The Aporia · WNBA scores: Atlanta clinches the No. 4 seed in win over Liberty

WNBA scores: Atlanta clinches the No. 4 seed in win over Liberty

Read the original at Toronto Star ↗

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The Associated Press. (2026, September 24). WNBA scores: Atlanta clinches the No. 4 seed in win over Liberty. Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/sports/basketball/wnba-scores-atlanta-clinches-the-no-4-seed-in-win-over-liberty/article_9590320b-8b49-5dd4-98a3-d2c0898796c2.html

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Quick Summary

In their regular-season finale on Wednesday night, the Atlanta Dream defeated the New York Liberty with a score of 83-65, securing the No. 4 seed in the playoffs. Allisha Gray scored 24 points and Naz Hillmon contributed 16 for Atlanta, which finished the season at 31-13. Meanwhile, Dallas Wings clinched the No. 7 seed after defeating Seattle Storm with a score of 103-91; Paige Bueckers led Dallas with 25 points while Jessica Shepard recorded her sixth triple-double of the season, setting an individual record for most triple-doubles in one WNBA season.

Written by AI on 2026-09-24, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

The WNBA playoff picture has crystallized as the regular season nears its end, with half of the postseason positions now set. On Wednesday night, the Atlanta Dream clinched the fourth seed in the playoffs with an 83-65 victory over the New York Liberty. This secured Atlanta's place for the first round games beginning Sunday. The Liberty, missing star player Breanna Stewart due to left knee soreness, locked into the eighth seed and will face the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx.

Additionally, on Thursday, Indiana plays at Minnesota while Washington hosts Chicago, with Dallas already locked in as the seventh seed and set to play either Golden State or Las Vegas. Atlanta awaits confirmation of their first-round opponent—either Indiana or Washington—whoever wins between them on Thursday night will face the Dream. The playoff atmosphere underscores a tightly contested season where even top teams like Minnesota have struggled recently; the Lynx dropped four of their last five games before clinching the top seed, indicating that any team can win in the playoffs regardless of seeding.

Written for “WNBA Playoffs Positions” on 2026-11-04, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.

WNBA scores: Dream close in on a top-4 seed with 95-84 win over Liberty Different event

Toronto Star

Hedges 1 of 19 claims Outlet record 64/100

“The articles describe two different games between Atlanta Dream and New York Liberty on consecutive nights, with distinct outcomes and scores.”

Keep an eye on Breanna Stewart’s minutes with Liberty in home stretch Different event

New York Post

Hedges 1 of 26 claims Outlet record 66/100

“The articles describe different games involving the Liberty; Article A mentions a game against Minnesota on Friday and upcoming games, while Article B reports on Atlanta's victory over New York Liberty to clinch the No. 4 seed in the playoffs.”

Breanna Stewart has 27 to move into 8th on WNBA scoring list as Liberty beat Tempo 106-69 Different event

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Hedges 1 of 12 claims Outlet record 64/100

“The articles describe different games involving the New York Liberty, with Article A covering a game against Toronto Tempo on September 20th and Article B describing a game against Atlanta on September 24th.”

Liberty vs. Dream prediction: Breanna Stewart & Co. fall short on back-to-back Different event

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“Article A discusses a prediction and context for an upcoming game, while Article B reports on a specific game that occurred after the prediction. They describe different points in time.”

The WNBA playoff picture sharpens as half the postseason positions are set Same event

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Hedges 0 of 21 claims Outlet record 64/100

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Hedges 1 of 11 claims Outlet record 66/100

“Article A reports on a specific game that determined Atlanta's playoff seed, while Article B provides predictions and information about the upcoming WNBA playoffs.”

Atlanta Dream beat the New York Liberty 95-84, close in on a top-4 WNBA seed Different event

Toronto Star

Hedges 1 of 19 claims Outlet record 64/100

“Article A describes a game on Monday night with different scores and players leading, while Article B describes a Wednesday night game where Atlanta clinches the No. 4 seed.”

Paige Bueckers steps onto WNBA playoff stage as next step in growth of Dallas Wings star Different event

Toronto Star

Hedges 1 of 42 claims Outlet record 64/100

“The articles describe different games; Article A covers Atlanta's win over New York to secure the No. 4 seed, while Article B discusses Paige Bueckers' performance in a separate game.”

Liberty vs. Lynx prediction: Buy low on NY to cover Game 1 spread Different event

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Hedges 2 of 20 claims Outlet record 66/100

“Article A describes Atlanta's victory over New York Liberty securing the No. 4 seed, while Article B discusses predictions and analysis for an upcoming playoff game against Minnesota Lynx.”

Liberty let playoff home-court advantage slip away with loss to Dream Different event

New York Post

Hedges 1 of 35 claims Outlet record 66/100

“While both articles cover games between the Liberty and Dream, they describe different matches on separate dates.”

How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

0 of 12 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

not political

takes no side on a contested political question

Publisher signals

64/100

Toronto Star's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Sports

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-09-24 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

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Who wrote this

The Associated Press

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Topics

Atlanta Dallas NEW YORK SEATTLE WNBA

Subjects

Dallas GPE · 5× Atlanta GPE · 3× SEATTLE GPE · 3× WNBA ORG · 3× Bueckers PERSON · 2× NEW YORK GPE · 2× WINGS ORG · 2× Allisha Gray PERSON · 1× Naz Hillmon PERSON · 1× the New York Liberty ORG · 1×

Narrative

NEW YORK (AP) — Allisha Gray scored 24 points, Naz Hillmon added 16 and Atlanta secured the No. 4 seed in the playoffs with an 83-65 victory over the New York Liberty on Wednesday night to close out the regular season for both teams.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-24

🔮 Atlanta (31-13) will have to wait until Thursday to see if it will host Indiana or Washington in the first round beginning Sunday.

2026-09-24 · Toronto Star

WNBA scores: Atlanta clinches the No. 4 seed in win over Liberty · assertive framing

Claims (12 extracted, 0 hedged)

Atlanta → score → teams

Atlanta (31-13) will have to wait until Thursday to see if it will host Indiana or Washington in the first round beginning Sunday. asserted

it → have → Sunday

The Dream got a scare right before halftime when star Angel Reese took a hit to the face while drawing an offensive foul from Sabrina Ionescu. asserted

Reese → get → Ionescu

She didn’t return for the second half. asserted

She → return → half

The Liberty (26-18), who were missing star Breanna Stewart with left knee soreness, are the eighth seed and will face Minnesota in the playoffs. asserted

who → miss → playoffs

Paige Bueckers scored 25 points, Jessica Shepard had 20 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists for her WNBA-leading sixth triple-double of the season, and Dallas beat Seattle in the regular-season finale for both teams. asserted

Dallas → score → teams

Dallas (27-16), which won just 10 games last season, set a WNBA record for the best single-season turnaround in league history with a 17-win improvement. asserted

which → win → improvement

The Wings have won seven of their last eight games, with their lone loss coming on Monday after leading by 14 points. asserted

loss → win → points

Dallas led 90-71 with 6:55 left in the fourth quarter before Seattle went on a 17-4 run to get within 94-88. asserted

Seattle → lead → 94

But Awak Kuier and Bueckers made 3-pointers on Dallas’ next two possessions to pull away. asserted

Kuier → make → possessions

Arike Ogunbowale added 23 points and six assists for Dallas, which secured the No. 7 seed in the WNBA playoffs after Atlanta’s victory over New York earlier in the night. asserted

which → add → night

Bueckers had 20-plus points and five-plus assists for the third straight game. asserted

Bueckers → have → game