{"id":752805,"date":"2026-07-09T15:40:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T15:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/752805\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T15:40:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T15:40:09","slug":"wnba-heat-check-kahleah-copper-extends-scoring-streak-naz-hillmon-struggles-to-produce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/752805\/","title":{"rendered":"WNBA Heat Check: Kahleah Copper extends scoring streak, Naz Hillmon struggles to produce"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nearly half of the league\u2019s 15 teams have played 22 of its 44 scheduled regular-season games, putting us almost at the midway point of the WNBA season. Per usual, little has been completely consistent \u2014 those players who were hot last week aren\u2019t the ones stuffing the stat sheets today.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s dive in and see which of the world\u2019s best players are rising and falling.<\/p>\n

SCHEDULE: Check out the full WNBA on NBC, Peacock slate of games<\/a><\/p>\n

\u25b6 HEATING UP \ud83d\udd25<\/p>\n

Kahleah Copper, G, Mercury<\/p>\n

The Mercury, for the first time all season, recently put together a winning streak of more than two games. During their three-game winning streak, which was snapped on Tuesday with an 11-point loss to the Sky, Kahleah Copper\u2019s scoring was among the top reasons for Phoenix\u2019s success. She went for 25 or more points in each of the three wins and even squeaked in another 25-point outing in the loss to Chicago. Additionally, the former Finals MVP shot above 50.0 percent in each of those games and made at least one three-pointer. Copper is playing at a very high level on the offensive end at the moment. She\u2019s the primary scoring option in Phoenix \u2014 that shouldn\u2019t change going forward, whether the team is winning or losing. There\u2019s a good chance she stays productive for a while.<\/p>\n

Kayla McBride, G, Lynx<\/p>\n

Minnesota lost consecutive games for the first time this season before returning to the win column on Wednesday in a rematch against Connecticut. But even with the recent team struggles, McBride\u2019s production has remained steady. The veteran guard logged a season-high 28 points in Monday\u2019s matchup against Connecticut before following with 23 points in Wednesday\u2019s contest. Unsurprisingly, the three-point shot has been McBride\u2019s biggest value. She\u2019s tallied at least four made threes in four of the last five games on 44.2 percent from deep over that stretch. She\u2019ll have more on her plate while rookie Olivia Miles is sidelined with an injury, so it\u2019s fair to expect McBride\u2019s role and usage to remain high in the meantime.<\/p>\n

Jonquel Jones, C, Liberty<\/p>\n

Jones\u2019 numbers are up, once again, following a solid 2025 season. She\u2019s currently averaging her most points and rebounds per game as a member of the Liberty. She\u2019s actually averaging her second-most points as a pro and the most since her 2021 MVP season, thanks to stretches like her fairly recent back-to-back 20-point games against Golden State and Seattle. Excluding the Commissioner\u2019s Cup Championship, Jones has totaled 11 three-pointers over the past four games, underscoring her role as a floor-spacing center. She remains impactful at the rim defensively and continues to soak up heavy minutes in the frontcourt for a New York roster that isn\u2019t very deep at backup center. Jones\u2019 importance to the Liberty is immense. If she can remain healthy, she\u2019s proven capable of sustaining strong play for long stretches.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"WNBA:<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Veronica Burton and Alyssa Thomas are among the deserving names left off All-Star rosters. <\/p>\n

\u25b6 COOLING DOWN \u2744\ufe0fSkylar Diggins, G, Sky<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a challenging 2026 season for Diggins. Her averages aren\u2019t far off from last season\u2019s, but she\u2019s been part of a Sky team that\u2019s really struggled to stack wins over the first half of the season. Amid the team\u2019s struggles, she was demoted to a bench role over the past week. Diggins had put up solid numbers over her past four appearances, averaging 12.8 points and 6.0 assists, but didn\u2019t play on Tuesday due to a knee injury. And between the ailment and the demotion, it\u2019s hard to imagine things turning in her favor anytime soon.<\/p>\n

Ariel Atkins, G, Sparks<\/p>\n

The Sparks have been in a tough spot over the past three weeks. They\u2019ve lost five of their last seven games, are without their best player, Kelsey Plum, and were riding a three-game losing streak until a nice double-digit win at home on Wednesday over the Fever. Many of Los Angeles\u2019 players have struggled to produce and contribute to winning recently. One of the more noteworthy is Ariel Atkins, who was acquired by the Sparks via trade during the most recent offseason. She\u2019s scored in double figures only three times in the past 10 games and was scoring 5.7 points per game during the losing streak. She\u2019s certainly not the only one to blame, but her lack of scoring contributions on a team without one of the league\u2019s best bucket-getters (Plum) is tough to ignore, especially since the veteran had been an efficient double-digit points-per-game contributor up until this season. But Atkins\u2019 12 points and pair of triples against Indiana on Wednesday could be the game that resets her season.<\/p>\n

Naz Hillmon, F, Dream<\/p>\n

Hillmon, unfortunately, returns to the wrong side of the Heat Check after an early-season appearance. Atlanta continues to lose games (five straight), and the 2025 Sixth Player of the Year, Hillmon, continues to struggle with finding production. She\u2019s scored five or fewer points and made no more than one field goal in each of the last four games, and is also averaging just 3.8 rebounds over that stretch while remaining a subpar playmaker for others. Hillmon is still a regular in the Dream\u2019s nightly rotation, whether she comes off the bench or starts. But if Atlanta continues to lose games, it\u2019ll be interesting to see how many of Hillmon\u2019s minutes are lost to Brionna Jones in her eventual return from injury.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nearly half of the league\u2019s 15 teams have played 22 of its 44 scheduled regular-season games, putting us…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":752806,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-752805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=752805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752805\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/752806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=752805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=752805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=752805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}