INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Caitlin Clark had 20 points, six assists and four 3-pointers and the Indiana Fever beat the Connecticut Sun 88-71 on Tuesday night in a physical game that included three late ejections.
With 46.1 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Connecticut guard Jacy Sheldon made a steal and raced the other way before being wrapped up by Sophie Cunningham under the basket for a hard foul. Sheldon got up quicky and got into a shoving match with Cunningham, leading to Cunningham, Sheldon and Lindsay Allen all getting ejected.
Sheldon was also the center of another official review in the third quarter after she poked Clark in the eye and then Marina Mabrey came in late to shove Clark to the floor. Three technical fouls were called, leading to Clark’s three free throws for a 58-45 lead.
The Indiana win, combined with an Atlanta loss to New York, secured the Fever’s spot in the Commissioner’s Cup with a 4-1 record. The Fever held the tiebreaker with the Liberty after a 102-88 win on Saturday.
LIBERTY 86, DREAM 81
NEW YORK (AP) — Sabrina Ionescu had her second consecutive 34-point game, and New York rallied from a 17-point deficit in the second half to edge Atlanta.
The Liberty trailed 62-47 midway through the third quarter before taking over behind Ionescu’s 15 points and Breanna Stewart’s 11.
Stewart finished with 23 points.
The game marked the end of the Commissioner’s Cup games. Both teams entered with 3-1 records, tied with Indiana. Atlanta would have advanced to the final with a win but Indiana, which beat Connecticut 88-71, had the tiebreaker over the Liberty thanks to the Fever handing New York its first loss of the season on Saturday.
Jonquel Jones had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Liberty (10-1).
Rookie Te-Hina Paopao led the Dream (8-4) with 16 points, all in the first half. Allisha Gray added 14 points and Brionna Jones and Rhyne Howard both had 13.
MYSTICS 79, SKY 72
CHICAGO (AP) — Brittney Sykes scored 32 points on 13-of-24 shooting and Washington overcame a 12-point halftime deficit to beat Chicago.
The Mystics trailed 44-32 at halftime before doubling up Chicago in the third quarter, 24-12, to tie it at 56-all entering the fourth.
Sykes converted a three-point play with 2:17 left for a 74-70 lead.
Sykes also grabbed a key offensive rebound with 37 seconds left, with Washington ahead 75-72. She brought it out past the 3-point arc to reset and then dribbled into the lane for a jumper that came up short, but Kiki Iriafen grabbed the offensive rebound and scored for a five-point lead.
Washington forward Shakira Austin blocked Kamilla Cardoso’s shot at the other end and Sonia Citron grabbed the defensive rebound and made two free throws to seal it.
Citron finished with 13 points and nine rebounds for Washington (5-7).
WINGS 80, VALKYRIES 71
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Paige Bueckers scored 20 points, Arike Ogunbowale added 19 points, six assists and three steals, and Dallas won their first home game of the season, over Golden State.
Dallas (2-11) snapped a seven-game losing streak with its first victory since beating Connecticut 109-87 on May 27.
Bueckers sank a jumper from the free-throw line with 4:06 left in the fourth quarter and Ogunbowale nailed a long 3-pointer on their next possession for a 75-70 lead.
Ogunbowale also tipped away a pass and raced the other way for a fast-break layup to cap the scoring with 14.8 seconds left.
Kaila Charles added 10 points and three steals for Dallas.
LYNX 76, ACES 62
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Courtney Williams scored 18 of her 20 points in the second half to rally Minnesota to a spot in the Commissioner’s Cup final with a win over Las Vegas espite losing Napheesa Collier to a bad back early in the third quarter.
The Lynx, who won the Commissioner’s Cup, last year, will be home against the Indiana Fever on July 1 in a game that does not count in the standings but gives players a financial bonus.
Despite being without MVP A’ja Wilson for the third-straight game the Aces led by as many as 14 points and were up 39-30 at halftime. It was the lowest scoring half of the season for Minnesota.
Collier, runner-up in the MVP voting last year, scored her seventh point early in the second half but left at the 7:57 mark and didn’t return. Alanna Smith helped pick up the slack with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
Reserves Diamond Miller and Natisha Hiedeman gave the Lynx (11-1) a big boost with 12 points each. Williams had five assists, four rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
STORM 98, SPARKS 67
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nneka Ogwumike scored a season-high 26 points on 12-of-16 shooting and Gabby Williams set a club record for steals as Seattle coasted past injury-plagued Los Angeles.
Skylar Diggins and Eric Wheeler added 15 points each and reserve Alysha Clark hit 4 of 5 3-point attempts for 14 points for the Storm (7-5). Williams, who had 11 points, eight steals and seven assists, limped off the court with an ankle sprain with eight minutes remaining.
Diggins moved into the league’s top 10 in career assists (1,585) and Ogwumike moved past Tina Thompson into fourth in career field goals (2,639).
Rickea Jackson scored 17 points and Azurá Stevens added 16 with 10 rebounds for the Sparks (4-9). Rookie Sarah Ashlee Barker hit four 3s for a season-high 12 points.
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) drives on Connecticut Sun guard Saniya Rivers (22) in the second half of a WNBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.
Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.
Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”
Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”
He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”
Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.
In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
