Napheesa Collier scored 28 points on 11-for-21 shooting, and the Minnesota Lynx pulled away for a 92-75 win over the Washington Mystics on Thursday night in Minneapolis.
Courtney Williams finished with 10 points, six rebounds, eight assists and five steals for Minnesota , which bounced back from a loss against the Indiana Fever in the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup championship game on Tuesday. Kayla McBride and Alanna Smith also scored 10 points apiece.
Lucy Olsen scored 19 points on 7-for-10 shooting to lead Washington . Aaliyah Edwards added 15 points and six rebounds, and Shakira Austin scored 10 points. Olsen and Edwards both came off the bench for the Mystics as the Washington starters only totaled 32 points.
Minnesota shot 46.3 percent from the field and 34.6 percent from beyond the arc. Washington shot 45 percent overall and 15 percent from 3-point range.
The Mystics jumped to a double-digit lead in the first quarter. Stefanie Dolson knocked down a 3-pointer to put Washington on top 24-14 in the final minute.
Jessica Shepard answered with a basket for the Lynx to cut the deficit to 24-16 with 19.1 seconds to go in the first quarter.
Minnesota continued to surge forward from there. The Lynx outscored the Mystics 27-14 in the second quarter to grab a 43-38 lead at halftime.
McBride made a 3-pointer to start a 9-2 run for the Lynx to finish the first half. Collier followed with a three-point play, and Smith punctuated the run with a 3-pointer with 0.1 seconds remaining.
Minnesota outscored Washington by the same 27-14 margin in the third quarter to increase its lead to 70-52. The Lynx scored the first eight points of the second half thanks to a 3-pointer by Smith, a pull-up jump shot by Williams and a 3-pointer by Collier.
The Mystics attempted to chip away at the deficit in the fourth quarter. Austin made a pair of free throws to bring Washington within 74-61 with 6:48 to go, but Collier responded with another three-point play to boost the Lynx’s lead back to 16 points with 6:07 remaining.
