What's Going On With The WNBA
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sonia Citron scored 17 points and made the winning jumper as time expired, rookie Lauren Betts scored a season-high 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting and the Washington Mystics beat the Toronto Tempo 86-85 on Friday night.
Betts, the No. 4 overall pick in the draft, played a career-high 21 minutes in the absence of second-year forward Kiki Iriafen (ankle).
Michaela Onyenwere also scored 17 points for the Mystics (5-6).
Shakira Austin had 12 points and 11 rebounds for her fifth double-double this season. The fifth-year center also had a career-high nine turnovers, the most in a WNBA game this season. Washington had a season-high 22 turnovers and were 2 of 18 from 3-point range.
Marina Mabrey scored 18 of her 27 points in the fourth quarter for the Tempo (7-6). Brittney Sykes added 20 points.
Mabrey, who shot 5 of 10 from behind the arc, has 473 career 3-pointers and moved past Shekinna Stricklen (468) for 23rd place in WNBA history.
The expansion Tempo had a season-high 18 steals, the most in WNBA since 2025 (Seattle, 20).
Betts scored inside with 3:21 to play to give the Mystics a 14-point lead. Mabrey made three free throws and assisted on a layup before she hit two 3s in a 25-second span to make it a two-possession game with 1:51 left.
Mabrey then converted a four-point play and hit a pull-up 3-pointer to take an 84-83 with 31.6 left, but Sykes answered 20 seconds later with a driving layup — her only points in the second half.
Betts had deep position under the basket, but got tied up with 2.1 seconds left before she tipped the ensuing jump ball to Citron for the winning fadeaway jumper.
Nyara Sabally, averaging a career-high 12.4 points on 56% shooting for Toronto this season, didn't play due to a hamstring injury.
Up nextTempo: Host Atlanta on Sunday.
Mystics: Start a four-game road trip Sunday at New York.
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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
A’ja Wilson. | Getty Images What was on pace to become the preeminent WNBA rivalry appeared to be put on pause.
On Saturday night, we might find out that it is, in fact, back on. Undefeated Commissioner’s Cup combatants meet in Sin City, with the Las Vegas Aces hosting the Minnesota Lynx.
The 4-0 Lynx sit atop the Western Conference Cup table with an overwhelming +81 point differential, a mark of dominance that makes the second-place Aces’ +41 point differential seem modest. Yet, if the Aces can protect homecourt and snap the Lynx’s eight-game winning streak, they’ll claim the Cup lead.
It’s a battle befitting for the primetime stage, as the action will tip off at 8 p.m. ET on CBS, and one that could cause the bad blood between these two teams to again begin to burble.
Last season, the Lynx (in)famously obliterated the Aces in Vegas in a 53-point win that became the largest road victory in WNBA history. Of course, the beatdown did not bury the Aces; it, instead, brought them back to life. Vegas would not lose again in the 2025 regular season, finishing off the season on a 16-game run that would fuel their eventual sprint to the 2025 WNBA title.
Along the way, they secured a revenge win against the Lynx, with A’ja Wilson’s 31-point performance on 80 percent shooting not only powering Vegas to the 10-point win, but also sealing her fourth M’VP over Napheesa Collier, who had a quiet 12 points on less than 40 percent shooting.
For much of the season, Collier was favored to steal the crown from Wilson. But that fateful game in Vegas proved to be a turning point. Collier suffered an ankle sprain late in the third quarter, an injury that can be interpreted as a cruel twist of fate or karmic retribution for suspected stat padding, depending on your allegiances. The injury sidelined Collier, and ultimately shelved her seemingly fated MVP triumph.
The Lynx, in contrast to the Aces, then experienced a disastrous playoffs, eliminated by the Phoenix Mercury in the semifinals as Collier suffered an injury to her other ankle. Those injured ankles eventually required offseason surgeries that have delayed Collier’s 2026 season debut.
With Collier absent, Minnesota was expected to flounder in the middle of the standings, presenting no real threat to Vegas and their title defense.
Thus, a rivalry simmering with spice had seemingly cooled. This season, there would be no need for head coaches Cheryl Reeve and Becky Hammon to trade barbs in postgame pressers, touting their team and their star while shading the other.
And yet, here we are. The Phee-less Lynx are leading the league, as the Aces, once again driven by heroic efforts from A’ja, are on their heels.
On Saturday, will the Lynx and their systems and schemes, albeit enhanced in new ways by ascendant rookie point guard Olivia Miles, prove superior? Or will the Aces remind that stars, particularly T’HE star, are what distinguish great teams from very good ones?
Even without the Commissioner’s Cup implications, this might be the most consequential contest of the season so far. What do you think? Post your predictions in the comments.
Checking in on the Cup consequences of Fever-Sun, Wings-Fire and Sparks-MercuryIndiana Fever vs. Connecticut Sun (6 p.m. ET, NBCSN): The Sun are eliminated from the Cup. With a win, the Fever remain alive with just one Cup loss. However, as that loss came to the East-leading New York Liberty, they need two Liberty losses to jump into the East lead. Considering the Liberty’s final two Cup games are against the Washington Mystics and Chicago Sky, Fever fans shouldn’t start planning for a return to the Cup final.Dallas Wings vs. Portland Fire (8:30 p.m. ET, WNBA League Pass): Out of Cup contention, the Fire would at least like to get the franchise’s first Cup win. The 3-1 Wings will be motivated to prevent it. Winning, and winning big, keeps them in the Western Conference Cup hunt. They’ll also be rooting for Aces, before then preparing to beat them next week and force a three-way tie at the top of the West table.Los Angeles Sparks vs. Phoenix Mercury (10 p.m. ET, WNBA League Pass): Technically, these teams can tells themselves that still have a chance in the Cup chase. However, barring some absurd, outlier outcomes, it’s almost impossible that either the 2-3 Sparks or, especially, the 2-3 Mercury become the West’s Cup representative.
Sep 14, 2025; College Park, Georgia, USA; Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White reacts after being called for a technical foul as forward Aliyah Boston (7) and guard Caitlin Clark (22) stand behind against the Atlanta Dream in the fourth quarter during game one of round one for the 2025 WNBA Playoffs at Gateway Center Arena at College Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images ©Brett Davis-Imagn ImagesThe past few weeks have been a ‘Fever’ dream for Indiana. Their every comment has been dissected, every sideline interaction replayed, and somehow it has all been turned into one storyline: Caitlin Clark and Stephanie White don’t see eye to eye. But coach White has finally decided to push back on the misleading headlines that continue to surround her team.
“If you ask anybody on our team, they’d rather be working on things that will help us in a productive way on the floor as opposed to making sure that everybody’s still good on our check-ins,” she said during her weekly appearance onQuery & Company.
“We’re never going to change people’s opinions, but the discrepancy of what’s real and what’s not and how what’s not real is getting turned into news, I just think that there’s a lot of not just misinformation, but lack of education around what’s happening in social media right now.”
White’s comments did not emerge in a vacuum. Throughout the season, the Fever have repeatedly found themselves dealing with rumors and online speculation that stretched far beyond what was actually happening inside the organization.
Earlier this year, a false report claiming White would be fired and replaced by Iowa coach Jan Jensen spread rapidly across social media and was even amplified by prominent sports personalities before being debunked. Around the same time, speculation surrounding Clark’s absences, the team’s internal dynamics and even coaching decisions regularly generated headlines despite little verified information supporting many of the claims.
The Fever also became embroiled in a separate controversy when the organization revoked independent reporter Scott Agness’ credentials over what it described as inaccurate and unsubstantiated reporting regarding Clark’s status.
But here’s the thing: even before the 2026 WNBA season began, fans were speculating that Stephanie White and Caitlin Clark were not on the same page. And considering everything that has unfolded since then, it’s easy to see why those rumors even gained traction.
It all started when coach White revealed that Clark would spend more time playing off the ball this season as Indiana looked to create a more balanced offense. Now, this idea was hardly controversial from a basketball perspective. Because even WNBA analyst Lawrencia Moten suggested that opponents can key in on Indiana’s offense when too much responsibility falls on one player. However, many fans saw this as a move to take away the spotlight from the Fever guard.
So once that narrative took hold, every interaction between the two came under extra scrutiny – whether it was White choosing to credit the entire team after Clark’s dominant performance against the Washington Mystics or cameras catching the pair in a heated argument.
Still, even with all that, it seemed like there was a light at the end of this tunnel. However, just when it looked like the conversation was finally moving on, Sophie Cunningham accidentally brought it back to life.
Following Caitlin Clark’s game-winning three in the Fever’s second matchup against the Mystics, Cunningham shared a post on Instagram that many fans interpreted as the players improvising the play rather than following Stephanie White’s instructions. So once again, social media was flooded with fresh theories that the Fever players and coaching staff have a fractured relationship.
Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White talks with Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) on Thursday, June 11, 2026, during the second half of a game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Indiana Fever defeated the Chicago Sky, 114-106.However, Cunningham herself recently pushed back against this whole mess while speaking on Show Me Something.
“Being in Indiana, everything is on full microscope times a million,” she said. “And you have to have thick skin to play here ’cause they eat everything up.”
But perhaps the most significant voice in this entire conversation belongs to Clark herself. After all, she is one half of the relationship that fans keep insisting is just not working.
“There’s a lot of people out there in the media or on TV that they think they know a lot of things and they’re just blatantly wrong about a lot of things,” Clark said earlier this month. “I ride for Steph. I ride for these girls. Steph has my back more than anybody.”
So, in the end, this whole messy narrative says more about the internet than it does about Indiana’s locker room.
Caitlin Clark & Co. seem far more concerned with leading their team to the championship, and Stephanie White plans on helping them achieve that. Yet, for now, the headlines don’t appear to be slowing down.
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