ARLINGTON, Texas — Paige Bueckers scored 19 points, Jessica Shepard had her fifth triple-double of the season with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists, and the Dallas Wings beat the Sparks 97-77 on Thursday night for their fifth straight victory.
Both teams were returning from the break for the FIBA World Cup in Germany, where Bueckers helped lead the United States to the title.
Dallas (25-16) tied the franchise record for wins in a season set by the 2003 WNBA champion Detroit Shock (25-9). The Wings have three games remaining in the regular season.
Shepard has the third-most triple-doubles in a season in WNBA history, trailing Alyssa Thomas’ six in the 2023 and eight in 2025.
Maddy Siegrist added 12 points and Arike Ogunbowale had 11 for Dallas. Kitija Laksa and Aziaha James each scored 10 off the bench. Odyssey Sims did not play in the fourth quarter after injuring her right knee late in the third.
Nneka Ogwumike scored 18 points to lead the Sparks (12-26). Dearica Hamby added 14 points and Rae Burrell had 12.
Dallas pulled away by going on a 12-0 run spanning the third-quarter break for a 74-58 lead. The Wings finished with a 46-27 edge in rebounds.
Up next for the Sparks: at Portland on Sunday night.
The Caitlin Clark–Angel Reese connection has been strong during the women’s FIBA World Cup.
The college rivals turned teammates on the U.S. national team showed off their growing chemistry in Team USA’s blowout victory against Hungary on Thursday in Berlin. The Americans knocked out their quarterfinal opponents 108-56, notching the team’s 34th consecutive win in World Cup play since 2006.
“We’ve played against each other so many times, so I’m sure we know each other’s game like the back of each other’s hand,” Reese said when asked after the game about playing with Clark. “Just easily dishing it off to her. She dishes it off to me. She knows my spots. I got one to her today, maybe two. So it’s fun. We just continue to build chemistry because we know we’re gonna be USA teammates for a while.”
The strength of Clark and Reese’s two-person game was on full display Thursday. Clark assisted on six of Reese’s nine points, and Reese returned the favor during the third quarter. After securing a steal, she hit Clark for an easy transition layup.
Reese ended the game with nine points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Clark finished just shy of a double-double with 10 points, nine assists, three rebounds and two steals.
Clark also has complimented Reese as a competitor and teammate during the tournament.
“We’re both fiery, fiery competitors and we want to win and it’s one of the things I really admire about her game,” Clark told the Associated Press in an interview published Wednesday. “She’s competitive and she has a tremendous motor; like, she has one of the best motors in the league. She works just as hard as anybody on the court. So, it’s been fun to to be able to play with her.”
Clark, who set records at Iowa, and Reese, who won an NCAA championship at Louisiana State, have been household names since their college matchups. Thanks to their intensely loyal — and often vocal — fan bases, that rivalry has been carried into their WNBA careers, where every matchup and interaction invites heightened scrutiny, especially online.
Clark told the AP that many of these stories about her and Reese’s relationship are “false takes.”
“No matter what, there’s always going to be people that create those narratives and say whatever they want to say,” Clark said. “There’s definitely no stopping that and they’re always going to be there.”
Reese and Clark are among Team USA’s young core, dubbed the “young and turnt” crew by teammate Paige Bueckers during training camp in December. The World Cup marks the first major international competition for six of those players: Bueckers, Clark, Reese, Aliyah Boston, Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen.
Team USA is set to play Spain in the semifinals on Saturday.
August employment report brings mixed blessings for the U.S. economy.
U.S. employers added a robust 162,000 jobs in August, signaling an employment rebound, even as finance-sector jobs declined, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest Employment Situation Summary.
The sectors with the most job growth were leisure/hospitality (62,000 jobs), government (35,000 jobs), private education/health services (29,000 jobs), and construction (22,000 jobs).
In contrast, the financial and insurance sectors lost 7,400 jobs compared to July. The hardest-hit sectors were insurance carriers and related activities (-6,300) and credit intermediation and related activities (-3,400). Securities, commodity contracts, funds, trusts, and other financial vehicles, investments, and related activities was one of two sub-sectors to add jobs (2,200). The other was the monetary authority/central bank, which added 100 new jobs.
Unemployment continues to edge down slightly, remaining at 4.1%, according to the summary.
By historic standards, the low jobless rate has the Federal Reserve pivoting its focus from maximum employment to price stability, said Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh during his keynote speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium at the end of August.
“There should be no misunderstanding: The Fed’s price-stability objective of 2%, as measured by the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, is a firm, fixed target,” he added.
Using their own methodologies, the authors of ADP’s August National Employment Report and Bank of America’s Institute’s August employment report found similar trends, though to a lesser extent.
“The data can be noisy, partly due to seasonal variation and differences in pay-period timing, but in our view, this suggests labor market momentum may have ebbed a little,” wrote the authors of a Bank of America Institute report released Thursday. “Still, the overall picture from the Bank of America jobs estimate is one of a relatively healthy labor market. This is also the case in Bank of America data on unemployment payments into customer accounts, which showed very little [year-over-year] change in August.”
Using anonymized customer data, the Bank of America Institute estimated that August’s YoY payroll growth fell 3 basis points to 1.5% from the previous month.
Likewise, the ADP authors reported that private-sector employees added 38,000 jobs in August, the slowest pace of job creation since January. The education and health services sector added 45,000 jobs. Other growth sectors include leisure and hospitality (16,000) and construction (12,000).
However, its findings diverge from BLS estimates in a few sectors. The ADP authors were optimistic about financial activities, reporting that the sector added 6,000 jobs. They also estimated that manufacturing and business and professional services shed 17,000 and 4,000 employees, respectively.
Companies with more than 500 employees added the most new positions in August (34,000), followed by companies with fewer than 20 employees (20,000). Small companies (20-49 employees) lost 17,000 jobs. Mid-sized companies’ hiring picture was mixed. Those with 50-249 employees hired 2,000 people, while those with 249-499 employees let 2,000 go.
Although payroll growth is up, it offers little comfort to Wall Street because the financial sector remains under pressure.
Angel Reese has broken another WNBA record with her 29th double-double of the season.
The Atlanta Dream forward had 15 points and 11 rebounds in the team’s 89-81 victory against the Minnesota Lynx on Sunday, surpassing the previous mark for most double-doubles in a single season set by Alyssa Thomas in 2023. (Thomas had set that record while playing for the Connecticut Sun during a 40-game regular season.)
The three-time All Star has already broken multiple rebounding records this season. During the Dream’s 78-71 victory over the Sparks on Aug. 24, Reese grabbed 26 boards, setting a new record for total rebounds in a single game. Chamique Holdsclaw previously held the record with 24 rebounds, which she had set on May 23, 2003, while playing for the Washington Mystics.
Reese also set the records for most rebounds in a single season during that match-up. She now has 485 rebounds on the season, with four regular-season games remaining. Reigning WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson held the previous record of 451 total rebounds, which she had set during the 38-game regular season in 2024. Reese surpassed Wilson’s mark in 37 games.
“I’m just in awe watching her rebound,” teammate Allisha Gray said after Reese’s record-setting performance in L.A. “That’s a talent.”
The third-year player — also known to fans as ATL Barbie — heads into the FIBA World Cup break averaging 16.1 points and 12.4 rebounds this season. Reese has led the league in rebounds in each of her first two seasons and is on track to do so again.
Reese and Dream teammate Rhyne Howard will be among the players representing the U.S. at the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Berlin, Germany. The tournament kicks off Sept. 4 and is scheduled to conclude Sept. 13.
On Monday, USA Basketball announced that Wilson and Kelsey Plum, who had previously been announced as members of the team, will miss the World Cup for heath reasons. The pair will be replaced by All Star Washington Mystics duo Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen.
The announcement did not include further details about why Wilson and Plum will be missing the World Cup, but Plum has been dealing with a lower leg injury for most of the WNBA season.
“I did everything I could to be back on the court, but just ran out of time,” the Phoenix Mercury guard said in a statement posted to her Instagram story on Monday. “After careful consideration and conversations with my family, team doctors, coaching staff, and front office, the decision has been made to shut it down through [the] remainder of the season and focus on getting my body back to 100% … This is not an easy decision as I love to compete, but I know it’s the right one for the long term.”
Plum was a key piece to Team USA’s victory over France in the gold medal game at the Paris Olympics in 2024.
Four-time MVP Wilson, meanwhile, has been having another MVP-calibur season with the Las Vegas Aces. She was recently listed as questionable due to a back injury ahead of a game against the Toronto Tempo, but started both games against the expansion team last week. Wilson was named most outstanding player of the 2024 Paris Games and the 2022 World Cup.
The WNBA will resume play on Sept. 17.
SEATTLE — Nneka Ogwumike had 23 points and 12 rebounds, Rae Burrell scored 22 points, and the visiting Sparks beat the Seattle Storm 90-74 on Sunday in their final game before the FIBA World Cup break.
The Sparks scored the first 13 points in an opening 18-2 run and Dearica Hamby’s layup with 5:45 left in the first half capped an 11-0 spurt that gave them a 39-20 lead. Seattle shot 32% (12 of 38) from the field and two of 11 (18%) from behind the arc before going into halftime trailing by 19. The Storm were just as bad from three-point range in the second half, finishing four of 22.
Cameron Brink had 11 points on three-of-15 shooting for the Sparks (15-25).
Flau’jae Johnson scored 11 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter and Dominique Malonga had 17 points, on eight-of-21 shooting, and 15 rebounds for the Storm (8-32). Zia Cooke made six of 17 from the field for 14 points.
Seattle is 1-18 against Western Conference teams this season, its only win coming at the Sparks, 82-64, on July 6.
The Storm’s Jordan Horston fell awkwardly midway through the third quarter, limped to the locker room and did not return.
Awa Fam and Natisha Hiedeman did not play for the Storm.
Up next for the Sparks: at Dallas on Sept. 17.
Angel Reese broke the WNBA single-game rebounding record with 26 while also breaking the league’s season record for rebounds as the Atlanta Dream beat the Sparks 78-71 on Monday night.
Reese surpassed Chamique Holdsclaw’s record of 24 rebounds, set on May 23, 2003 for Washington.
The Dream star has 458 rebounds this season, seven more than A’ja Wilson’s mark set in 2024. Atlanta still has six games remaining in the regular season.
“I’m just in awe watching her rebound,” teammate Allisha Gray said. “That’s a talent.”
Reese finished with 11 points. She secured her WNBA-leading 27th double-double of the season on a basket with 13.9 seconds left in the game.
The Dream have won four straight games — all on the road — and have beaten the Sparks nine straight times.
Gray led Atlanta (25-13) with 20 points. Rhyne Howard added 18 points to eclipse 3,000 for her career. Gray set an Atlanta record for field goals in a season with 247.
Nneka Ogwumike had 27 points and 16 rebounds for the Sparks (13-25). Dearica Hamby and Cameron Brink each scored 15 points.
Atlanta trailed 37-36 at halftime before starting the third quarter on a 9-2 run. The Dream also began the fourth on a 9-2 run to make it 71-57 with 6:57 left.
Up next for the Sparks: host Washington on Friday.
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Bitcoin’s (BTC-USD) relative strength index (RSI) climbed to around 78, signaling overbought conditions as the cryptocurrency extended its volatile rebound from below $64K earlier in the week.
The RSI, a momentum indicator that measures the speed and magnitude of recent price
MONTREAL — Daniel Ríos scored his first goal in MLS and Prince Owusu also scored a goal for CF Montreal in a 2-2 tie with the Galaxy on Saturday night.
Goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski, shown a red card in the 68th minute, was replaced by Novak Micovic and the Galaxy played a man down the rest of the way. The Galaxy have drawn red cards in three consecutive games.
Owusu scored his career-high tying 13th goal this season to make it 2-2 in the 79th minute. The 29-year-old forward, who also scored 13 goals for Montreal last season, has a goal in four consecutive games and scored seven goals in the past seven.
Montreal (6-10-5) has a season-long four-game unbeaten streak.
Rubén Ramos Jr. and Maya Yoshida each scored a goal for the Galaxy (6-9-7), who beat San José 1-0 on Wednesday to snap a six-game winless streak.
Ríos made his debut for Montreal and opened the scoring in the 16th minute. Matty Longstaff played a low ball into the area from the right side that was parried by Marcinkowski at the front post before Ríos tapped in the rebound from point-blank range.
Ramos scored his first career MLS goal in the 20th. On the counter-attack, Kyōgo Furuhashi played a first-touch shot off a cross from Robert Taylor that was stopped by goalkeeper Thomas Gillier, but Ramos slammed home the putback to make it 1-1.
Yoshida back-heeled a shot from the center of the area into the net to give the Galaxy a 2-1 lead in the 48th minute.