Huskies in the Pros: Stewart continues to shine as former Huskies dominate in week 6
It’s been six weeks in the W thus far and up to this point, there have been plenty of great performances from former UConn players to talk about. However, this may be the article that comprises the most performances in one body of work from some former Huskies. There were in fact so many great stat lines that I even had to combine up to 3 performances from 1 game, but without further ado, let’s get straight into the list.
(6/17) Napheesa Collier: 16 points,7 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals in win over Dallas Wings
Death, taxes, and Napheesa Collier appearing on another Huskies in the Pros article.
To start this list off right, Collier had a great stat line against the Dallas Wings in a 90-78 win, putting up 16 points and 7 rebounds. I also have to give a major shoutout to Dorka Juhasz, who put up 11 points and 4 rebounds in the win, but she’ll be featured later in this article for her performance against the Atlanta Dream.
As for Collier and the Lynx, they took advantage of a Wings team without Arike Ogunbowale and had a great fourth quarter performance to win this one, outscoring Dallas 24-15 to grab the victory. The dub not only marked their fourth straight up to that point but also Dallas’ seventh loss in a row.
(6/18) COMBO: Diana Taurasi: 19 points (6-13 FG; 4-7 from 3), 9 rebounds in win over New York Liberty; Breanna Stewart: 28 points (10-15 FG; 4-4 from 3), 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 5 steals in loss to Phoenix Mercury
Here’s our first 2-in-1 section of the week and it’s a big one. In one of the downright most entertaining games of the week, the 8-7 Phoenix Mercury were able to grab a massive win over the 12-3 New York Liberty.
You could talk about a lot of different things with this game, including the WNBA record 33 made triples. But, as this article is focused on, we’re talking about some former Huskies here.
As for the winning squad, Breanna Stewart finished with a super impressive stat line, totaling 28 points (10-15 FG; 4-4 from 3), 5 assists, 4 rebounds, and 5 steals. The only thing that was missing was the win and despite New York outscoring their opponents 30-19 in the third quarter, it was no match for a 30-17 run from Phoenix in the fourth quarter.
On top of that, the Mercury was getting plenty of production on both sides of the floor, whether it was Brittney Griner's defense or Diana Taurasi's shooting. The latter would have a big night for her squad that would help seal the win, grabbing 19 points and 9 rebounds including 4 triples.
(6/19) COMBO: Napheesa Collier: 16 points (6-17 FG) 8 rebounds, 4 assists in win over Atlanta Dream; Tina Charles: 14 points (7-18 FG), 10 rebounds in loss to Minnesota Lynx; Dorka Juhasz: 10 points (5-11 FG), 11 rebounds in win over Atlanta Dream
As I said in my first section, I gotta show some love to Juhasz, especially with her production on Wednesday. In a 68-55 win over the Atlanta Dream, she’d have 10 points and 11 rebounds off the bench, helping Minnesota outscore Atlanta’s bench 19-6.
That’s huge when you consider that Collier poured in 16 points and 8 rebounds of her own in the win. It may not have been the best shooting night overall for the 12-3 Lynx, but they were strong on the defensive end, locking down Atlanta to 28.8% overall shooting. When you factor in the late game absence of Rhyne Howard, Minnesota was able to take over and get the job done.
Atlanta may not have been able to get their seventh win of the season, but you definitely have to give some credit to Tina Charles, who got the double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Unfortunately, as you’ll see in this article, even some great statistical performances from Charles wouldn’t be enough to grab the win.
(6/20) Breanna Stewart: 17 points (6-13 FG), 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks in win over Los Angeles Sparks
There’s a reason that I specifically highlighted Stewie this time around for this week’s edition, as she not only had the most performances featured on this list, but was overall dominant in four games.
Coming off that heartbreaking loss to Phoenix, New York was hoping to put that negative behind them in a matchup against the 4-13 Los Angeles Sparks at home. Long story short, they were able to do just that, but not without some help from the trio of Jonquel Jones, Sabrina Ionescu, and Stewart.
Ionescu was the most impressive of that group, putting up 31 points and 9 assists on an efficient 11-19 shooting night from the field. Jones too was fantastic with 22 points and 7 rebounds. But, Stewart was incredibly impactful as well with 17 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks to help her squad grab the victory.
This would be the first of two matchups between the Sparks and Liberty this week, but Stewie would somehow manage to top this performance in the second contest.
(6/21) Tina Charles: 24 points (9-13 FG), 7 rebounds in loss to Indiana Fever
Shifting back to the play of Charles, someone who already had a double-double in their last contest against Minnesota, the hope was that the former Husky and the Atlanta Dream could bounce back big time against the Indiana Fever.
There wouldn’t be a better time to do it. In front of a crowd of over 11,000, a number so huge that the matchup had to be moved to State Farm Arena, the Dream aimed to get their first win of the week. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t be in the cards.
Without the play of Rhyne Howard, the team was unable to take over after a first half that saw the team get outscored 57-41. Not even a monster 24 point game from Charles, paired with 19 points from Allisha Gray, could get the job done.
With that in mind, Atlanta would have one more opportunity for a dub this week against Stewart and the Liberty.
(6/22) Stefanie Dolson: 16 points, (7-13 FG; 2-6 from 3), 10 rebounds in win over Dallas Wings
While the start of the season for the Washington Mystics has been undoubtedly been tough, the team has rebounded very nicely since then, grabbing two wins against the Sky and Dream last week.
After a hard loss to the Fever on Wednesday, the team went into a two game series with the Dallas Wings with optimism, although still struggling with the injury bug. However, Dallas too was shorthanded, and thanks to key members of Washington’s squad stepping up, they were able to get their third win of the season.
One of those key players happened to be none other than Stefanie Dolson, who dropped her first double-double since 2022 with 16 points and 10 rebounds. With the veteran always having a team first mentality, she’s always shown that she’s been capable of stepping up in big moments when her squads needs her the most. The best part? This was just the beginning of a great week for Dolson.
(6/22) Breanna Stewart: 33 points (12-19 FG, 3-9 from 3), 7 assists, 6 blocks in win over Los Angeles Sparks
In her third entry on the list and second straight matchup against the Sparks, Stewart not only had her best performance of the week, but she downright showed why No. 30 is one of the best players in the W.
In another dub over the Sparks, 98-88, it was Stewie that led her team for another great win at home, dropping 33 points, 7 assists, and a ridiculous 6 blocks in the contest. Her first half performance of 24 points, 5 assists, and 5 blocks was downright historical, becoming the first player to drop over 20 points, 5 assists, and 5 blocks in a half in league history.
Simply put, even though Los Angeles did have an edge on the scoreboard early, that didn’t startle Stewie a bit and she’d completely take over the contest and ultimately helped grab the victory thanks to additional key performances from Ionescu and Kayla Thornton.
(6/22) Napheesa Collier: 23 points (9-16 FG; 2-2 from 3), 14 rebounds in win over Phoenix Mercury
The last time these two teams faced was top-tier WNBA basketball like no other. In a one point victory, it was Taurasi and the Phoenix Mercury that ultimately grabbed the 1 point win at their house. With the way that Minnesota was operating, that was just their third loss of the season.
Since then? The Lynx not only haven’t lost a game, but they were going to look for revenge in their house against Phoenix. Not only were they able to do just that, but Minnesota was going to get another monster performance from their star.
In her third feature this week, Collier ensured her team would get revenge on Phoenix, totaling 23 points and 14 rebounds, including a 2-2 performance from beyond the arc. Her MVP campaign continues to rage on, as Collier remains one of two players in the W averaging 20+ points and 10+ rebounds per contest, with A’ja Wilson being the other.
(6/23) COMBO: Breanna Stewart: 17 points (6-9 FG), 8 rebounds, 6 assists in win over Atlanta Dream; Tina Charles: 19 points (9-16 FG), 7 rebounds
While Charles and the Atlanta Dream were hoping to squeak out one win this week, they’d run into one of the toughest foes at the worst possible time.
Coming off one of her most impressive performances of the season, Stewart aimed to continue the momentum against the Dream in a road matchup, and she of course did just that. In 29 minutes of action, Stewart poured in 17 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists to get their third win in a row. Of course, if Stewie isn’t leading her squad in scoring, then you can always count on the fact that another Liberty star will step up, and that just happened to be Ionescu with 26 points of her own.
Ultimately, performances like that were able to stap 19 points and 7 rebounds from Charles, who continues to push the short-handed Dream. The loss would be their third in a row and they’d fall to 6-9 on the season.
(6/23) Stefanie Dolson: 18 points (6-9 FG), 8 rebounds in win vs. Dallas Wings
Finishing off the list this week, we’ve got another great performance from Stefanie Dolson, who led her team in scoring with 18 points and 8 rebounds in a win. She’d not only lead her team in points, but would also shoot an efficient 6-9 from the field, including 4-5 from the three point line.
However, you’ve gotta credit the entire roster for this victory, as five Mystics players cracked double-figures and the entire team shot nearly 50% throughout the contest. If you take away a 2-12 performance from Ariel Atkins, that number jumps all the way up to 58%.
The win gives Washington four on their season and just one loss in the last five contests.