Dearica Hamby helps Aces cruise past Fever
Storm head coach Dan Hughes abruptly announced his retirement on Sunday
Dearica Hamby led five Las Vegas players scoring in double figures with 22 points, Liz Cambage added 13 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks and the Aces beat the Indiana Fever 101-78 on Sunday night.
Riquna Williams finished with 16 points, making 4 of 5 from 3-pointers. A'ja Wilson scored 15 and Jackie Young added 12 points and three steals for Las Vegas (5-2).
The Aces also beat Indiana 113-77 on Friday.
Wilson had eight points and Hamby added seven in a 21-2 run that made it 24-10 late in the first quarter and the Aces led by double figures the rest of the way. Indiana made 1 of 12 from the field and committed three turnovers during that decisive stretch.
Victoria Vivians led the Fever (1-7) with a season-high 17 points. Teaira McCowan had 15 points and nine rebounds and Kelsey Mitchell scored 10 points. Indiana, which shot 38.8 from 3-point range, have lost seven in a row since a season-opening win over the L.A. Sparks.
Sparks rally to beat Sky in OT
Nneka Ogwumike had 21 points and nine rebounds and the Los Angeles Sparks rallied from a 17-point deficit to beat the Chicago Sky 82-79 in overtime on Sunday night.
Erica Wheeler had 17 points, seven assists and three steals and Amanda Zahui B. added 17 points, eight rebounds and three blocks for the Sparks. Nia Coffey had a season-high 15 points.
Wheeler and Ogwumike made back-to-back layups before Coffey hit a 3-pointer to cap a 7-0 spurt that gave the Sparks the lead for good at 80-75 with 2:03 left. The Sky went 0 for 4 from the field with three turnovers over the final 92 seconds.
Courtney Vandersloot had a career-high 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Chicago (2-4). The Sky have lost four in a row, including a 76-61 defeat to the Sparks on Friday, after back-to-back wins to open the season.
Vandersloot hit a 3-pointer early in the second quarter to give Chicago a 30-13 lead but the Sparks scored the next 12 points to start a 22-4 run to take their first lead when Bria Holmes made the first of two free throws with 49.4 seconds left in the first half.
Chiney Ogwumike missed the game with right knee soreness.
Lynx beat Sun in OT
Sylvia Fowles had 24 points, nine rebounds and three blocks, Layshia Clarendon had 12 points in their debut with Minnesota and the Lynx rallied to beat the Connecticut Sun 79-74 in overtime Sunday night.
Clarendon, who signed with Minnesota earlier in the day, hit a tie-breaking 3-pointer with 66 seconds remaining to give the Lynx (1-4) the lead for good. The 30-year-old guard in their ninth WNBA season was waived last week by the New York Liberty.
Jonquel Jones led Connecticut (6-2) with 22 points and Jasmine Thomas added 14 points and five assists. DeWanna Bonner had 18 points, six rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks.
Clarendon hit a 30-footer just after the buzzer that would have won the game in regulation. Kayla McBride missed a 3-point shot but Fowles grabbed the offensive rebound and kicked it out to McBride who missed another 3 but Crystal Dangerfield got another offensive board and found Damiris Dantas for a 3-pointer that cut Minnesota's deficit to 63-61 with 37.2 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Bonner missed a jumper 25 seconds later and Dangerfield grabbed the rebound and raced to the right elbow where she made a pull-up jumper with 2.9 seconds left to force overtime.
Napheesa Collier hit a 3-pointer with 2:50 left in OT to make it 70-69 and give the Lynx their first lead since 6-5.
Seattle head coach Dan Hughes retires
Seattle Storm coach Dan Hughes abruptly announced his retirement on Sunday, saying the rigors of being a head coach in the WNBA has taken a toll.
Hughes, 66, said he will continue to serve as an assistant coach for the United States at the Tokyo Olympics, but he is handing over the duties of leading the Storm to assistant Noelle Quinn.
"After over 40 years of coaching basketball, I want to finish my career with the focus and determination with which I started," Hughes said in a statement. "The Seattle Storm is in amazing shape, after two championships and a terrific playoff run in 2019, I would like to announce my retirement from the WNBA. I believe now is the right time because the team is performing well, but the rigors of being a head coach in the WNBA have taken their toll on me. I look forward to coaching with USA Basketball at the 2021 Olympics, then leveraging my experience to give back to the game in other ways."
Hughes has coached in the WNBA for 20 years with stops in Charlotte, Cleveland, San Antonio and Seattle. He has coached the second-most games in league history (598) and is tied for third in victories with 286.
Hughes arrived in Seattle in 2018 and helped lead the Storm to their third WNBA title. He missed part of the 2019 season after undergoing surgery and treatment for a cancerous tumor in his digestive tract, and he was not cleared to be with the Storm in the WNBA bubble in Florida during the truncated 2020 season that was capped with Seattle's fourth title.
Hughes was twice named WNBA coach of the year, in 2001 with Cleveland and 2007 with San Antonio.
WATCH | Should Toronto get a WNBA team?:
"It is rare when a leader has the foresight to make changes at the pinnacle of their career," Storm co-owner Lisa Brummel said. "Under Dan's leadership, the Storm have won two championships and he has built a great coaching staff here in Seattle. His dedication to his craft is second to none and his legacy is perfectly exemplified by his unselfish nature and ability to see all that lies ahead."
Quinn, 36, joined Seattle's coaching staff in 2019 after winning the first title of her playing career with the Storm in 2018. She handled head coaching duties earlier this week in a 90-87 win over Connecticut while Hughes was attending his son's graduation.
"I am excited to hand the reins to Noelle," Hughes said. "She is well positioned to do this job and I am proud to have mentored her during my time here. I look forward to her and the team's ongoing success."
Assistant coaches Gary Kloppenburg, Ryan Webb and Perry Huang will remain and work with Quinn.
