put-together performances we've seen all season, with rookie Flau'jae Johnson leading the charge in both. She put up a career-high 28 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals against New York, to go along with Dominique Malonga's 20 points and 10 rebounds. Against Atlanta, Johnson put up 24 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Natisha Hiedeman recorded 20 points and 6 assists in that game.
What makes Seattle so dangerous is that when all their pieces are pulling their weight, the production is then so spread out. It makes it hard for teams to have a game plan. And because these players are all so young and mostly still finding their footing, we could see one of them have a career-high night, just for another to do it the next night. They have a chance to rack up a couple more wins this week, with matchups against the Phoenix Mercury, Portland Fire and Los Angeles Sparks — three bottom-half squads.
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