Arike Ogunbowale and Paige Bueckers each scored 20 points and helped lead a hot start that propelled the Dallas Wings to Monday's 92-82 win over the short-handed New York Liberty.
Ogunbowale added 14 assists in a game the Wings never trailed while building a lead as large as 30 points against the defending WNBA champion Liberty, who were without Breanna Stewart due to a right leg injury the All-Star forward sustained Saturday against the Los Angeles Sparks.
New York (17-8) has now lost two straight entering Wednesday's road showdown against the Minnesota Lynx, owners of the league's best record at 22-5.
Dallas (8-19) also received 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting from Luisa Geiselsoder to halt a two-game losing streak.
Jonquel Jones led the Liberty with 18 points and eight rebounds, while Sabrina Ionescu finished with 17 points in the loss.
The Wings assumed control right from the start, opening the game on a 21-4 run before ending the first quarter with a 31-19 lead behind Ogunbowale's 11 points.
Dallas stayed hot in the second quarter, shooting 58.3 per cent for the period to enter half-time owning a commanding 63-36 advantage.
The Wings were still ahead comfortably at 85-62 to begin the fourth quarter, but went just 1 for 16 from the field over the final 10 minutes as the Liberty closed the gap.
A 17-0 run capped by Jones' 3-pointer brought New York within 88-82 with under two minutes left, but Bueckers hit two free throws on the following possession to seal the outcome.
Diggins' triple-double sparks Storm's rout of Sun
Nneka Ogwumuike amassed 26 points, Skylar Diggins notched a triple-double and the Seattle Storm closed out their road trip by cruising to a 101-85 victory over the Connecticut Sun.
Diggins, who recently recorded the first triple-double in WNBA All-Star Game history, compiled 11 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists to help Seattle (16-11) dominate the last-place Sun. Ogwumike, meanwhile, went 11 of 13 from the field to lead a torrid shooting display for the Storm, who finished with a field goal percentage of 60.9.
Seattle was especially accurate in the third quarter, making 13 of 15 shots (86.7 per cent) to set a franchise record for field goal percentage in any quarter.
Gabby Williams added 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting for the Storm, who went 2-1 on their three-game triip.
Connecticut (4-21) was coming off an impressive 95-64 victory over the Golden State Valkyries on Sunday, but was overmatched in its second game in as many nights. Bria Hartley paced the Sun with 17 points.
The Storm never trailed after putting together an 11-1 run to take a 22-14 lead late in the first quarter, and a 9-0 spurt early in the second increased their advantage to 39-24 two minutes into the period.
Ogwumike finished with 15 first-half points and Willilams chipped in 14 as Seattle entered half-time with a 57-46 lead. The Storm then overwhelmed the Sun in the third quarter, outscoring Connecticut 30-12 for the period to stretch the margin to 87-58 heading into the fourth.
