WASHINGTON (AP) — Olivia Miles scored 24 points Natasha Howard added 21 points on 10-of-12 shooting and the Minnesota Lynx beat the Washington Mystics 94-84 on Friday night for their sixth straight win.
The Lynx (31-7) have won 16 of 17 have a 4 1/2-game lead on second-place Golden State in the WNBA standings.
Washington (21-15) fell into seventh, a half-game behind New York.
Howard finished with seven rebounds, five assists and three blocks. Kayla McBride scored 18 points and Courtney Williams had 13 points, eight assists and six rebounds for Minnesota. Williams fell to the floor in the closing seconds and left the game due to an apparent lower-body injury. Napheesa Collier (rest) did not play.
Kiki Iriafen had 19 points and 13 rebounds for the Mystics. Shakira Austin added 17 points and eight rebounds and Michaela Onyenwere scored 14.
SKY 73, VALKYRIES 70
CHICAGO (AP) — Sydney Taylor hit a pull-up 3-pointer with 1.6 seconds left and Chicago beat Golden State after squandering a 21-point lead.
The Sky won their season-high third straight game. Chicago (15-22) has seven games left in the regular season and is six games behind Dallas for the eighth and final playoff spot.
The second-place Valkyries (25-11) are a game ahead of Las Vegas and 1 1/2 games in front of Indiana.
The game was interrupted when multiple sex toys were thrown onto the court in the third quarter. It is the second straight night that a WNBA game was halted for the same reason. During Atlanta’s 124-88 win over the Sparks in Los Angeles on Thursday night, the game was stopped when a sex toy was tossed onto the court.
Kaitlyn Chen made a 3-pointer and layup that gave Golden State a 70-67 lead with 46.3 seconds left. Taylor tied it with a straightaway 3 about 12 seconds later and Chen missed a floater to set up the winner.
Taylor dribbled down the clock and hit a side-step 3-pointer over Veronica Burton.
Natasha Cloud made 5 of 5 from 3-point range and led Chicago with 17 points. Kamilla Cardoso had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Taylor also scored 14.
Laeticia Amihere scored a career-high 16 points on 7-of-7 shooting, Janelle Salaun added 13 points and Tiffany Hayes had 10. Burton, the only Valkyries started to reach double figures, scored 11.
TEMPO 82, FIRE 79
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Isabelle Harrison had 25 points and 10 rebounds and short-handed Toronto snapped a 12-game skid with a win over Portland.
The Tempo (11-25) won for the first time since a 93-91 victory against New York at the Bell Centre in Montreal on July 12.
The game drew a crowd of 12,414 at Rogers Arena. Toronto plays its second game in Vancouver on Sunday against the Las Vegas Aces, also at Rogers Arena.
The Fire (15-21) are 5 1/2 games behind the Dallas Wings for the eighth and final playoff spot. Portland has eight games remaining in the regular season. The Fire, who are at Dallas on Tuesday, split their two other games against the Wings this season, with the road team winning each game.
Kiki Rice scored a career high-tying 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting, and Laura Jukaite added 15 points for Toronto.
Bridget Carleton made five 3-pointers and scored 10 of her 18 points in the first quarter for Portland. Megan DiLeo had 14 points, Emily Engstler scored 13 and Serah Williams 10.
Nyadiew Puoch, Carleton and Engstler each hit a 3-pointer in a 13-0 run that gave Portland a 76-75 lead with 3:28 to play. Neither team scored again until Harrison made a floater about two minutes later and Toronto led the rest of the way.
Carleton air-balled a contested 3-point shot just before the buzzer.
The Associated Press
