WNBA: Atlanta Dream Beat Los Angeles Sparks To Move Into Second Place

Rhyne Howard scored 19 points, Brionna Jones had 16 points and 13 rebounds for her 12th double-double of the season, and the Atlanta Dream beat the Los Angeles Sparks 86-75 on Wednesday night to move into sole possession of second place in the WNBA standings.

Atlanta (27-14) won for the fifth time in six games to move a half-game ahead of Las Vegas (26-14) and Phoenix (26-14) with three regular-season games remaining.

The Dream play Los Angeles again on Friday, followed by a two-game series with lowly Connecticut to end the season.

Los Angeles (19-21) trails Indiana (21-20) by a game and a half for the eighth and final playoff spot.

Dearica Hamby had 21 points, nine rebounds and four assists for the Sparks, while Kelsey Plum added 18 points and seven assists.

Naz Hillmon scored 15 points and Maya Caldwell had 14 for Atlanta. Jordin Canada recorded her first double-double this season with 10 points and 10 assists.

Reese helps Sky snap skid

Angel Reese had 18 points and 13 rebounds for her 23rd double-double this season as the Chicago Sky stopped a four-game losing streak with an 88-64 win over the Connecticut Sun.

Kamilla Cardoso added 16 points for Chicago (10-30), which improved to 6-15 at home.  Connecticut (10-31) dropped to 4-17 on the road this season. Both teams had already been eliminated from playoff contention.

Tina Charles was 8 for 13 from the field and led Connecticut with 19 points, passing Diana Taurasi (3,341) for the most made field goals in WNBA history with 3,347.

Chicago scored the opening eight points of the game and led throughout. It was 30-10 after the first minute of the second quarter and 42-27 at halftime. The Sky shot 51.7% from the field in the first half and 11 of 13 at the free-throw line.