Fowles’ 18 lead Lynx over Mercury

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Sylvia Fowles scored 18 points and the Minnesota Lynx used an 18-0 run in the third quarter to beat the Phoenix Mercury 81-66 on Sunday night.

Minnesota (15-2), off to the best start in franchise history, beat the Mercury 88-71 in Phoenix on Friday night.

Rookie Yvonne Turner scored a career high 18 points for the Mercury. Brittney Griner and Diana Taurasi, who combine to average more than 40 points per game, did not play for Phoenix. Griner was injured in Friday’s loss and is expected to miss 3-4 weeks. Taurasi didn’t travel with the team in order to rest.

Fowles converted a 3-point play and then made a layup to give Minnesota the lead for good and spark the decisive run that made it 67-51.

Phoenix (11-8) shot 58.3 percent from the field and hit 10 of 12 freethrow attempts in the first half but made just 10 of 36 (27.8 percent) shots from the field after the break. Lynx 81, Mercury 66 PHOENIX (66) A.Robinson 3-6 2-2 8, Currie 3-10 7-9 13, D.Robinson 5-9 0-0 10, Little 3-8 0-0 7, Talbot 1-4 0-0 2, Cannon 0-4 3-6 3, George 0-2 0-0 0, Mitchell 1-3 0-0 2, Prince 1-2 0-0 3, Turner 7-12 1-2 18. Totals 24-60 13-19 66.

MINNESOTA (81) Augustus 2-6 1-1 6, Brunson 3-8 4-4 11, Fowles 5-9 8-9 18, Moore 3-9 3-3 9, Whalen 1-4 2-2 4, Fagbenle 0-0 0-0 0, Howard 0-3 0-0 0, Jones 0-1 0-0 0, Montgomery 3-7 4-5 10, Perkins 5-8 2-2 13, Pierson 4-7 0-0 10. Totals 26-62 24-26 81. Phoenix 14 28 11 13 — 66 Minnesota 15 23 29 14 — 81 3-Point Goals—Phoenix 5-20 (Turner 3-6, Prince 1-2, Little 1-3, Talbot 0-2, Mitchell 0-2, Currie 0-5), Minnesota 5-20 (Pierson 2-5, Augustus 1-2, Perkins 1-2, Brunson 1-3, Whalen 0-1, Jones 0-1, Moore 0-3, Montgomery 0-3). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Phoenix 34 (D.Robinson, Cannon, A.Robinson 6), Minnesota 31 (Moore 9). Assists—Phoenix 12 (Mitchell 4), Minnesota 12 (Augustus 3). Total Fouls—Phoenix 21, Minnesota 18. Technicals—Phoenix defensive three second, Phoenix team. A—10,022 (18,568).