Lynx beat the Sky for their 5th straight victory

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Napheesa Collier scored 20 points, and the Minnesota Lynx beat the Chicago Sky 83-66 on Friday night for their fifth straight victory.

Collier also grabbed eight rebounds for Minnesota (28-9), which has won 12 of 13 overall. Courtney Williams had 14 points and 10 assists, and Alanna Smith finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds.

Chennedy Carter scored 17 points for Chicago (13-24), which dropped into a tie with Washington for the final playoff spot after losing for the ninth time in 11 games. Kamilla Cardoso finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Lindsay Allen and reserve Rachel Banham both scored 10.

ACES 78, FEVER 74

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Chelsea Gray scored 21 points, A’ja Wilson added 15 points and 17 rebounds and Las Vegas held on to beat Indiana to spoil another record-breaking day for Caitlin Clark.

Clark, who scored all of her 18 points in the second half, finished with eight rebounds and nine assists for Indiana (19-19). The rookie set the WNBA’s single-season record for assists with 320, breaking the mark of 316 set last season by Alyssa Thomas of the Connecticut Sun.

Gray made 7 of 11 from the field and had six assists for Las Vegas (24-13). Kelsey Plum added 18 points, including four 3-pointers, and Jackie Young scored 12 points.

Clark scored 14 points in the third quarter as the Fever trimmed a 13-point deficit to 60-57 going into the fourth and Damiris Dantas tied it when she hit a deep 3-pointer with 9:41 to go. Gray answered with a layup about a minute later and Plum hit a 3 to give Las Vegas a 65-60 lead with 7:33 to go.

MYSTICS 72, DREAM 69

COLLEGE PARK, Ga. (AP) — Brittney Sykes scored 20 points and Washington held off Atlanta to move into a tie for the final postseason spot.

Washington (13-24) pulled even with the Chicago Sky for the No. 8 seed, while knocking Atlanta (12-25) a game off the pace with three left to play. The Mystics and Dream play again Sunday in Washington.

Rhyne Howard hit a turnaround jumper for Atlanta with 21 seconds to go to make it a one-point game, but Ariel Atkins made two free throws for Washington and Tina Charles missed a 3-pointer on the game’s final shot.

STORM 83, WINGS 81

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Skylar Diggins-Smith scored 21 points, including two free throws with 17.1 seconds left that gave Seattle the lead for good, and the Storm rallied from a 21-point deficit to beat Dallas.

Jewell Loyd had 15 points and six assists for the Storm (23-14). Nneka Ogwumike scored 12 points, and Gabby Williams had 10 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Seattle’s Ezi Magbegor suffered an injury to her left eye in the second quarter. She scored six points and grabbed three rebounds in 12 minutes.

Teaira McCowan scored a season-high 23 points for Dallas (9-29) and grabbed 15 rebounds. Satou Sabally added 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Arike Ogunbowale scored 13 of her 15 points in the final 11 minutes.

SUN 88, MERCURY 69

PHOENIX (AP) — Brionna Jones scored 20 points on 10 of 16 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds, Marina Mabrey added 19 points and Connecticut beat Phoenix.

Tyasha Harris hit a 3-pointer that made it 11-8 at the 6:16 mark of the first quarter and Connecticut (27-10) led the rest of the way en route to its third straight victory. With the win, the Sun remained a game behind the Minnesota Lynx for second place in the WNBA standings and four games back of the first-place New York Liberty.

DeWanna Bonner scored 14 points, Harris had 12 and Alyssa Thomas finished with 11 assists to go with seven points for the Sun.

The Associated Press