INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Kelsey Mitchell made five 3-pointers and scored 24 points, Erica Wheeler had 17 points and 10 assists, and the Indiana Fever beat the Minnesota Lynx 91-73 on Thursday night to snap a three-game skid.
Aliyah Boston had 15 points and 13 rebounds for Indiana (8-22), which continues a four-game homestand on Sunday. Kristy Wallace added 13 points and NaLyssa Smith scored 12.
Rachel Banham made five 3s and scored 18 points for Minnesota (14-16). Jessica Shepard added 13 points, Diamond Miller had 11 and Kayla McBride scored 10. Napheesa Collier, averaging 21.9 points per game, was held to eight points on 3-of-12 shooting.
Indiana grabbed five offensive rebounds on one possession late in the first half before Mitchell sank a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 43-33. The Fever led 45-35 at halftime behind 14 points from Mitchell.
Indiana scored the opening six points of the second half for a 51-35 lead. The Fever scored six unanswered points to begin the fourth to make it 77-59.
MERCURY 90, SUN 84
PHOENIX (AP) — Brittney Griner had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and the Phoenix Mercury set a WNBA record for points in a quarter with 45 in the first before holding off the short-handed Connecticut Sun down the stretch.
Phoenix broke the record of 44 points in a quarter set earlier this season by New York to build a 21-point lead. But the Mercury only scored seven points in the second to have their lead trimmed to 52-48 at the break. The 38-point difference was the largest drop-off in points from one quarter to the next in WNBA history, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
DeWanna Bonner, Connecticut’s leading scorer, left with a back injury early in the first quarter and did not return.
Moriah Jefferson scored 17 points, and Diana Taurasi had 16 points and made four 3-pointers for Phoenix (9-20). Sophie Cunningham, who scored nine on three 3-pointers, reached 1,000 career points.
Rebecca Allen scored a season-high 24 points and Alyssa Thomas had 20 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists for Connecticut (21-8).
STORM 68, DREAM 67
SEATTLE (AP) — Jewell Loyd converted a three-point play with 13.1 seconds left and the Seattle Storm rallied past the Atlanta Dream.
Loyd finished with 19 points on 5-of-20 shooting for the Storm (8-21). Ezi Magbegor had 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Rhyne Howard scored 20 points and Allisha Gray added 17 points for Atlanta (15-14).
With losses by Atlanta and Minnesota, New York clinched a playoff spot for the third consecutive season.
