The WNBA took over the sports world on Friday night with a busy five-game slate that featured 10 of the league’s 12 teams. With less than a week remaining in the regular season, no seeds have been locked in and the eighth and final playoff spot is still up for grabs, so each of the contests had major playoff implications.
Here’s a look at the scores and some key takeaways from the action:
Mystics take hold of final playoff spot
It took the Mystics nearly an entire month to get their first win, and their 0-12 start was the fourth-worst in league history. Another 2-9 stretch on either side of the Olympic break left them in last place in the middle of August. Surely that would be a lottery team, right?
Wrong. At least for now.
After a gritty win over the Dream on Friday, in which they came back from an early double-digit deficit, the Mystics have taken control of the eighth and final playoff spot. Because they own the tiebreaker over the Chicago Sky, they now control their own destiny.
The Mystics are 7-2 in their last nine games, and have more wins in this stretch than they did in their first 28 games of the season. They’ve certainly gotten some help from the Dream and Sky over the last month or so, and have had an easier schedule than most, but that shouldn’t take away from their remarkable turnaround.
Only the Minnesota Lynx have a better record than the Mystics during this span, which dates back to Aug. 22, and only three teams can best the Mystics’ plus 6.0 net rating. Even more impressive, the Mystics have been doing this largely without Shakira Austin, who is once again stuck on the sideline, this time due to an ankle injury.
Clark sets assist record in Fever’s loss to Aces
The Fever’s post-Olympics surge was grounded this week with back-to-back losses to the defending champion Las Vegas Aces, who showed the young team that they still have a lot to learn.
Despite another defeat, there was a silver lining for Caitlin Clark and the Fever on Friday. In the second quarter, the No. 1 overall pick surpassed Alyssa Thomas to set the WNBA’s all-time single-season assist record. She finished the night with nine assists and now has 321 for the season. On a per-game basis, her 8.4 lead the league and would be the fifth-best mark ever.
As she nears the end of her first regular season as a professional, Clark has already established herself as the best playmaker in the league.
Storm make huge comeback to beat Wings
The Storm have been up and down all season, and especially since the Olympics, and their roller coaster season was epitomized on Friday in their dramatic 83-81 win over the Wings.
They struggled to make any shots and turned the ball over like crazy in the first half, and soon found themselves down by 21 points. They flipped a switch on both ends of the floor coming out of the break, however, and won that frame 34-13 to take the lead heading into the fourth. Just as soon as their offense woke up, though, it went back to sleep. They scored 12 points in the fourth quarter and had to hold their breath on two last-second shots by Arike Ogunbowale.
It wasn’t pretty, but a win is a win, and the Storm have quietly won four of their last five to keep pace with the Aces in the race for fourth place. After Friday, they remain one game back with three games to play for each club, including one between them on Sept. 17.