The fifth week of WBNA action saw some big names return to game action. Paige Bueckers, Caitlin Clark and Alyssa Thomas all returned from injuries and Kahleah Copper made her season debut.
The fifth week also delivered the first losses of the season for the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx, which means there is a new No.1 this week in the power rankings.
WNBA Power Rankings
These rankings reflect where each WNBA team stands after week five of the 2025 season. Teams are ranked 1-13 and are grouped by tiers.
Past Rankings: Preseason, Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4
Tier 1: Contenders
- Minnesota Lynx (10-1) | Prior Rank: 2 - The Lynx suffered their first loss of the WNBA season, but they move up to the top spot in this week’s rankings. It’s hard to argue with 10-1 on the season and they had to lose at some point right? Their loss came on the road to a stingy Seattle Storm defense in crunch time. They bounced back with a dominant win over the Los Angeles Sparks that allowed Napheesa Collier to rest in the fourth quarter. With the New York Liberty also losing their first game of the season and the Lynx having one more win than them, the Lynx move up to No. 1 this week.
- New York Liberty (9-1) | Prior Rank: 1 - The Liberty drop a spot for the first time this season in this week’s rankings. There isn’t too much concern over the Liberty who have only lost one game and have the second best record in the league. They still top the league in Offensive, Defensive and overall Net Rating. Like the Lynx, their first loss also came on the road against a hungry Indiana Fever team that just got Caitlin Clark back. Plus, the Liberty were also down two starters in Jonquel Jones and Leonie Fiebich. The Liberty’s next three games are against the Atlanta Dream, Phoenix Mercury and Storm. That will be their toughest stretch of games so far this season, and they will be without Leonie Fiebich for all of them, who is away from the team to represent Germany in Eurobasket. It will be a good test for the champs. For now, they grab the second spot in these power rankings.
Tier 2: Potential Contenders
Atlanta Dream (8-3) | Prior Rank: 4 - The Dream move up one spot this week. In week 5, the Dream went 3-0. The wins came against the Clark-less Fever, Chicago Sky and Washington Mystics. While their opponents didn’t have the strongest records, the Atlanta Dream had dominant performances in all three showings. Teams that want to contend beat the teams they should and that’s what the Atlanta Dream did. During the three-game stretch, Rhyne Howard’s nine three-pointers against Chicago set a franchise record and tied the WNBA single-game record for threes made. She also made history in the Dream’s following game against Washington by becoming the fastest player to reach 300 career threes. Her co-star, Allisha Gray, and rookie, Te-Hina Paopao, joined in the fun by setting new career highs in points with 32 and 16, respectively. The Dream seem to be clicking on all cylinders. They are currently third in Offensive, Defensive and overall Net Rating. Couple that with a three-game win streak and third best record in the league and that’s why they move up to No. 3 this week.
Rhyne Howard put up 2K NUMBERS in the Dream's win over the Sky 🤯
— WNBA (@WNBA) June 14, 2025
36 PTS
8 REB
4 AST
9 3PM (career-high, ties WNBA record)
47.4 3PT%
WNBA Commissioner's Cup presented by @coinbase pic.twitter.com/rqDwLpHR4CPhoenix Mercury (8-4) | Prior Rank: 4 - The Mercury drop one spot this week, but arguably still have a case to be ranked third. They went 2-0 last week in their games against the Dallas Wings and A’ja-less Aces. They also saw Alyssa Thomas return to play and Kahleah Copper make her season debut over those two games.
We've been waiting 5 months to watch a play like this 🥹 https://t.co/R4SRaynQiN pic.twitter.com/JSdlnowBgt
— Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) June 15, 2025It was a toss up between them and Atlanta for No. 3, but the Dream have a longer win streak, one less loss on the season, and the difference in Offensive Rating can’t be overlooked. While Atlanta is third with an Offensive Rating of 107.4, the Mercury are ninth with a 99.6 Offensive Rating. That should improve with both Alyssa Thomas and Kahleah Copper back in the lineup, but for now, the Mercury fall to No. 4 this week.
This spin move needed its own highlight reel.
— Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) June 16, 2025
Come see moves like this live at our next home game on Friday, June 27th.
🎟️https://t.co/eoW5tcKkUq pic.twitter.com/2Tgd0AgzmrSeattle Storm (6-5) | Prior Rank: 5 - The Storm will keep the fifth spot this week. The Storm had their most impressive win this year by beating the Minnesota Lynx and handing them their first loss of the season. However, they followed up that win by losing to the Golden State Valkyries in a game where they got down as much as 20 points. While Seattle has demonstrated an ability to come back in games (and sometimes win them), it’s been a pattern for them all season, which is why they’ve looked like an inconsistent team and only sit one game above .500. The Storm will face the Liberty on Sunday, which will be a another good litmus test for them. For now, they hold steady at No. 5.
Seattle’s first 11 games
— christan (no i), ß (@ChristanWNBA) June 15, 2025
L
W
W
W
L
L
L
W
W
W
L
Not a whole lot of consistency thereIndiana Fever (5-5) | Prior Rank: 7 - The Fever move up one spot this week and got their best win this year in Caitlin Clark’s return. The Fever handed the undermanned Liberty their first loss of the season. Clark was sensational in her first game back with a near triple double. She scored 32 points, tied her career-high in three pointers made with 7, grabbed 8 rebounds, dished out 9 assists and blocked two shots.
ALL 32 points from Caitlin Clark's comeback game 🎯
— WNBA (@WNBA) June 14, 2025
Every bucket from her return to upset the Liberty!
FINAL STATS: 32 PTS | 8 REB | 9 AST | 7 3PM pic.twitter.com/9ihNJk38IPIt’s tempting to move the Fever up higher with how good they looked on Saturday against the reigning champs. Kelsey Mitchell scored 22 points and Aliyah Boston chipped in with a double double. Six of their players, including all of their starters, scored in double digits. Despite being 5-5, they are still top five in Offensive, Defensive and overall Net Rating, and this is all with Caitlin Clark missing five games. Prior to Clark’s injury, the Fever were 2-2. So, even though the stats suggest the Fever may be a contender, the Fever’s record will need to also reflect that. While they are trending up, for now, they land at No. 6 this week.
Tier 3: In the Mix
- Golden State Valkyries (5-5) | Prior Rank: 9 - The Valkyries move up two spots this week. After losing four games in a row, the Valkyries have rebounded well. They are currently on a three-game winning streak and have a chance to continue it over their next three games, as two of the teams they will face are at the bottom of the standings (Dallas Wings and Connecticut Sun). The Valkyries are the fastest WNBA expansion team to get five wins and have quickly turned into one of the best home court advantages in the league by averaging 18,064 fans per home game (highest average in the WNBA this season). They currently rank seventh in Net Rating and will also land at No. 7 in this week’s rankings.
- Las Vegas Aces (5-5) | Prior Rank: 6 - The Aces free fall continues this week. They are currently without the services of their best player, A’ja Wilson, who is concussion protocols. In their two games without Wilson, Vegas went 1-1. Their next three games are against the Minnesota Lynx, Seattle Storm and Indiana Fever. The Aces still have enough talent to get some wins over this upcoming stretch of games, but they’ve been so inconsistent all year, even before A’ja Wilson’s absence, getting any wins without the reigning MVP will be an uphill battle. It’s already been announced that Wilson will miss their game on Tuesday against Minnesota. With a 5-5 record, given their current circumstances, the Aces land at No. 8 this week.
Los Angeles Sparks (4-8) | Prior Rank: 10 - The Sparks move up one spot this week. They went 1-1 in week 5 with a win over the Aces and a loss to the Lynx. A bright spot for LA was Rickea Jackson’s play against the Aces where she scored a career-high 30 points and pulled down 7 boards. They will need more of that Rickea if they want to win more games and move up the standings. At four games below .500, they come in at No. 9 this week.
Rickea Jackson had her way vs. the Las Vegas Aces 😤
— WNBA (@WNBA) June 12, 2025
30 PTS (career-high)
7 REB
4 3PM
11-17 FG
WNBA Commissioner's Cup presented by @coinbase pic.twitter.com/QePvcYMlAW- Washington Mystics (4-7) | Prior Rank: 8 - The Mystics drop one spot this week. Even though they do have a better overall record than the Sparks and sit ahead of them in the league standings, they only played one game in week 5 against the Atlanta Dream and got blown out by 33 points. That’s enough to for them to fall to No. 10 in this week’s rankings.
Tier 4: Rebuilding
Chicago Sky (3-7) | Prior Rank: 11 - The Chicago Sky got their third win of the season on Sunday against the Connecticut Sun. While that won’t elevate them in the standings (or these rankings), the Sky showed some signs of promise after experiencing a season-ending injury to their veteran point guard, Courtney Vandersloot, earlier this season. Angel Reese notched the first triple double of her WNBA career, which included a career-high 11 assists. More importantly, she looked good in her point forward role for the team.
Angel Reese put together a COMPLETE performance vs. the Sun to record her first career TRIPLE-DOUBLE 💥
— WNBA (@WNBA) June 15, 2025
11 PTS
13 REB
11 AST (career-high)
3 STL
2 BLK
WNBA Commissioner's Cup presented by @coinbase pic.twitter.com/N2WQX1icwNHailey Van Lith also shined in her role as the Sky’s new starting point guard. She too had a career-high for the Sky scoring 16 points against the Sun.
Hailey Van Lith put up career-high numbers in Chicago's win vs. Connecticut ✨
— WNBA (@WNBA) June 15, 2025
16 PTS
5 REB
6-8 FG
WNBA Commissioner's Cup presented by @coinbase pic.twitter.com/V17XeYXna0With the Sky leaning into the versatility of Angel Reese, more wins should come for the Sky, or at a minimum more competitive games against better competition. For now, the Sky hold steady at No. 11.
- Connecticut Sun (2-8) | Prior Rank: 12 - Similar to the Mystics, the Sun only played one game last week and it was a loss to the Chicago Sky. They still have one more win on the season than the Dallas Wings so they will hold on to the No. 12 spot this week.
Dallas Wings (1-11) | Prior Rank: 13 - The Dallas Wings are still searching for their second win of the season. They were so close in their matchup with the Aces on Friday but fell short. The good news for Dallas is that they got Paige Bueckers back who missed a few games due to a concussion and illness. Bueckers returned against the Mercury on Wednesday and put up a career-high 35 points in the Wings loss to Phoenix. With the worst record in the league, the Wings land at No. 13 again this week.
Morning recap: Paige Bueckers dropped a career-high 35 PTS last night 🔥
— WNBA (@WNBA) June 12, 2025
Sidelined for two weeks, came back in takeover mode! https://t.co/ujTDGGRgfE pic.twitter.com/050mPBiO4G
