Collier scores game-high 25 points to help Lynx defeat Sparks

Napheesa Collier scored 25 points, Kayla McBride added 16 and the visiting Minnesota Lynx beat the Los Angeles Sparks 77-72 on Friday night.

McBride made a steal and a fast-break layup to give Minnesota a 71-68 lead. Collier converted a three-point play on the Lynx's next possession to make it 74-70 with 1:06 left. McBride added two free throws with 18.2 seconds left for a five-point lead.

Nikolina Milic had 10 points for Minnesota (3-7), which plays at Las Vegas on Sunday before returning to Los Angeles on Tuesday.

Bridget Carleton of Chatham, Ont., collected five rebounds while adding two points and two rebounds for the Lynx.

Minnesota went on a 10-2 run to take a 63-57 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Jordin Canada led Los Angeles (5-5) with 22 points. Dearica Hamby had 14 points and nine rebounds. Lexie Brown, the second-leading scorer for Los Angeles, did not play due to a non-COVID illness. Rookie Zia Cooke made her first start and finished with five points in 25 minutes.

Nneka Ogwumike made her second field goal of the game with 49.9 seconds left in the fourth to get Los Angeles within 74-72. She finished with eight points, five rebounds and seven assists.

Mystics take down Mercury

Elena Delle Donne had 17 points, Brittney Sykes scored 16 in the first half before leaving with an eye injury, and the Washington Mystics never trailed during their 88-69 win over the visiting Phoenix Mercury.

From the get-go, Washington took advantage of the absence of active WNBA legends Brittney Griner (hip) and Diana Taurasi (hamstring), who was a late scratch for Phoenix. The Mystics scored the game's first nine points.

Delle Donne opened the game with a short jumper, Sykes followed with a bucket and made another on the other side of a three-pointer from Li Meng (14 points) to give the Mystics (6-4) a 9-0 lead.

Washington maintained control from there, making 11-of-19 field goals and owning an 11-5 rebound advantage to lead by 14 after one quarter.

Meng went four-of-nine from three-point range overall for the Mystics, who shot 58.3 per cent and made seven of their 11 overall threes to lead 54-38 at halftime.

The Mystics, who led by as many as 24 in the second half, shot 50 per cent for the game, totalled 22 assists and held a 16-6 advantage in fast-break points despite playing without their own injured star guard Natasha Cloud (ankle).

However, Sykes, who also recorded five steals, took a hit to the face while passing in traffic early in the second half and did not return.

Michaela Onyenwere had a season-high 20 points with nine rebounds, while Sophie Cunningham knocked down three three-pointers and finished with 13 points for the Mercury (2-7), who missed their first five field-goal attempts.

Phoenix shot 39 per cent for the game, but committed 19 turnovers and were outrebounded 28-22 at the defensive end of the court while dropping to 1-4 on the road this season.