WNBA Player News

The 6-foot Barker earned first-team All-SEC honors in her final two seasons in Tuscaloosa. As a senior, the talented guard averaged 18.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 2.0 steals, 0.8 blocks and 1.3 three-pointers per game while shooting 51.4 percent from the field and 70.9 percent from the foul line. Barker’s ability to score on all three levels while making steady improvements as a playmaker throughout her college career is one of the reasons she’s a first-round pick, not to mention the ability to disrupt on the defensive end of the floor. She joins a Sparks team ready to make some noise after acquiring veteran guard and WNBA champion Kelsey Plum this offseason.

It hasn’t been a great start to the year for Ogunbowale. Through four games, she is averaging just 12.5 points after she averaged 22.2 points per game last season, which was second in the league. She only failed to score at least 10 points once last season, but it has already happened twice this year. Ogunbowale is one of the best scorers the league has to offer, and she will likely figure things out as the season progresses. However, he first few games haven’t been to her standard.

Siegrist has now scored in double figures in three of the Wings’ four games so far this season, but she was also able to set a new season high for rebounds in Saturday’s loss. Siegrist was part of the lineup that scored the first 11 points of the fourth quarter after Atlanta led by 18 entering the final frame, and she accounted for six of those points. She was also joined by Teaira McCowan (10 points) and Tyasha Harris (10 points) in scoring in double figures off the bench, which helped keep Dallas in this game while the starters were struggling to score.

After spending her first eight seasons with Connecticut, Jones’ tenure with Atlanta has gotten off to a strong start. She has played four games for the Dream and recorded four double-doubles. She also matched her career high for rebounds, which she originally set back in 2021. It’s a small sample size, but Jones has been fantastic in her first season in Atlanta, which has translated into her averaging 34.8 fantasy points per game in standard ESPN leagues so far.

After back-to-back 20-point games against Indiana, Howard wasn’t able to carry that scoring success over into Saturday’s game. However, that didn’t stop her from making an impact. She dishes out a season-high 10 assists and grabbed a season-best seven rebounds despite scoring less than 10 points for the first time this season. Howard has shot below 30 percent from the floor in three of her four games this season, which isn’t an encouraging start. Still, if she’s able to make impact in other ways, she’ll be productive in fantasy basketball until the shot starts falling more consistently.

For the third time in her career (and the first time since 2023), Gray scored exactly 27 points, which was enough to lead both teams in scoring and held Atlanta improve to 2-2. Gray was held to just 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting in Atlanta’s loss on Thursday, so this type of bounce-back performance was encouraging. She also set a new season-high for blocks as she got things done on both ends of the floor and got back on track from distance after missing all five of her three-point attempts on Thursday. Gray will look to keep this going against Connecticut on Sunday, which will be the second leg of a back-to-back.

Despite only playing 19 minutes, Smith was the leading scorer for Dallas as they dropped to 0-4 on the season. Smith has played less than 20 minutes in three of their four games thus far, so this isn’t a new trend. However, this was he highest-scoring performance of the season. The 2022 No. 2 overall pick has gotten off to a slow start in her first season outside of Indiana, but the role decrease is certainly a major reason for that. Still, in a game where the Wings shot 36.6 percent from the floor, Smith was one of the few sources of offense for them.

Paopao only played six minutes before being ruled out for the remainder of Saturday’s win. Maya Caldwell ended up logging a season-high 23 minutes off the bench with Paopao sidelined and contributed nine points. If Paopao remains out against Connecticut on Sunday, Caldwell could slide into the starting unit.

Boston put forth another strong showing on Saturday. The former South Carolina Gamecock established herself early against the championship frontcourt of Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones, knocking down her first eight shots as part of a 17-point first half. However, her scoring production slowed somewhat in the second, especially in her inefficient 1-of-7 shooting fourth quarter that saw the Fever amass just 12 points as a team. Despite the losing effort, Boston had a massive stat line and finished with her third double-double of the season. She’s had a tremendous start to the season from a fantasy standpoint.

Hull got the nod over veteran forward DeWanna Bonner in Indiana’s starting lineup on Saturday and did not disappoint. The fourth-year pro followed her season-high 10 points in Thursday’s win with a new season’s best on Saturday, knocking down both of her three-point attempts in an efficient outing overall. Even in the start, Hull logged identical minutes to the 26 she was averaging prior to the lineup switch. With her productive outing against New York, it’s not unreasonable to assume Hull keeps her starting spot for the time being.

Clark emerged from a rather quiet first couple of quarters to breathe life into the Fever in the second half, especially in her nine-point third quarter that flipped the game and gave Indiana an eight-point advantage going into the final quarter. The reigning Rookie of the Year struggled with her three-point shot for a second consecutive game and had ball-security issues (10 turnovers). Aside from two three-pointers as part of a huge close to the third quarter, Clark is shooting 2-of-16 from deep over her last two games. Still, she is pacing herself for a fantastic season in fantasy leagues and will have a chance to bounce back on Wednesday against the Mystics.