Austin Thrills in First Start

The WNBA season kicked off last weekend. Here is a look at some of the action.

May 7

New York 81, Connecticut 79

New York entered the fourth quarter trailing Connecticut 59-58 on its home floor before winning its season opener.

The Liberty shot a strong 40 percent from three going 10-25 from long distance. Point guard Sabrina Ionescu shot 3-6 from beyond the arc on her way to 25 points. Along with leading her team in scoring she also led the way with six assists. Power forward Natasha Howard also shot the ball well from three, connecting on three of her seven triple attempts. She scored 15 points while hauling down six rebounds and blocking two shots. New York shooting guard Sami Whitcomb scored 15 points and was second on the team with five assists but led the team defensively with three steals.

Connecticut got a strong opening game effort from small forward Alyssa Thomas who scored 25 points while shooting 10-16. She also had seven rebounds, four steals and two assists.

May 8

Washington 78, Minnesota 66

Washington rookie center Shakira Austin started for the first time in her second WNBA contest and she did not disappoint. In 35 minutes of action, the 6-5, first round draft pick scored 13 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked one shot while being a game-high plus 18.

The Mystics had five players in double figures, led in scoring by small forward Ariel Atkins' 20 points. Point guard Natasha Cloud scored 19 points, while leading the team with six assists. Cloud also had six rebounds and two steals. Her outside shooting was critical in the Washington win as she shot 4-7 from three. Washington improved to 2-0 in the road win.

Minnesota (0-2) was led by power forward Jessica Shepard's 16 points and 12 rebounds. The 6-4 forward has collected 24 rebounds in her team's first two games this season.

Las Vegas 85, Seattle 74

A'ja Wilson scored 20 points with 15 rebounds and five blocked shots as Las Vegas won at home to improve to 2-0. The Aces outrebounded Seattle (1-1) 45-30 as Wilson's frontcourt mate Dearica Hamby led the squad with 19 boards to go with her 10 points. The 6-4, 28-year-old Hamby is off to a strong start to her season. She scored 24 points with seven rebounds and two blocks in Las Vegas' season opening road win over Phoenix on May 6. Hamby is coming off of a season where she averaged 11.6 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.

Seattle was led in scoring by Breanna Stewart with 21 points and eight rebounds. She shot 3-7 from three-point land. Veteran guard Epiphanny Prince had a hot shooting performance for the Storm. The 34-year-old scored 11 points in 10 minutes shooting 3-4, including 2-3 from long range. She also hit all three of her free-throw attempts. In her first two games she has shot 8-10 overall, including 5-6 from three.

Los Angeles 87, Indiana 77

Los Angeles handled Indiana (0-2) on the road improving to 2-0 behind 22 points and 11 rebounds from center Liz Cambage. Cambage shot 8-11 from the field and 6-6 from the free-throw line as the Sparks hit 47 percent of their shots and 90 percent of their free-throws as a team. Shooting guard Brittney Sykes went a perfect 7-7 from the charity stripe as she scored 17 points to complement her game high five steals.

Chennedy Carter paced the Sparks bench with 12 points, five assists and two blocked shots. Indiana rookie Destanni Henderson was her team's top performer scoring 19 points, while shooting 3-4 from three.