Collier scores 25 points in the game to help Lynx defeat Sparks

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

McBride made a steal and a quick breakup 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 in Las Vegas on Sunday and returns to Los Angeles on Tuesday.

Bridget Carleton of Chatham, Ont. Collected five rebounds and added 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, Los Angeles’ second leading scorer, 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 put Los Angeles inside 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 victory over the visiting Phoenix Mercury.

From the start, Washington benefited from the absence of active WNBA legends Brittney Griner (hip) and Diana Taurasi (hamstring), which was a late scratch for Phoenix. The Mystics scored the first nine points of the game.

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 put the Mystics (6-4) ahead 9-0 .

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

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

The Mystics, who led by 24 in the second half, shot 50 percent for the game, totaled 22 assists and had a 16-6 lead in fast-break points despite playing without their own injured star guard Natasha Cloud (only ).

However, Sykes, who also recorded five steals, was punched in the face when he passed 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 to finish with 13 points for the Mercury (2-7), who missed their first five field goal attempts.

Phoenix shot 39 percent for the game, but lost the ball 19 times and was beaten 28-22 on the defensive end of the field, falling to 1-4 on the road this season.