Who can power their team to a better seed in the WNBA playoffs?

Dearica Hamby is going to haunt the Seattle Storm.

For the third time this season, heroics from Hamby lifted the Los Angeles Sparks past the Storm. After previously sinking Seattle with two game-winners, Hamby unleashed a 27-point and 11-rebound double-double that helped the Sparks overcome at 17-point deficit at the outset of the second half to eventually triumph, 91-85. Along with Hamby, Rickea Jackson was huge for LA. Finishing with 23 points on the night, she and Hamby combined for an 11-0 closing run that stole the win for the Sparks.

The victory was monumental for the Sparks, as it elevated them to one game under .500, put them 1.5 games back of the Storm for the No. 8 seed and gave LA 3-1 season series win over Seattle. Entering Tuesday night’s games, the bottom of the playoff bracket now looks like this:

Both the Valkyries and Fever are in action, presenting them with opportunities to solidify their statuses or endanger their postseason ambitions. For the former to come to fruition, both teams will need some of their own stars to rise to the occasion, just as Hamby and Jackson did.

The same will be true on the opposite sides, as the New York Liberty, visiting the Valkyries at Ballhalla (10 p.m. ET, League Pass), and Phoenix Mercury, hosting the Fever (10 p.m. ET, NBA TV), likewise are looking to better their postseason prospects. The Liberty, sitting in the No. 5 seed, formally can clinch their playoff future with a win, while the Mercury, currently in the No. 4 seed, will want to keep pace with Atlanta Dream, who entered into a tie for the No. 2 seed with the Las Vegas Aces with their Monday afternoon with over the Connecticut Sun, 93-76.

Here are four players’ whose performances could prove pivotal to the playoff picture:

Breanna Stewart (New York Liberty)

The Liberty are slowly returning to full strength, with Sabrina Ionescu (toe) and Nyara Sabally (knee) both listed as questionable. But for New York to begin to look like a team capable of repeating as WNBA champions, they need the best version of Breanna Stewart.

In her three games since returning from her extended knee injury absence, Stewie has slowly ramped up, increasing her minutes game by game. Yet, she has yet to find her scoring touch, shooting no better than 45 percent from the field in any of the three games and not yet crossing the 20-point mark. Before her injury, she was enjoying an excellently efficient inside-the-arc scoring season. To escape San Francisco with a win, New York needs to see that Stewie.

Iliana Rupert (Golden State Valkyries)

A sweet shooting center? Surely, that’s Jonquel Jones’ music. Nope, Iliana Rupert has stolen her tune.

In the Valkyries’ Sunday night win over the Fever, Rupert swished five triples on her way to a career-high 21 points. For the season, she’s shooting almost 47 percent from deep. The sample size is small, as she did not join Golden State until after the All-Star break. In her previous WNBA stints with the Aces (2022) and Dream (2023), she shot 36.8 percent and 27.3 from 3, respectively. Yet, even in just 16 games in 2025, Rupert has already logged more minutes than she did in either of those seasons.

If she substantiates her small but stellar shooting sample on Tuesday, expect the Valkyries to be celebrating a third-straight win that keeps them secure in the No. 6 seed.

Aliyah Boston (Indiana Fever)

At this point, the Fever will hope to finish off their three-game West Coast road trip in one piece. This team cannot afford any more injuries.

Indy’s depleted state has put a damper on their previously high-octane offense, as their win over Los Angeles and loss to Golden State were two of their least-efficient offensive outings. Ominously, their worst offensive output of the season came the last time they visited Phoenix, a 35-point drubbing in early August.

Among just about everything that went wrong for the Fever in that game was the Mercury’s ability to neutralize Aliyah Boston, holding her to six shot attempts and four points. When Indy defeated Phoenix at home in late July, Boston had one of her better games of the season, with 22 points and 12 boards. In that one, Boston was able to establish position inside, often receiving passes from Natasha Howard before going to work against one of the Mercury’s more undersized interior defenders. When the teams met in Phoenix, the Mercury prevented her from getting the ball in favorable positions, forcing her to try to create for herself from the top of the key.

Can head coach Stephanie White and the Fever find a way to leverage the attention the Mercury will likely direct to Boston to open up their struggling offense?

Kahleah Copper (Phoenix Mercury)

Watch out, Kahleah Copper is starting to heat up. Limited to 23 games this season due to nagging injuries, Copper scored more than 20 points in back-to-back games for the first time this season in the Mercury’s two latest wins over the Chicago Sky and Liberty.

She did a lot of her damage from behind the arc, hitting nine triples across the two games. That shooting success is reflective her increased aggressive and sustained effectiveness from deep, as she is taking 6.7 3s per 36 minutes, the most of her career, and hitting them at 41 percent. That shot diet shows how Copper has shifted her game to fit within head coach Nate Tibbetts’ modernized, spaced-out offensive system.

However, Copper is still most dangerous to opposing defenses when she utilizes her speed, whether by racing up the court in transition or driving to hoop in the halfcourt. As Copper continues to gain more distance from her knee troubles, it would be encouraging to see her turn on the jets more frequently, putting pressure on the rim, drawing fouls and earning easy points at the line.

If the full Copper package of 3s, drives and freebies is on display on Tuesday, Phoenix should cruise to a fifth-straight win.

New York Liberty (24-16) vs. Golden State Valkyries (21-18)

Indiana Fever (21-19) vs. Phoenix Mercury (25-14)