Naphessa Collier Shines In 2026 Season Debut
For the first time in 299 days, Naphessa Collier took the court and looked like her usual All-Star self, recording a game-high 24 points and 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the season as the Minnesota Lynx defeated the Seattle Storm, 86–76, on Wednesday afternoon.
“I felt like a kid in the candy store,” Collier said after the Lynx’s 10-point victory. The 2016 national champion underwent two ankle surgeries during the offseason after tearing three ligaments in her left ankle during Game 3 of the WNBA semifinals last September.
So Wednesday was obviously a big day for Collier, who registered her first points of the season late in the first quarter.
Collier was needed late in the fourth quarter to come through in a close game, and she delivered. With under 90 seconds left, the Lynx led by just one, 77-76. Collier was fouled while attempting a three-pointer and then made all three of her free throws for an 80-76 lead. Then with 37.2 seconds remaining, Collier got into great position on the low block and made the layup to push Minnesota’s lead to 82-76.
Dorka Juhasz scored three points with one steal and one block in 16 minutes off of the Lynx bench. Katie Lou Samuelson scored three points on three free throws while Stefanie Dolson did not score but pulled down two rebounds with one assist coming off the Storm bench.
The win marked a two-game sweep for the Lynx after they defeated the Storm 105-102 on Monday night as well.
Azzi Fudd vs Breanna Stewart
The New York Liberty entered Monday night riding a four-game losing streak, but Breanna Stewart ensured it wouldn't reach five. Stewart, who has never lost five consecutive games in her 10-year WNBA career, helped lead the Liberty to a 99-98 overtime victory over Azzi Fudd and the Dallas Wings.
Stewart nearly recorded her first career triple-double, but instead notched her ninth double-double of the season after scoring a game-high 33 points with 13 rebounds and eight assists. The upcoming All-Star starter shot 10-of-19 from the field, including 2-of-4 from three and 11-of-12 from the free throw line.
Fudd scored 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting, including three triples, with two assists and one block. Paige Bueckers did not play despite clearing concussion protocol after she took a hard fall in the Wings’ 90-82 win against the Los Angeles Sparks on Sunday. Bueckers was held out for rest.
Stewart made a pair of three throws with 2:24 left in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 78. Then buried two more free throws with 12.9 seconds left to give the Liberty an 82-81 lead. Arike Ogunbowale converted back-to-back free throws with 3.5 seconds left to tie the game 83 and send the game into overtime.
Fudd scored the first basket of the extra period on a pull-up jumper. Later, Stewart spun through two Wings defenders, fired too strong but got her own rebound for the putback layup to tie the game at 90 with 2:58 left. Then with 1:20 to play, Stewart handed the ball off to Sabrina Ionescu, who drove to the bucket for a layup. Ionescu scored 12 points while shooting a perfect 5-of-5 from the field in overtime, with Stewart recording assists on three of her five made field goals.
Azura Stevens at Breanna Stewart
Stewart and the Liberty made it back-to-back one-point victories after shocking Azura Stevens and the Chicago Sky 95-94 in Brooklyn on Wednesday night.
The Sky led by seven, 93–85, with 58.9 seconds remaining, but Sabrina Ionescu, with a little help from Stewie, led the Liberty on a last-minute comeback to pull out the win. The former Oregon star scored nine points in the final minute of the game, including a three-pointer off an assist from Stewart.
Stewie finished with 20 points on 5-of-19 shooting, including 2-of-4 from three and a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line. She also posted nine rebounds, four assists and three blocks in 37 minutes. Meanwhile, Stevens scored eight points with seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and a season-high four blocks for the Sky in 30 minutes.
The Liberty (15-12) are now 3-1 in games decided by one point this season.
Paige Bueckers/Azzi Fudd at Serah Williams
After missing just one game, Paige Bueckers returned to the Dallas Wings' starting lineup in a 101–97 win over the Portland Fire on Wednesday night. The former Husky guard netted 21 points on 7-of-17 shooting, includng 4-of-7 from three and 3-of-5 from the free throw line. She also finished with four rebounds and five assists in 37 minutes of action. Bueckers now leads all point guards across the WNBA with 16 20+ point games.
For the fifth straight game, Fudd nailed three three-pointers in her 11-point performance. The sharpshooter is 15-of-34 (44.1%) over her last five contests from the three-point line. Fudd leads all rookies with 53 triples and ranks 10th in the league in that category.
Serah Williams was once again perfect from the field after scoring eight points on 4-of-4 shooting along with four rebounds, a career-high three steals and one block in 15 minutes off the bench. Williams is averaging nine points per game over her last five games on 19-of-23 shooting (82.6%).
Kaitlyn Chen
It felt like the Golden State Valkyries were on their way to a tenth straight win on Monday night. Second-year guard Kaitlyn Chen was electrifying the home crowd by making play after play in the fourth quarter. The former Husky finished with a career-high 20 points and a personal best six assists, but the Washington Mystics outscored the Valkyries by 12 points in the final frame, leading to a 90-82 upset win in San Francisco.
Chen, who has scored double-digits 10 times this season, converted two layups on back-to-back Golden State possessions to put the Valkyries up 67-65. On the next Golden State possession, Veronica Burton drove to the basket, which drew two defenders and then kicked out to Chen, who drilled a top of the key three-pointer for a 70-68 Valkyries lead. Chen was in the thick of it on the following offensive possession as this time she drove to the basket and dished it out to a wide open Kiah Stokes who knocked down a corner triple to give the Valkyries a five-point lead and send the crowd into jubilation.
On the ensuing possession, Gabby Williams drove hard to the rim and delivered a layup just before the shot clock expired. Chen made it 14 straight Husky points after cleaning up her own miss to give the Valkyries a nine-point lead, 77-68, with 4:44 to play.
However, Washington stopped the momentum after scoring 18 out of the next 21 points, including a go-ahead layup from Kiki Iriafen to lead the Mystics (13-12) to their eighth road win of the season.
Gabby Williams scored eight points on 4-of-12 shooting, including 0-of-4 from three in 26 minutes of action. Stokes finished with three points, four rebounds and two blocks in 22 minutes. Tiffany Hayes did not score but accounted for two assists in 10 minutes of play.
The Valkyries finished 19-8 and two and a half games back of the best record in the WNBA going into the WNBA All-Star weekend.
Olivia Nelson-Ododa (Connecticut Sun)
- Wednesday at Fever: 11 points (5-10 FG, 0-1 3-FG, 1-1 FT), 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 block in 22 minutes. The Sun lost to the Indiana Fever 123-88.
Aaliyah Edwards (Connecticut Sun)
- Wednesday at Fever: DNP (Knee). The Sun lost to the Indiana Fever 123-88.
Kia Nurse (Toronto Tempo)
- Monday vs Aces: 7 points (2-6 FG, 1-4 3-FG, 2-2 FT), 1 assist in 18 minutes. The Tempo lost to the Las Vegas Aces 109-83.
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