WASHINGTON — Elena Delle Donne scored 25 points, making WNBA history along the way, and the regular-season champion Washington Mystics raced past the Chicago Sky 100-86 on Sunday.
She became the first player in WNBA history to shoot over 50% from the field (220-of-427), 40% from 3-point range (52-of-121) and 90% from the foul line (114-of -17). Her free throw percentage of 97.4 is a record for a player with at least 100 attempts.
Current and former NBA luminaries took to social media on Sunday night to congratulate Delle Donne on the unprecedented feat.
Big time Accomplishment @De11eDonne! Congrats. https://t.co/oswhgX2tqZ
— Stephen Curry (@StephenCurry30) September 9, 2019
Congrats @De11eDonne! Welcome to the club. https://t.co/dWRnQ86rrZ
— Steve Nash (@SteveNash) September 9, 2019
Sheeshhh https://t.co/nj7xMQt1CL
— Myles Turner (@Original_Turner) September 9, 2019
The Mystics (26-8), who lost to Seattle in the finals last season, have a double bye into the semifinals and home-court advantage throughout the postseason. The Sky (20-14) are the No. 5 seed and play No. 8 Phoenix at home Wednesday in the single-elimination opening round of the playoffs.
Chicago’s Courtney Vandersloot had six assists to become the first player in league history to reach 300 in a season, which she did exactly, and the first player to average at least 9 assists a game for a season (9.1).
Washington lead 56-39 at the half, but Chicago cut the lead to six in the final minute of the third quarter. Tianna Hawkins answered with a layup for the Mystics, and after a Sun miss Myisha Hines-Allen hit a 3 with 1.5 seconds left to restore the double-figure lead. Chicago never challenged in the fourth quarter.
Diamond DeShields led the Sun with 16 points. Allie Quigley added 13 with three 3-pointers, giving her a Chicago-record 80 for the season.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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