WNBA Player News

While her previous absences have been due to a hamstring injury, Allen is now on the injury report due to her right Achilles tendon. Veteran point guard Bria Hartley started Friday’s win over the Dream, but Allen’s absence has also resulted in more playmaking opportunities for Marina Mabrey. Given Mabrey’s scoring prowess, as she dropped a season-high 34 points on Atlanta, her fantasy ceiling has been raised the most by Allen’s absence.

James was patient getting her scoring opportunities. She probed the defense and waited for her moments to drive right into the paint. She was the most efficient scorer on her team on Friday night, hitting 55.6 % of her shots. She hit one pivotal three-pointer during the Wings’ 13-5 run in the first half of the fourth quarter. Paige Bueckers found her in the left corner pocket with no other defender around. James’ minutes have gone up exponentially ever since June 13 when players around the league left in the middle of the season to compete in the EuroBasket Championships. Expect her minutes to stabilize by the time they play the Mercury at home on July 3.

Nurse logged arguably her best offensive performance of the year against Golden State. In 27 minutes, she set season-highs in points, three-point makes, rebounds, and assists. And as a result, she finished as one of the Sky’s top scorers on the evening. Nurse’s first season with Chicago has yielded mixed results and inconsistent play, but the veteran guard still flashes the high level of three-point shooting that has become her calling. The Sky would benefit from continued offensive production from Nurse on Sunday against the Sparks.

Ogunbowale was her most effective in the third quarter when she played the entire quarter and shot 3-for-5 from the field. She got downhill and used her speed to score right at the rim alongside one 16 footer that while it wasn’t an efficient shot, it went down anyway. That’s par for the course with Ogunbowale. But in the fourth quarter, however, when the Wings were on a 13-5 run Ogunbowale was on the bench. When she re-entered, the Wings deficit ballooned and she took very inefficient, difficult and off-balanced shots.

Atkins was involved in almost every aspect of Friday’s game, as indicated by the stat sheet. She led her team in scoring, was one of the Sky’s leaders in assists, grabbed a handful of rebounds, and was the only player on either team to finish the game with multiple blocks and steals. Yet, the veteran guard’s contributions weren’t enough to land the Sky back-to-back wins. Nevertheless, fantasy managers should be quite satisfied with Atkins’ production on Friday night against the Valkyries.

In her first start as a member of the Fever in the absence of Caitlin Clark, McDonald split facilitation duties with Kelsey Mitchell while trying to play the best point of attack defense she could against Paige Bueckers. Half of McDonald’s assists came at a pivotal time for the Fever when they struggled to put points on the board. Two thirds of McDonald’s assists were to Kelsey Mitchell who was the Fever’s stabilizing offensive force on the floor without Caitlin Clark. McDonald’s scores were either via her running down the other way in transition or when she found open driving lanes. McDonald like Mitchell is properly unlocked when she has opportunities to go downhill.

On the heels of a monster 18-point, 17-rebound game against the Sparks, Reese recorded a nearly identical line in Friday’s loss to the Valkyries. The sophomore forward dominated both the offensive and defensive glass to collect just shy of 20 rebounds, while having a productive scoring output and draining a three-pointer in the process. Reese is averaging 15.0 points, 18.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.7 steals over her last three games. Her recent jump as a scorer has been an important development after a rather slow start to the season in that area. She’ll look to log another productive performance on Sunday against the Sparks.

Howard too was incredibly efficient for the Fever. She was given looks in situations she could exploit. She scored in transition and in pick-and-roll actions where she would get the ball in the paint or close to the rim. Howard too took advantage of Dallas’ less defensively savvy post players. In addition to her scoring, Howard’s rebounding was incredibly valuable to the Fever. Friday night’s win was her third double-digit rebounding game of the season.

Martin came up big for the Valkyries down the stretch of Friday’s contest to help put away the Sky. She logged just 10 minutes through the first three quarters but played the entire fourth quarter, where she scored six significant points and splashed a couple of triples to ignite the crowd. Martin has scored in double figures in each of her last two games, shooting 7-of-17 from beyond the arc during that time. She is enjoying a nice sophomore season and seems to be gaining confidence with each passing game.

Chen had a career-best night on Friday, seeing season-highs in minutes, points, and assists in the victory. She played all 10 fourth-quarter minutes for Golden State and recorded two assists to zero turnovers in that segment. She seems to have earned the trust of head coach Natalie Nakase in just the third game of her career, and appears on the cusp of becoming a regular in the Valkyries’ nightly rotation. Chen finished as one of four Golden State players to score in double figures.

Boston like her teammate Kelsey Mitchell was so efficient on Friday night. She took advantage of being guarded by Li Yueru, a less athletic center. She also took advantage of when smaller defender Myisha Hines-Allen was switched onto her. When the Fever were struggling to put points on the board in the third quarter, Boston along with Mitchell took matters into their own hands. Boston accounted for 55.6% of the team’s points in that third quarter. Mitchell found Boston on the move twice and Boston used her speed to blow by multiple defenders. Also, all of Boston’s three assists were to Mitchell. Boston knew exactly how much space Mitchell needed to get off her shot, which exemplifies that the two have mastered how to play to each other’s strengths.