Napheesa Collier leads Lynx past the Mystics

WASHINGTON (AP) — Napheesa Collier scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead five Minnesota players scoring in double figures and the Lynx beat the Washington Mystics 78-71 on Sunday to win for the 10th times in 11 games.

Minnesota (26-9) has won three consecutive games and has a 1 1/2-game lead over the Connecticut Sun for the No. 2 seed in the playoffs with five games remaining in the regular season.

Washington (11-24) had won five of its last six games and is 1 1/2-games behind Chicago for the eighth and final playoff spot. The Sky currently hold the tiebreaker over the Mystics due to a 2-1 lead in the regular-season series between the teams. The last meeting will be Wednesday in Chicago.

LIBERTY 75, ACES 71

NEW YORK (AP) — Sabrina Ionescu scored seven of her 14 points in the fourth quarter to help New York hold off short-handed Las Vegas.

The Aces were playing without A’ja Wilson, who was sidelined with a right ankle injury she suffered on Friday against Connecticut. Wilson was in a walking boot. It was the first game she had missed since Aug. 3, 2019.

The Liberty remained three games in front of Minnesota for the No. 1 seed in the WNBA playoffs. New York has five games left to play. With the loss, Las Vegas remained in the fourth spot, one game in front of Seattle.

Breanna Stewart scored 21 points and had a big block late to lead New York (29-6). This wasn’t an easy win for the Liberty, who blew a 20-point late third quarter lead.

FEVER 104, DREAM 100, OT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Aliyah Boston scored a career-high 30 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, and Caitlin Clark added 26 points and 12 assists to help Indiana beat Atlanta in overtime and spoil the Dream’s Rhyne Howard’s third consecutive game with more than 30 points.

Boston made 11 of 16 from the field and 8 of 8 from the free-throw line while Clark posted her franchise-record 14th double-double of the season for Indiana (19-17). Kelsey Mitchell added 21 points and Lexie Hull scored 12 on 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range.

Boston was called for an illegal screen with 2:08 left in overtime and Howard hit a short contested fade-away jumper to give Atlanta a 98-96 lead 15 seconds later. Mitchell missed a reverse layup on the other end but Boston was there for the offensive rebound and putback with 1:39 remaining and then scored in the post with just over a minute to play to give Indiana a 100-98 lead.

Clark made 4 of 4 from the free-throw line from there to seal it.

SKY 92, WINGS 77

CHICAGO (AP) — Chennedy Carter scored seven of her 28 points in the first couple minutes Sunday and the Chicago Sky never trailed in their 92-77 win over the Dallas Wings.

Chicago (13-22) has a one-game lead game lead over the Atlanta Dream for the eighth and final playoff spot with five games remaining in the Sky’s regular season.

Carter, the No. 4 pick in the 2020 WNBA draft, made 10-of-17 from the field, hit her only 3-point attempt, went 7 of 9 from the free-throw line and finished with six assists. The 5-foot-9 guard returned Friday from a four-game absence due to illness and helped the Sky beat the Los Angeles Sparks 92-78 to snap their seven-game losing streak.

Dallas (9-26) has lost four games in a row following a three-game winning streak.

SUN 79, SPARKS 67

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Brionna Jones scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds, DiJonai Carrington added 19 points and Alyssa Thomas recorded her third triple-double of the season Sunday night to help Connecticut beat Los Angeles.

Thomas finished with 12 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds and has a WNBA-leading three triple-doubles this season and her 11 career in the regular season are the most in league history.

DeWanna Bonner scored 14 points and Marina Mabrey added 10 for Connecticut (25-10), which had lost back-to-back games for the second time this season.

Mabrey hit a 3-pointer with 6:26 to play that gave Connecticut its first lead since 22-20 early in the second quarter and Carrington followed with an alley-oop layup to cap a 10-3 spurt that made it 69-66 about 30 seconds later and the Sun led the rest of the way.

The Associated Press