Mitchell scores 20, Fever pull away to beat Lynx
INDIANAPOLIS — Kelsey Mitchell scored 20 points, Tiffany Mitchell added 17 points and the Indiana Fever pulled away late to beat the Minnesota Lynx 86-75 on Saturday night.
The Fever (8-15), who trailed
41-21 midway through the second quarter, had a 9-0 run take an 8271 lead on Stephanie Mavunga’s layup with 1:45 left in the game. The 20-point comeback was the largest in the regular season in franchise history.
Led by Kelsey Mitchell, Indiana’s reserves totaled 55 points while All-Stars and starters Candice Dupree and Erica Wheeler combined for four points on 2-for8 shooting with neither playing more than 12 minutes.
Indiana took the lead for good during a 25-5 run to open the third quarter. Kelsey Mitchell capped the rally at 63-53 with a step-back
3-pointer. Twice in the fourth quarter, the Lynx (10-11) cut the deficit to two.
Minnesota had an 18-0 run in the second quarter and had its big lead before going into the break with a 48-38 advantage.
Sylvia Fowles had 17 points to lead Minnesota, which lost its fourth in a row. Temi Fagbenle and Napheesa Collier added 14 points each.
Aces 75, Wings 70
ARLINGTON, Texas — Kayla McBride had 21 points, including five in the final 30 seconds, in Las Vegas’ victory over Dallas.
Carolyn Swords added season highs of 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Jackie Young — the No. 1 overall pick in April’s draft — had a career-high 17 points and five assists for Las Vegas (15-7).
Young scored the final five points in a 7-0 run that made it 67-61 with less than three minutes to play. Arike Ogunbowale hit a
3-pointer to pull the Wings within one, but McBride made 3 of her own to push the lead to 71-67 with
29.6 seconds to go. Two seconds later, Ogunbowale sank another 3, but McBride answered with two free throws before Young stole a pass and capped the scoring with a pair of foul shots.
Ogunbowale led the Wings
(6-16) with 24 points. Kaela Davis added a season-high tying 13 points, and Allisha Gray had 10.
The Aces outscored Dallas
20-6 from the free-throw line. The Aces were without AllStars Liz Cambage (rest) and A’ja Wilson (ankle). Cambage played for the Wings last season, setting the WNBA single-game scoring record with a 53-point outburst, before demanding a trade in the offseason.
Sky 87, Dream 75
ATLANTA — Diamond DeShields had 12 points, a career-high 12 rebounds and a season-best six assists, Courtney Vandersloot added 13 points and nine rebounds, and Chicago beat Atlanta.
Stefanie Dolson led Chicago (12-9) with 16 points.
The Sky trailed by 10 early in the second quarter, but scored 10 of the next 12 points and used a
14-3 run to take the lead for good in the closing seconds of the first half. Dolson capped a 7-0 run to open the third quarter with a 3-pointer that made it 53-42 and Atlanta trailed by at least five the rest of the way.
Alex Bentley scored 21 points and Jessica Breland added 18, both career highs, for Atlanta. The Dream (5-17) have lost seven in a row.
Tiffany Hayes, Atlanta’s leading scorer (13.4 points per game), left the game late in the second quarter and did not return after being hit in the face while battling for a rebound.