Author(s): Arnelle Tonye Mbog , Samara Hawkins, Madison White
Players of the Week (June 26 – July 2nd)
Alyssa Thomas (F) Connecticut Sun
Avg Stats for the 2023 season: 14.4 points, 10.1 rebounds, 8.2 assists
Had 12 assists, 11 rebounds and 14 points in the game against CHI on June 25th
Had 10 assists, 10 rebounds and 11 points in the game against NYL on June 27th
Had 11 assists, 5 rebounds and 12 points in the game against LVA on July 1st
A’Ja Wilson (F) Las Vegas Aces
Avg stats for 2023 season: 19.6 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists
Had 24 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists in the game against IND on June 26th
Had 16 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists in game against NYL on June 29th
Had 23 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 assists in game against CON on July 1st
Star Plays:
Diamond Miller leads the Minnesota Lynx to their third consecutive win. In the game against the Phoenix Mercury, Miller had a career high of 25 points and five steals, as well as Napheesa Collier who scored 16 points and nine rebounds.Six different Lynx players scored in a 13-2 run that gave the Lynx a 76-63 lead with five minutes to play and Phoenix trailed by at least eight points the rest of the way, according to WNBA.com.
Matchups:
The marquee matchup this week was between the New York Liberty and the Las Vegas Aces who faced off for the first time this season. Sitting at the top of their respective conferences, both came into the season with championship expectations. Coming into this game the Aces had a league best record of 13-1, while the Liberty had a conference best record of 10-4. This matchup included various big names in the WNBA including A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray, Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, etc. On the outside, this game was viewed as highly important because many have these teams meeting in the finals. However, the two teams did not want to put too much pressure on themselves for a game in June. The final score was 81-98, with the Aces getting the victory. For the Liberty, Breanna Stewart had 16 points, Jonquel Jones with 6 rebounds and Sabrina Ionescu adding 7 assists. On the Aces side, Kelsey Plum had 18 points along with 8 assists, and Candace Parker with 15 points, 5 assists, and 6 rebounds. With this being the first of three matchups, WNBA fans hope to see some more competitive basketball from the two best teams in the league.
Game Scores:
June 26 | IND: 80 LVA: 88 | |||
June 27 | NYL: 89 CON: 81 | SEA: 93 MIN: 104 | DAL: 77 PHO: 62 | |
June 28 | LAS: 63 CHI: 80 | ATL: 86 | ||
June 29 | NYL: 81 | IND: 63 PHO:85 | MIN: 99 SEA: 97 | |
June 30 | WAS: 89 | LAS: 78 CHI: 86 | ||
July 1 | CON: 84 | MIN: 86 | ||
July 2 | LAS: 84 ATL: 112 | DAL: 89 WAS: 72 | CHI: 89 IND: 87 | NYL: 81 SEA: 66 |
Exciting News in the W:
2023 AT&T WNBA All Star Game, reserves and head coaches revealed.
With less than two weeks until The 2023 AT&T WNBA All Star Game, reserves were announced Saturday July 1st along with the head coaches. The All Star Captains are A’ja Wilson from the Las Vegas Aces and Breanna Stewart from the New York Liberty. Similar to the NBA All Star Game, the two ladies will be able to draft players to their team from the pool of starters and reserves.
This years selection process consisted of fans accounting for 50 percent of the vote to decide the starters. Current WNBA players and media panel accounted for 25 percent each. WNBA head coaches picked the reserves and the coaches got to choose three guards, five front court players and four players at either position regardless of conference. The coaches were not able to vote for their own players, according to WNBA.com.
The starters were revealed June 25th, the starters include;
Aliyah Boston, Fever (1st All-Star selection), Chelsea Gray, Aces (5th All-Star selection),Brittney Griner, Mercury (9th All-Star selection), Jewell Loyd, Storm (5h All-Star selection), Arike Ogunbowale, Wings (3rd All-Star selection), Nneka Ogwumike, Sparks (8th All-Star selection), Satou Sabally, Wings (2nd All-Star selection), Breanna Stewart, Liberty (5th All-Star selection), A‘ja Wilson, Aces (5th All-Star selection), and Jackie Young, Aces (2nd All-Star selection.
The reserves include; DeWanna Bonner, Sun (5th All-Star selection), Napheesa Collier, Lynx (3rd All-Star selection), Kahleah Copper, Sky (3rd All-Star selection), Elena Delle Donne, Mystics (7th All-Star selection), Allisha Gray, Dream (1st All-Star selection), Sabrina Ionescu, Liberty (2nd All-Star selection), Ezi Magbegor, Storm (1st All-Star selection), Kelsey Mitchell, Fever (1st All-Star selection), Cheyenne Parker, Dream (1st All-Star selection), Kelsey Plum, Aces (2nd All-Star selection), Alyssa Thomas, Sun (4th All-Star selection), Courtney Vandersloot, Liberty (5th All-Star selection.)
Las Vegas head coach Becky Hammon and Connecticut head coach Stephanie White have earned spots as the head coaches for the 2023 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game according to WNBA.com.
Check out the draft selection show on Saturday, July 8 (1:00 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT on ESPN) and the AT&T WNBA All-Star Game Saturday, July 15 in Las Vegas (5:30 p.m. ET / 8:30 p.m. PT on ABC.)