WNBA Player News

Canada injured her right leg during the first minutes of Wednesday’s exhibition, with the veteran guard requiring assistance back to the locker room. The veteran point guard was limited to 20 games last season due to injuries, including a broken hand that sidelined her for Atlanta’s first 14 contests. If Canada misses an extended period, her status may impact rookie Te-Hina Paopao, who’s looking to lock down a roster spot after a stellar career at South Carolina.

Despite showing up on the pregame injury report with a shoulder injury, Carrington powered through the discomfort to put together a strong effort for the Wings on Friday. The veteran guard’s final line looked similar to the ones she’d accumulated toward the end of May when she saw her production take a huge leap — she let her scoring and rebounding accentuate her Friday performance en route to a near-double-double. Carrington ultimately fouled out late in the fourth quarter, but not before finishing with a solid fantasy performance.

Bueckers didn’t score as dominantly on Friday as she did in her 35-point outing against the Mercury, but she still managed to accumulate enough stats for a solid night of fantasy production. She checked several boxes, with the most noteworthy arguably being her passing. Bueckers logged at least five assists for the sixth time already in her rookie campaign, which has provided her with a safe floor on a nightly basis in terms of fantasy basketball. She’ll have a chance to string together a third consecutive strong game when Dallas hosts Golden State on Tuesday.

Ogunbowale broke out of a shooting slump on Friday to nearly log her second 30-point performance of the season. The veteran guard’s strong outing came with the type of shooting efficiency that’s been an irregularity thus far — she shot over 50 percent for only the second time this season. Despite scoring only two points in the final quarter as the Aces overcame an 11-point Dallas lead, Ogunbowale ultimately finished with more than 25 points for the second time in the last three games. She seems to be getting back on track as a scorer, which the Wings will need if they hope to turn their season around.

Without the services of A’ja Wilson, Loyd provided the Aces with the scoring boost that they desperately needed on Friday. The veteran guard used a hot start and eight-point first quarter to finish with more points than she’s scored in a game since May 20 against Connecticut. A go-ahead three-pointer down the stretch gave her a new season-high in scoring and marked only the third time all season she’s reached double figures. Loyd was acquired by the Aces during the offseason to be a reliable contributor on the offensive end. While she’s been inconsistent, perhaps Friday’s efforts could lead her to more success in the near future.

Although her final line won’t jump off the page, Gray had a productive night for Las Vegas in its first game of the season without reigning MVP A’ja Wilson. Gray’s inability to connect on her shots from beyond the arc ultimately led her to miss out on additional scoring and cost her some fantasy production as well. However, her five assists, after logging back-to-back one-assist games in the two prior, should leave fantasy managers happy and encouraged about the production Gray can still put forth as a facilitator. She’s yet to land a dominant game as both a scorer and passer, but it could be on the way.

Atkins was playing de facto point guard on Friday night as the Sky continue to figure out how they proceed as a basketball team without veteran leader Courtney Vandersloot. Atkins mostly found the Sky’s post trio in Angel Reese, Kamilla Cardoso and Elizabeth Williams on cuts to the basket. To get Atkins off the ball, however, Sky head coach Tyler Marsh had Reese and wing Rebecca Allen bring the ball up the floor. Atkins’ shot selection was confusing on Friday night. How does a 36% career three point shooter only take 3 shots from deep? Going forward Marsh is going to have to experiment and find more ways to get Atkins off the ball. That could come in the form of signing a new point guard to a hardship contract once Cardoso leaves for the FIBA Americup towards the end of June.

As she’s done now in back-to-back games, the former WNBA Most Improved Player impressed down the stretch on the offensive end. Young repeatedly powered her way downhill and into the paint for points at the rim and trips to the line. The grinding offensive process eventually led her to 11 free-throw attempts and 13 fourth-quarter points, helping Las Vegas overcome an 11-point deficit in the final frame. Young’s scoring contributions and overall offensive production will be of great need for this Aces team, regardless of which of her teammates are in the lineup with her.

Jones racked up her sixth double-double of this young WNBA season with the Dream’s win on Friday night. While she struggled immensely defending the more athletic Angel Reese, Jones remained an efficient offensive contributor in both halves. She scored mostly in her kill zones, right at the rim, but then drilled a 15-footer on a pass from Jordin Canada. While Jones isn’t the most versatile big in the league, she can be one of the most efficient and has great hands, and that was on full display on Friday night. Canada hit Jones with a no-look behind-the-back pass while Jones was on the run in transition. It led to an and-one after Jones finished at the rim. She also was intentional about getting on both the offensive and defensive glass. She contributed over 41% of the Dream’s total offensive rebounds.

So far this season, Gray has carried the majority of the Dream’s offensive load and that’s how the first quarter began when she started out the most aggressive out of Atlanta’s perimeter players. When Gray’s shots weren’t falling in the second quarter, however, Rhyne Howard and Jordin Canada stepped up creating offense and scoring the basketball. Gray made sure to get on the glass, and she looked very comfortable sharing the ball. She set up the hot hand in Howard to take over the game. She found Howard for open looks in transition and even on pitches and dribble hand-offs when Gray would also screen for Howard so she had more separation to fire off her shots.

It took Canada’s third game back for the Dream’s point guard to look like herself. It did take her until the second quarter, however, for her to regain her confidence and sense of aggression pressuring the rim and asserting herself as the fastest player on the court. Her most productive quarter was the second where she accounted for 66.7% of the Dream’s 27 quarter points as a result of her scoring and playmaking. When Canada became more confident, the Dream’s offense became less stagnant and as a result Rhyne Howard had easier looks in half court sets and in transition. Half of Canada’s eight total assists were to Howard with the other half going to both post players Brittney Griner and Brionna Jones. Canada’s most flashy pass came in the fourth when she got the ball following a blocked shot from her teammate Allisha Gray. Canada drove ahead of the pack and dribbled to her left to feed Jones a no-look behind-the-back pass that she finished on the run to the basket. Jones also drew a foul on the play and scored three points on the play the old fashioned way.