Washington snaps Phoenix’s streak
Rookie Shakira Austin had 16 points and 10 rebounds for her second double-double, Ariel Atkins added 13 points and the Washington Mystics beat the Phoenix Mercury 83-65 on Tuesday night.
Washington was coming off a 99-90 overtime loss against Phoenix on Sunday. This time the Mystics sealed it by ending the game on a 9-0 run as the Mercury went scoreless over the final 4:15.
Alysha Clark added 11 points and Elizabeth Williams scored 10 for Washington.
Elena Delle Donne, who missed the past two games with back issues, scored all seven of her points in the first half. Natasha Cloud extended her streak of games with five-plus assists to 18 before finishing with six points and 10 assists.
Diamond Deshields had 21 points and eight rebounds and Tina Charles added 19 points for Phoenix, which had its threegame winning streak snapped. Diana Taurasi added nine points, six rebounds and six assists.
Phoenix guard Skylar Diggins-smith made a steal in the third quarter to reach 300 for her career. Charles made five 3-pointers to set a careerhigh in a regular-season game.
Storm 81, Lynx 79: Breanna Stewart scored on a layup with 42.6 seconds left to break a 79-all tie. She finished with 29 points and eight rebounds for Seattle. Kayla Mcbride scored 20 points for Minnesota.
Note: The day after members of Brittney Griner’s WNBA team met with State Department officials to discuss what the U.S. government has called her “wrongful detainment” in Russia, a Moscow court extended her detention at least another 18 days, according to multiple reports.