The Bum's 2017 WNBA Picks-Trends-News !

[StarDust Bum]

Wings rally past Stars, 94-82
May 25, 2017

SAN ANTONIO (AP) Karima Christmas scored 18 points, Skylar Diggins-Smith and Allisha Gray each had nine points in a decisive 33-13 fourth quarter, and the Dallas Wings rallied past the San Antonio Stars 94-82 on Thursday.

Dallas went on a 13-2 fourth-quarter run and took its first lead of the second half on Glory Johnson's layup with 5:37 to go. San Antonio got within 85-82 after Moriah Jefferson's 3-pointer but Dallas scored the final nine points, highlighted by Gray's steal and layup with 1:39 left.

Diggins-Smith and Gray each finished with 17 points for Dallas (2-1), ranked seventh in the AP power poll. Johnson had 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Kayla McBride scored 18 points and Isabelle Harrison had her first career double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds for 12th-ranked San Antonio (0-4). Jefferson, who averaged 13.9 points and 4.2 assists last season, made her season debut and scored nine points in 23 minutes.

Top pick Kelsey Plum made her WNBA debut and scored her first points on a jumper from the free-throw line to give San Antonio a 29-28 lead. She gave the Stars their first double-digit lead on a layup in transition with 3:47 left in the third quarter and finished 2 of 5 from the floor for four points in 12 minutes.

[StarDust Bum]

SCHEDULE FOR FRIDAY MAY 26, 2017

Time (ET) Away Home Site

7:00 PM Chicago Sky Washington Mystics Verizon Center

7:00 PM Minnesota Lynx Connecticut Sun Mohegan Sun Arena

10:00 PM New York Liberty Seattle Storm KeyArena

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Standings

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Team Win Loss Percent GB Home Away Conf. Last 10 Streak

Atlanta Dream 2 1 0.667 0 0-1 2-0 2-1 2-1 L-1

New York Liberty 2 1 0.667 0 1-1 1-0 - 2-1 W-1

Washington Mystics 2 2 0.500 0 1-0 1-2 1-0 2-2 W-1

Indiana Fever 2 2 0.500 0 2-0 0-2 1-0 2-2 W-2

Chicago Sky 1 3 0.250 1 0-2 1-1 1-2 1-3 L-1

Connecticut Sun 0 3 0.000 2 0-1 0-2 0-2 0-3 L-3


WESTERN CONFERENCE

Team Win Loss Percent GB Home Away Conf. Last 10 Streak

Minnesota Lynx 4 0 1.000 0 2-0 2-0 1-0 4-0 W-4

Los Angeles Sparks 2 1 0.667 1 2-0 0-1 1-0 2-1 L-1

Seattle Storm 2 1 0.667 1 2-0 0-1 0-1 2-1 W-2

Dallas Wings 1 1 0.500 2 0-1 1-0 1-1 1-1 L-1

Phoenix Mercury 2 2 0.500 2 1-2 1-0 1-1 2-2 L-1

San Antonio Stars 0 3 0.000 3 0-1 0-2 0-1 0-3 L-3


Updated Fri May 26 12:06 AM EDT

[StarDust Bum]

WNBA May's Record:

date w-l-t % units record

05/25/2017.................1-1-0................ 50.00%...................-0.50
05/24/2017................ 2-0-0 ...............100.00%................+10.00
05/23/2017................ 1-3-0 ................25.00%................ -11.50
05/21/2017................ 2-2-0................ 50.00%................. -1.00
05/20/2017................ 3-1-0................ 75.00%................. +9.50
05/19/2017................ 4-2-0................ 66.67%.............,... + 9.00
05/18/2017................ 1-1-0................ 50.00%................. - 0.50
05/17/2017.................1-1-0.................50.00%..................- 0.50

Totals:.......................15 - 11...............57.69%.................+ 14.50

best bets:

05/25/2017.................1 - 1 - 0...............50.00%...................-0.50
05/24/2017.................1 - 0..................100.00%..................+1.00
05/23/2017.................1 - 3...................25.00%...................-2.30
05/21/2017.................2 - 2...................50.00%...................-1.00
05/20/2017.................3 - 0..................100.00%.................+3.00
05/19/2017.................4 - 2...................66.66%..................+9.00
05/18/2017.................1 - 1-0.................50.00%..................- 0.50
05/17/2017.................1 - 1-0.................50.00%..................- 0.50

Totals:........................14 - 10.................58.33%..................+8.20

[StarDust Bum]

Armadillo: Friday's six-pack

Some interesting pointspreads for Labor Day weekend college football games:

— Wyoming @ Iowa (-11.5)

— Florida vs Michigan (-3) (@ Cowboys Stadium)

— Florida State vs Alabama (-4) (@ Atlanta)

— West Virginia vs Virginia Tech (-5) (@ Redskins Stadium)

— Texas A&M @ UCLA (-4)

— Tennessee (-3) vs Georgia Tech (@ Atlanta)

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Armadillo: Friday's List of 13: Random stuff with the long weekend here

13) One of the tough parts about coaching in the NFL is when there is tension between the offense and defense; one side of the ball doesn’t carry its weight and the losing that results creates dissension and other problems.

Seattle Seahawks have been really good the last several years, but they also have lot of strong personalities; there are stories on the Interweb this spring of defensive players being unhappy with the offense, both players/coaches, since the Super Bowl loss to New England, when Seattle had the ball on the Patriots’ goal line at the end of the game but failed to score.

Its going to take maturity from the players involved to soothe things; the Seahawks’ window is closing- they have lot of veteran guys. Will be interesting to follow that this fall, especially if they bring Colin Kaepernick in as a backup QB.

12) South Point Casino has one of the best sportsbooks in Las Vegas; they posted odds Thursday for Week 1 of college football, which is Labor Day weekend. With game limits at $1,000 a game, they had $70,000 in action in the first two hours the lines were posted.

11) College basketball teams are allowed to take one overseas trip in the offseason every four years. Among the teams taking overseas trips this summer: Arizona State, Butler, Oklahoma, TCU and Kansas. These trips really help, as far as improving team chemistry and also the ten practices teams can have before the trip.

10) Cavaliers 135, Celtics 102— Cleveland’s 75 first half points were the most first half points in any NBA playoff game since Dallas had 83 against the Kings in a 2003 game.

The NBA has a problem when Charles Barkley is on TV, saying he is going back to his hotel to watch the hockey game on TV, instead of the NBA game.

9) David Price will make his 2017 debut for the Red Sox Monday afternoon, against the White Sox in Chicago. Price is in the second year of a 7-year, $217M contract; he has had problems with elbow/forearm inflammation.

8) Thursday was Ryan Braun’s 10th anniversary as a big leaguer, and since his whole career has been with Milwaukee, that makes him a 10-and-5 man; Brewers can’t trade him now without his consent. (Braun left Thursday night’s game with a pulled calf muscle.)

7) In case you were wondering, Cardinals’ WR Mel Gray (14), Redskins’ WR Charley Taylor (13) have scored the most TD’s against the Dallas Cowboys.

6) Astros’ reliever Jordan Jankowski made his MLB debut against Detroit this week; his wife’s name is also Jordan Jankowski- she is pregnant. Mrs Jankowski was openly sobbing in the stands as her husband was making his debut- tears of joy, I’m assuming. Always good to see happy people.

5) Baseball season is 54 days old; Dodgers have already put 20 players on the DL.

4) Mississippi State football coach Dan Mullen seems like a good guy; he was on Paul Finebaum’s show on EPSNU Thursday, which was at a golf course where it was pouring rain.

Without missing a beat, Mullen looks at the rain and says: “I’d play thru. I don’t think the heavy stuff is going to come down for a while”, a direct quote from Bill Murray in Caddyshack.

You think Nick Saban could rattle off a Caddyshack quote like that? I think not.

3) Mets have eight players on the DL; Terry Collins has apparently stopped talking to the media about injured players and their conditions— has the front office told him to stop? If so, postgame talks will either be really contentious or really short— there isn’t a whole lot else to talk about with this team, which at this point isn’t a good team.

2) Padres 4, Mets 3— More incompetence from the Mets, who lose here to a pitcher named LaMet; they scratched Jacob deGrom from his start Thursday because it might rain— it did rain some, but the game was never even delayed and the Mets lost to the woeful Padres. Now deGrom has a tougher task Friday, pitching at Pittsburgh. Geniuses.

1) For me, the worst part of being an Oakland A’s fan is that this time of year, with the A’s drifting near the bottom of the standings at 21-25, speculation has started about their trading their better players for prospects, to restock their farm system.

ESPN’s Buster Olney writes about this stuff a lot this time of year; I wish I had a dollar every time he wrote “A’s to trade Barry Zito to New York”, which never happened, but now he comes out with his “Sonny Gray is on the trading block” story Thursday. Oy.

Have some imagination; write about trades AFTER they happen. Find some other interesting stuff to write about. Small market fans are tired of having their pockets picked every summer, whether in real life or by lazy sportswriters looking for an easy story to write.

[StarDust Bum]

WNBA
Long Sheet

Friday, May 26

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MINNESOTA (4 - 0) at CONNECTICUT (0 - 3) - 5/26/2017, 7:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
CONNECTICUT is 23-13 ATS (+8.7 Units) in all games over the last 2 seasons.
CONNECTICUT is 19-9 ATS (+9.1 Units) as an underdog over the last 2 seasons.
CONNECTICUT is 6-0 ATS (+6.0 Units) in home games on Friday over the last 2 seasons.
CONNECTICUT is 9-2 ATS (+6.8 Units) when playing with 2 days rest over the last 2 seasons.
CONNECTICUT is 15-4 ATS (+10.6 Units) against Western conference opponents over the last 2 seasons.
CONNECTICUT is 15-4 ATS (+10.6 Units) in non-conference games over the last 2 seasons.
CONNECTICUT is 130-92 ATS (+28.8 Units) revenging a loss versus opponent since 1997.
CONNECTICUT is 19-9 ATS (+9.1 Units) after allowing 75 points or more over the last 2 seasons.
CONNECTICUT is 18-8 ATS (+9.2 Units) after scoring 75 points or more over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
CONNECTICUT is 5-1 against the spread versus MINNESOTA over the last 3 seasons
CONNECTICUT is 3-3 straight up against MINNESOTA over the last 3 seasons
5 of 6 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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CHICAGO (1 - 3) at WASHINGTON (2 - 2) - 5/26/2017, 7:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
WASHINGTON is 21-9 ATS (+11.1 Units) as a home favorite of 6.5 to 9 points since 1997.
WASHINGTON is 296-353 ATS (-92.3 Units) in all games since 1997.
WASHINGTON is 173-221 ATS (-70.1 Units) after a division game since 1997.

Head-to-Head Series History
WASHINGTON is 6-4 against the spread versus CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
CHICAGO is 7-3 straight up against WASHINGTON over the last 3 seasons
6 of 10 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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NEW YORK (2 - 1) at SEATTLE (2 - 1) - 5/26/2017, 10:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
SEATTLE is 9-1 ATS (+7.9 Units) on Friday over the last 2 seasons.
SEATTLE is 57-35 ATS (+18.5 Units) in home games after a non-conference game since 1997.
NEW YORK is 24-11 ATS (+11.9 Units) in road games over the last 3 seasons.
NEW YORK is 16-6 ATS (+9.4 Units) in road games in May, June, or July games over the last 3 seasons.
NEW YORK is 79-54 ATS (+19.6 Units) in road games against Western conference opponents since 1997.
NEW YORK is 79-54 ATS (+19.6 Units) in road games in non-conference games since 1997.
NEW YORK is 97-71 ATS (+18.9 Units) in road games when playing against a team with a winning record since 1997.

Head-to-Head Series History
SEATTLE is 3-2 against the spread versus NEW YORK over the last 3 seasons
NEW YORK is 4-1 straight up against SEATTLE over the last 3 seasons
3 of 5 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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WNBA

Friday, May 26

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Trend Report
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7:00 PM
MINNESOTA vs. CONNECTICUT
Minnesota is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
Minnesota is 0-5 ATS in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Connecticut
The total has gone OVER in 10 of Connecticut's last 11 games when playing Minnesota
Connecticut is 6-13 SU in its last 19 games when playing Minnesota

7:00 PM
CHICAGO vs. WASHINGTON
The total has gone OVER in 16 of Chicago's last 23 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 15 of Chicago's last 21 games
Washington is 1-5-1 ATS in its last 7 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Washington's last 6 games

10:00 PM
NEW YORK vs. SEATTLE
New York is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games when playing Seattle
The total has gone OVER in 4 of New York's last 6 games when playing Seattle
Seattle is 6-0-1 ATS in its last 7 games at home
Seattle is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home


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WNBA
Dunkel

Friday, May 26


New York @ Seattle

Game 615-616
May 26, 2017 @ 10:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
New York
110.842
Seattle
111.645
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Seattle
by 1
152
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Seattle
by 4
155 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
New York
(+4); Under

Chicago @ Washington

Game 613-614
May 26, 2017 @ 7:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Chicago
105.476
Washington
117.707
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Washington
by 12
167
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Washington
by 8 1/2
162
Dunkel Pick:
Washington
(-8 1/2); Over

Minnesota @ Chicago

Game 611-612
May 26, 2017 @ 7:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Minnesota
121.290
Chicago
109.812
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Minnesota
by 11 1/2
156
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Minnesota
by 7
161
Dunkel Pick:
Minnesota
(-7); Under

[StarDust Bum]

Preview: Sky (1-3) at Mystics (2-2)
Date: May 26, 2017 7:00 PM EDT

The Washington Mystics ended their three-game trip with a win at the Chicago Sky. But Elena Delle Donne's awkward early-season matchup against her former team hasn't ended just yet.

The Mystics (2-2) host the Sky (1-3) in the second game of a home-and-home set on Friday night in Washington D.C..

Delle Donne, who spent her first four seasons with Chicago before demanding a trade this offseason, had 21 points and eight rebounds in Washington's 82-67 road win on Wednesday.

The Sky sent Delle Donne, the 2015 WNBA Most Valuable Player, to the Mystics in January for a package that included center Stefanie Dolson and the No. 2 overall selection the 2017 Draft.

Delle Donne, the 6-foot-5 scoring dynamo has immediately provided Washington with the desired offensive punch. She is averaging 21.5 points on 56.3 percent shooting. She made all 21 of her free throws during the 1-2 trip.

"Obviously there's nerves," Delle Donne said of the return to Chicago. "It's weird being here and all the talk around it and just wanting to get this game under my belt, getting back here, getting through this game and getting a win. I'm just thrilled we were able to get through it."

Washington opened the trip with 10-point losses against the Los Angeles Sparks and Seattle Storm, but closed strong defensively.

Cappie Pondexter led the Sky with 17 points, but went 4 of 15 from the field as Chicago shot 30 percent. The Mystics pulled away late, outscoring the Sky 24-14 in the fourth quarter.

Washington outrebounded Chicago 44-38.

"We made progress (Wednesday) in Chicago, especially on the defensive end," Mystics coach Mike Thibault told the "Locked on Wizards" podcast following Thursday's practice.

The practice session allowed Thibault to begin prepping for the month-long absence of forward Emma Meesseman. The WNBA's leading 3-point shooter last season, Meesseman headed overseas following Wednesday's game to be with the Belgium national team for the FIBA world championships.

The hope is the presence of Delle Donne and other key contributors, including forwards Tianna Hawkins, will offset the loss of Washington's second-leading scorer last season.

"You got one of the three or four best players in the league on your side," Thibault said. "It helps cover some absences. To lose Emma a year ago would have been devastating."

Dolson, selected sixth overall by Washington in the 2014 WNBA Draft, had 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Sky in Wednesday's loss.

"We competed hard," Dolson said. "We gave up, me especially, I gave up too many offensive rebounds towards the end. ... I'm really disappointed in myself. We just got to get back on the court and get ready for Friday."

Allie Quiqley also scored 13 points in her first game this season after completing her season in Turkey. Now she faces a second matchup in as many games against her former teammate.

"Just playing in this league so many years, it's just something that happens," Quiqley said of facing Delle Donne. "I've been on so many teams where players leave that it's just the reality of the situation. I'm sure it was more weird for her than it was for us."


WNB HEAD TO HEAD

May 24, 2017 Score ATS Results
WAS « 82 Cover: 10
CHI 67 Under: 149
Tools: Recaps

Sep 7, 2016 Score ATS Results
CHI 81 Over: 199
WAS « 118 Cover: 41
Tools: Recaps

Jul 1, 2016 Score ATS Results
WAS 84 Cover: 2
CHI « 86 Over: 170
Tools: Recaps

Jun 3, 2016 Score ATS Results
WAS 72 Over: 170
CHI « 98 Cover: 15.5
Tools: Recaps

Jun 1, 2016 Score ATS Results
CHI « 86 Cover: 4
WAS 78 Over: 164
Tools: Recaps

[StarDust Bum]

Preview: Liberty (2-1) at Storm (2-1)
Date: May 26, 2017 10:00 PM EDT

The New York Liberty and Seattle Storm were missing the point.

More specifically, their point guards.

However, while nine-time WNBA All-Star Sue Bird returned to the Storm last weekend, the Liberty will be without Brittany Boyd for the rest of the season after she underwent surgery earlier this week for a torn Achilles.

The Liberty and Storm meet Friday night at KeyArena in Seattle.

Without Boyd, the Liberty (2-1) won 69-67 Tuesday at Phoenix despite committing 17 turnovers and struggling in half-court sets.

"We lost Brittany Boyd for the season, it was unfortunate, she was really coming in her own," Liberty coach Bill Laimbeer said after the game. "She was the person that we were counting on to really be our lead guard position. Now we got a lead guard (Epiphanny Prince) who did a very good job tonight, but it's something we're going to have to keep working on all season long."

Prince scored 24 points to lead the Liberty to the victory, but only Sugar Rodgers had more than two assists for New York. Bria Hartley was scoreless in 12 minutes at point guard, recording only one assist.

Boyd, in her third season out of California, had doubled her career scoring average this season, averaging 13.0 points before being injured.

While the Liberty will be without Boyd, the Storm (2-1) has Bird back.

Bird, who missed the first two games of the season after arthroscopic surgery on her left knee, had nine points and 10 points in her debut Sunday in an 81-71 victory against the Washington Mystics.

"At times, you can take playing the game for granted," Bird told the Seattle Times. "Since my surgery, it's been hard -- mentally more than anything. There were a lot of question marks, so to finally be out there, it felt good."

The Storm, who averaged 22.5 turnovers in their two games without Bird, felt the same way.

"All of sudden, we go down to 12 (turnovers)," Storm coach Jenny Boucek told the Times. "Two reasons. Sue. Bird. "There's nobody ever who has been better -- I don't think in men's or women's basketball -- at calming a team. All of sudden everything we've been talking about makes sense and everybody just exhales."

And that has taken pressure off Jewell Loyd, the No. 1 pick in the 2015 draft out of Notre Dame, to do everything in the Seattle backcourt. Loyd is averaging a league-best 26 points per game.


WNB HEAD TO HEAD

Sep 7, 2016 Score ATS Results
SEA « 102 Cover: 30
NEW 78 Over: 180
Tools: Recaps

Jul 6, 2016 Score ATS Results
SEA 74 Cover: 5.5
NEW « 78 Under: 152
Tools: Recaps

Jun 5, 2016 Score ATS Results
NEW « 86 Cover: 6
SEA 78 Over: 164
Tools: Recaps

[StarDust Bum]

Preview: Lynx (4-0) at Sun (0-3)
Date: May 26, 2017 7:00 PM EDT

The Connecticut Sun came close to handing the Minnesota Lynx their first loss of the season and their first defeat in their past 21 May games on Tuesday night.

On Friday night in Uncasville, Conn., the Sun get another chance on the back end of a home-and-home series.

Sylvia Fowles scored 21 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked four shots as the Lynx (4-0) held off the Sun 80-78 in St. Paul, Minn. Connecticut (0-3) had a possession in the final seconds that could have tied or won the game.

"We were led by (Fowles), she was just outstanding, both offensively and defensively. We needed every bit of it," Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said. "She had a stretch where she couldn't convert, but it was a lot to be on just one person. Syl has grown. I told her, it was outstanding."

Fowles was able to take second-year Suns forward Jonquel Jones to school in the game. Jones, who has taken over a leadership role with the season-ending injury sustained by Chiney Ogwumike, is leading the WNBA in rebounding at 12.7 per game, but she had a tough time with Fowles. Jones did finish with 16 points and six rebounds. She is averaging 14.3 points per game this season.

"I think the physicality of the game got to me," Jones said. "You're playing against big bodies who had been playing the game for a long time and are just so much smarter with (what) they do."

Fowles is tied for fourth in the league in scoring (21.5 points per game) and third in rebounding (10.8 per game).

Seimone Augustus had 16 points and Maya Moore 12 points, six rebounds and five assists for the Lynx on Tuesday.

"Seimone was also really, really good," Reeve said.

Jasmine Thomas led the Sun with 18 points, including a career-high five 3-pointers. Morgan Tuck added 12 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.

The Sun recorded 13 steals Tuesday.

Ogwumike is clearly frustrated over not playing, trying to deal with the inactivity to help her team any way she can while landing a job at ESPN.

"It stinks that I am not playing, but I am a religious person and to me this is like God saying, 'Hey, here's something else you can do,'" she told the Hartford Courant. "I'm 25 years old. Nothing is the end of the world. One season closed ... but a door opened off the court. Now I'm like the Connecticut Sun's ambassador in Bristol."


WNB HEAD TO HEAD

May 23, 2017 Score ATS Results
CONN 78 Cover: 10.5
MIN « 80 Under: 158
Tools: Recaps

Sep 4, 2016 Score ATS Results
CONN 79 Over: 172
MIN « 93 Cover: 4
Tools: Recaps

Aug 26, 2016 Score ATS Results
MIN 80 Over: 164
CONN « 84 Cover: 12
Tools: Recaps

Jul 7, 2016 Score ATS Results
MIN 89 Over: 182
CONN « 93 Cover: 15.5
Tools: Recaps

[StarDust Bum]

FRIDAY, MAY 26

GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

MIN at CONN 07:00 PM

CONN +6.5

O 158.5

CHI at WAS 07:00 PM

WAS -8.5

O 162.5

NY at SEA 10:00 PM

SEA -4.5

O 154.5

[StarDust Bum]

WNBA Capsules
May 26, 2017

SEATTLE (AP) Rookie Sami Whitcomb made six of Seattle's franchise-record 14 3-pointers and the Storm closed on a 9-0 run to beat the New York Liberty 87-81 on Friday night.

Whitcomb made four straight 3-pointers in the second half and was 6 of 8 from long range after halftime to set a WNBA record for 3s in a half. She finished with 22 points in just 15 minutes.

New York went on an 11-0 third-quarter run to take a 63-53 lead, but Seattle made 3-pointers on four consecutive possessions - three from Whitcomb - to pull to 70-65. Whitcomb opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer and with under a minute left, she used a high screen from Breanna Stewart to sink a deep 3 for an 85-81 lead. Whitcomb sealed it with two free throws with 23.5 seconds left.

Stewart had 20 points and 12 rebounds for Seattle (3-1). Jewell Loyd added 16 points, and Crystal Langhorne had nine points and 10 rebounds.

Tina Charles scored 22 of her 28 points in the second half for New York (2-2). Charles took over in the third quarter, scoring 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting.

Sugar Rodgers made six of the Liberty's nine 3-pointers and scored 21 points. Epiphanny Prince had 19 points and seven assists.

LYNX 82, SKY 68

UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) - Sylvia Fowles had 20 points and nine rebounds to help Minnesota beat Connecticut for the second time in three days.

Minnesota has won 22 straight games in the month of May since 2012. The Lynx beat the Sun 80-78 on Tuesday night in Minnesota.

Rebekkah Brunson and Renee Montgomery each scored 11 points for Minnesota (5-0).

Maya Moore missed her first seven field goals and finally got a baseline jumper to fall with 8:40 left in the fourth quarter. She finished with seven points and 11 rebounds.

Lynetta Kizer had 12 points for Connecticut (0-4).

MYSTICS 88, SKY 79

WASHINGTON (AP) - Elena Delle Donne scored 20 points against her former team in Washington's victory over Chicago.

Tayler Hill added 19 points for Washington (3-2). Allie Quigley had 17 points, and Tamera Young 16 for Chicago (1-4).

[StarDust Bum]

Saturday’s six-pack

Some interesting pointspreads for Labor Day weekend college football games:

— Oregon State @ Colorado State (-2)

— Boston College (-2) @ Northern Illinois

— Colorado State vs Colorado (-8) (@ Denver)

— South Carolina (-4) @ NC State

— Kentucky (-12) @ Southern Miss

— Temple @ Notre Dame (-13)

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Saturday’s List of 13: Clearing out a cluttered mind……..

13) This from the Associated Press: A naked man in Florida was arrested driving away from a storage center in a stolen pickup truck loaded with a statue of a large, black and white checkered swan that’s worth tens of thousands of dollars.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd had this to say: “Look folks. Where are you going to hide a five-foot tall, checkered swan? If someone’s harboring this swan and not telling us, we’re going to put them in jail. And we hope when we find them, they have clothes on.”

Alrighty then……..

12) Interesting article in the Houston Chronicle Friday on the guy who takes care of the pitching mound at Minute Maid Park in Houston. Important job that we don’t think about a lot— this guy has worked for the Astros for 46 years as a groundskeeper- the pitchers swear by the job he does keeping the mound, and pitchers are particular about their workplace.

11) Lonzo Ball isn’t going to do a pre-draft workout for the Celtics, who have the first pick in the NBA Draft; what the hell happens if Boston drafts Ball?

10) Joe Davis is the Dodgers’ play-by-play guy; he is very good, also does basketball on FS1, is just excellent at his job. The thing is, he is only 29 years old, which doesn’t seem possible. He is replacing the greatest baseball announcer ever (Vin Scully) but is doing it very well.

9) ESPN signed Chip Kelly as an analyst for its ESPN2 football coverage, which could be very interesting. Curious to see what the former Oregon-Eagles coach has to say.

8) Tampa Bay Rays had 521 strikeouts thru 50 games, the most by any team ever thru 50 games, 26 more than the next-highest, last year’s Astros.

7) Rangers faced four Boston relievers in the last three innings Thursday nite; all nine batters struck out. In all, 20 of the 27 Texas outs in that game came on strikeouts.

6) Mississippi State had two basketball players transfer this week: Mario Kegler and Eli Wright. Rough week for Ben Howland. Bulldogs had the 2nd-least experienced team in the country last year; Kegler played 70% of the time, Wright 30%. Pretty big loss.

5) When Joe Gibbs coached the Redskins, he had a fine schedule for various offenses; one of the fines was $100 for spraining your ankle if you didn’t have it wrapped/taped beforehand. This is 25-30 years ago, so $100 fine was more than it sounds like now.

If a player missed a trainer’s/doctor’s appointment, the fine was $300.

4) The Ben Simmons infomercial was on Showtime again Friday afternoon; its been almost a year since he was drafted and we still have no idea how good the kid is. We know Simmons is already really rich; we’ve heard he’s grown two inches and is just about 7-feet tall, but still no one knows if he’s going to be any good. He played one year at LSU and his team was a disaster; he is going to be needed to be a team leader— can he do that?

3) Golden State is $260, Cleveland +$220 in the NBA Finals which don’t start until Thursday (why?!?!?!) and could stretch out for 18 days, if it goes seven games.

2) There is nothing in sports- NOTHING as good as overtime in a Game 7 of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Had one of those Thursday night, as the Penguins broke the heart of everyone in Canada with a 3-2 double OT win over the Ottawa Senators. Tremendous drama.

People in Ottawa greeted the Senators when they landed at the airport at 3am, sitting thru the rain to applaud their team after a great season.

1) There have been 27 major league games rained out this season, more than all of last year.

[StarDust Bum]

SCHEDULE FOR SATURDAY MAY 27, 2017
Time (ET) Away Home Site
6:00 PM Los Angeles Sparks Atlanta Dream McCamish Pavilion
10:00 PM Dallas Wings Phoenix Mercury Talking Stick Resort Arena

SCHEDULE FOR SUNDAY MAY 28, 2017
Time (ET) Away Home Site
6:00 PM Connecticut Sun Chicago Sky Allstate Arena
7:00 PM Indiana Fever Seattle Storm KeyArena
7:00 PM San Antonio Stars Minnesota Lynx Target Center

*************************

LEAGUE STANDINGS

Rank Team W L PCT GB CONF HOME ROAD L-10 STREAK

#1 Minnesota Lynx5 0 1.000 - 1-0 2-0 3-0 5-0 W 5

#2 Seattle Storm3 1 0.750 1.5 0-1 3-0 0-1 3-1 W 3

#3 Los Angeles Sparks2 1 0.667 2 1-0 2-0 0-1 2-1 L 1

#4 Dallas Wings2 1 0.667 2 2-1 0-1 2-0 2-1 W 1

#5 Atlanta Dream2 1 0.667 2 2-1 0-1 2-0 2-1 L 1

#6 Washington Mystics3 2 0.600 2 2-0 2-0 1-2 3-2 W 2

#7 New York Liberty2 2 0.500 2.5 0-0 1-1 1-1 2-2 L 1

#8 Phoenix Mercury2 2 0.500 2.5 1-1 1-2 1-0 2-2 L 1

#9 Indiana Fever2 2 0.500 2.5 1-0 2-0 0-2 2-2 W 2

#10 Chicago Sky1 4 0.200 4 1-3 0-2 1-2 1-4 L 2

#11 Connecticut Sun0 4 0.000 4.5 0-2 0-2 0-2 0-4 L 4

#12 San Antonio Stars0 4 0.000 4.5 0-2 0-2 0-2 0-4 L 4

[StarDust Bum]

Sparks, Dream try to bounce back from losses

Two teams that squandered big leads in their last games will collide Saturday, when the defending champion Los Angeles Sparks visit the Atlanta Dream at McCamish Pavilion.

The Sparks (2-1) squandered a 14-point lead in a 93-90 loss to the Indiana Fever on Wednesday. Los Angeles took a 55-41 lead into halftime against the Fever, but were outscored 27-10 in the third quarter and were unable to pull out the win in the fourth quarter, despite shooting 54.8 percent from the field for the game.

Forward Nneka Oguwmike led all scorers with 24 points and forward Candace Parker recorded a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebound, but it wasn't enough, as the Sparks suffered their first loss of the season.

The Fever considered it a major victory.

"L.A., to me, is like the Golden State Warriors," Fever coach Pokey Chatman said, according to the Indianapolis Star. "People forget they're the best defensive team in the league as well as the best offensive."

The Dream (2-1) also dropped their first game of the season their last time out. Atlanta jumped on the Chicago Sky early last Sunday, racing out to a 24-14 lead after the first quarter. But the Dream went cold in the second quarter, scoring just eight points en route to a disappointing 75-71 loss to the Sky.

"I think the last game we were really, really up and down and trying to make adjustments within the game," Atlanta guard Meighan Simmons said this week. "I think we just need to be mentally focused to from beginning to end."

Point guard Layshia Clarendon and Tiffany Hayes each scored 17 points to lead the Dream in the loss. Hayes, who leads the team in scoring, injured her ankle on the final possession of the game against Chicago. Hayes was listed as day-to-day on Friday.

Clarendon was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the first time in her career, after averaging 16.3 points and 6.0 assists in her first three games of the young season.

Parker is off to a strong start to the season for the Sparks, averaging 18.5 points, 10.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists. Combined with Ogwumike, Parker gives Los Angeles an advantage over the Dream in the paint.

Atlanta won two of last season's three meetings with the Sparks, including a streak-stopping victory on July 17. Los Angeles won 20 of its first 21 games last season, tying the 1998 Houston Comets for the best start in WNBA history. But the Dream knocked off the Sparks 91-74 in their 22nd game.

"It's going to be a physical ballgame so we just have to come in that mindset and be ready to play," Dream guard Brian Holmes said. "Don't let anyone come into our house and take advantage."

Sparks point guard Odyssey Sims sat out the loss to Indiana with an ankle injury, and there is no word on her status for the game against Atlanta. She was acquired in a trade with Dallas during the offseason.

"This is a great opportunity for me," Sims told the Los Angeles Times earlier this month. "I'm in a better situation, and I'm just really excited to be here. Not just to be in California, but to actually be playing for L.A. They just won a championship, and Brian (Agler), he knows what he's talking about."

[StarDust Bum]

Wings face Mercury without key starter

Dallas outrebounded the Phoenix Mercury by 24 in their first meeting of the season, but the Wings head into Saturday night's rematch without starter Courtney Paris.

The 6-foot-4 center suffered a knee injury in a victory over San Antonio on Thursday night and is expected to be out six to eight weeks. Paris, who led the league in rebounding in 2014 and 2015, is averaging 5.0 points and 4.3 rebounds this season.

She had seven rebounds in a season-opening 68-58 victory in Phoenix, where the Wings had a 41-17 edge on the glass and did not allow the Mercury to grab an offensive rebound.

The teams meet again Saturday night at Talking Stick Resort Arena, and veteran Phoenix guard Diana Taurasi will be chasing history.

Taurasi, who served a one-game suspension Tuesday night after being called for a flagrant foul-2 in the previous game, is three 3-pointers from becoming the WNBA's career leader. She has 904, two behind Katie Smith.

Taurasi, in her 13th season in the WNBA, is 145 points shy of becoming the league's all-time leading scorer, too.

"A little stagnant," Mercury coach Sandy Brondello said of the offense without Taurasi in a 69-67 home loss to the New York Liberty.

"I think we became a little too quick-hitting and not enough movement. But that's not just Diana and her absence, but the team getting used to playing with each other."

Dallas (2-1) is likely to go with Theresa Plaisance at center, with rookies Evelyn Akhator and Breanna Lewis also seeing more time in the frontcourt rotation.

The Mercury (2-2) have one of the league's top centers in Brittney Griner, who is averaging 22.3 points and 7.8 rebounds while shooting 62.7 percent from the field. She had just two rebounds in the first meeting against Dallas, as Wings forward Glory Johnson pulled down 14 rebounds.

Johnson is 12 rebounds from 1,000 for her career.

Phoenix is trying to find its 3-point touch, making just 23.9 percent. Taurasi is 4 of 18 from behind the arc.

But the only team shooting worse from 3-point range than the Mercury are the Wings, who are at 21.4 percent.

Dallas rookie guard Kaela Davis scored 20 points in the teams' first meeting, and she is third on the team in scoring at 12.3 points per game.

Fellow first-rounder Allisha Gray, a guard, is averaging 14.3 points, and point guard Skylar Diggins-Smith leads the way at 15.3.

Diggins-Smith fueled a 33-11 fourth-quarter run in a 94-82 win at San Antonio on Thursday, scoring nine of her 17 points during that stretch.

"I think someone blocked her shot earlier and she didn't like that, so that really upped her game," Dallas coach Fred Williams said, according to the San Antonio Express-News. "She really went after it and played hard. That's the type of player she is."

[StarDust Bum]

WNBA May's Record:

date w-l-t % units record

05/26/2017................ 4-2-0................ 66.67%................ +9.00
05/25/2017.................1-1-0................ 50.00%...................-0.50
05/24/2017................ 2-0-0 ...............100.00%................+10.00
05/23/2017................ 1-3-0 ................25.00%................ -11.50
05/21/2017................ 2-2-0................ 50.00%................. -1.00
05/20/2017................ 3-1-0................ 75.00%................. +9.50
05/19/2017................ 4-2-0................ 66.67%.............,... + 9.00
05/18/2017................ 1-1-0................ 50.00%................. - 0.50
05/17/2017.................1-1-0.................50.00%..................- 0.50

Totals:.......................19 - 13...............57.37%.................+ 23.50

best bets:

05/26/2017.................4 - 2....................66.67%..................+9.00
05/25/2017.................1 - 1 - 0...............50.00%...................-0.50
05/24/2017.................1 - 0..................100.00%..................+1.00
05/23/2017.................1 - 3...................25.00%...................-2.30
05/21/2017.................2 - 2...................50.00%...................-1.00
05/20/2017.................3 - 0..................100.00%.................+3.00
05/19/2017.................4 - 2...................66.66%..................+9.00
05/18/2017.................1 - 1-0.................50.00%..................- 0.50
05/17/2017.................1 - 1-0.................50.00%..................- 0.50

Totals:......................18 - 12.................60.00%..................+17.20