WNBA Tonight

July 19, 2026

Three WNBA Games Today on ABC, CBS and ESPN: Bueckers Goes for Six Straight, Reese Returns After the Brondello Suspension

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Three Sunday games span ABC, CBS and ESPN: Paige Bueckers and the Wings go for their sixth straight win in the afternoon showcase, Angel Reese plays her first game since the WNBA suspended Toronto's Sandy Brondello over the "protected species" comment, and the Sun and Mercury run it back in Phoenix. Last night, the Fever took sole possession of the East, the Lynx reached 20 wins, and the Valkyries stretched their streak to nine.

Los Angeles Sparks (10-14) at Dallas Wings (16-8): Bueckers goes for six straight, on ABC

Tipoff 1:00 PM ET / 10:00 AM PT at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas. National TV: ABC, with the ESPN app, fubo and DIRECTV.

The Wings return from a seven-day break, their Thursday game against the Liberty postponed when New York's charter plane broke down and pushed that matchup to Monday, and they come back riding a five-game winning streak, their longest since 2023. A sixth would be their best run since 2015, when they stitched together eight straight and then six more. Paige Bueckers has been the engine: 20.7 points a game (fifth in the league) on a 51.6% mark that is the best field-goal percentage among the WNBA's top 11 scorers, plus 6.3 assists, and 22.9 points per game over her last 10. Jessica Shepard averages 15.0 points and 11.6 rebounds with three triple-doubles this season, and Arike Ogunbowale and Azzi Fudd round out a deep backcourt that just got Odyssey Sims back.

The Sparks limp in at 10-14, on a three-game skid and 0-3 on the finale of a four-game road trip, having dropped six straight away from home. Nneka Ogwumike became the Sparks' all-time scoring leader in Friday's 96-82 loss at Chicago, passing Lisa Leslie at 6,281 points, and has scored in double figures in 10 straight. Cameron Brink is back from an eight-game absence but on a minutes restriction, and Kelsey Plum remains out with a lower-leg injury through the end of July. Dallas took the first meeting 104-96 on June 5 in Los Angeles, when Ogunbowale scored 30 and Bueckers handed out a career-high 14 assists. Dallas is favored by 10.5.

Chicago Sky (9-16) at Atlanta Dream (15-10): Reese's first game since the Brondello suspension, on CBS

Tipoff 4:00 PM ET / 1:00 PM PT at Gateway Center Arena in College Park, Georgia. National TV: CBS and Paramount+, with fubo and DIRECTV.

This game lands in the middle of the league's biggest weekend story. The WNBA suspended Toronto Tempo coach Sandy Brondello for one game without pay on Saturday, a day after the broadcast hot mic caught her calling Angel Reese a "protected species" while arguing with officials following a foul that injured Tempo forward Nyara Sabally. Brondello, who is Australian and said the phrase is used in Australian sports to gripe about officiating, apologized to Reese on social media and acknowledged the words "carried an impact beyond what I intended, particularly for Black women in our league." Reese posted "ARE WE SURPRISED?!" with a clown emoji. Brondello serves the suspension Monday when Toronto hosts the Aces.

So Reese takes the floor Sunday for the first time since the incident, and there's a standings subplot underneath. The Fever's 108-88 win over the Liberty on Saturday pushed Indiana to 16-10 and sole possession of the Eastern Conference lead, a game up on the 15-10 Dream. Atlanta has won two straight, including Friday's 111-92 rout of the Tempo in which Reese posted her WNBA-leading 17th double-double (23 points, 12 rebounds) and Brionna Jones made her season debut after missing the first half with a knee injury. Jones is probable for Sunday as she ramps up, which lets the Dream slide her into the center spot and move Reese to her more natural power forward. Te-Hina Paopao is out (leg, late July).

The Sky are 9-16 but coming off one of their cleaner wins, 96-82 over the Sparks on Friday behind Sydney Taylor's 19 and Kamilla Cardoso's 13-and-11 in her return from a sore knee. Skylar Diggins remains out with the right knee injury that has now cost her six straight games; she told the Sun-Times the issue traces to last October's surgery and she has no timetable, while her role conversations with coach Tyler Marsh continue. DiJonai Carrington (foot) and Rickea Jackson (season, knee) are also out.

Connecticut Sun (7-18) at Phoenix Mercury (8-18): Griner's Phoenix encore, on ESPN

Tipoff 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix. National TV: ESPN and Disney+, with fubo and DIRECTV.

A back-to-back in the same building, same matchup, two nights apart. The Sun won the first 96-83 on Friday, when Leila Lacan went off for a career-high 26 on 10-of-13 shooting and Connecticut led wire-to-wire by as many as 20. The Mercury have now lost five straight, the league's longest active skid, and opponents have shot 50% or better against them in four consecutive games. Coach Nate Tibbetts' assessment was blunt: "We kind of are who we are right now."

It's also Brittney Griner's second straight game back in Phoenix, where she played 11 seasons before signing with Connecticut last offseason. Griner, listed as probable with a rib injury, scored 12 on Friday and is averaging 13.8 for a Sun team that has used 13 different starting lineups in 26 games but has won five of eight after a 2-15 start. Connecticut is playing its farewell season before relocating to Houston in 2027. Phoenix's Kahleah Copper (20.6 points) and Alyssa Thomas (14.5 points, 8.0 assists, 6.9 rebounds) are the only active Mercury averaging double figures, and forward Natasha Mack is probable to return from an eight-game absence with a bone bruise in her left foot. Phoenix is favored by 3.5.

Last night: the Fever take the East, the Lynx reach 20 wins, the Valkyries win a ninth

That’s the reading for this issue.