Make it three straight losses for the Minnesota Lynx after losing at home to the Washington Mystics by a score of 79-71 Wednesday afternoon.
Washington led by as many as 20 points (44-24) in the first half before Minnesota closed the half on an 8-0 run to get within 12 points, but the third quarter was nearly identical as the Mystics again pushed the lead to 20 (65-45) before the Lynx closed the quarter on an 8-0 run again get within 12 points, 65-53, entering the fourth.
Again, Washington boosted its lead back to 19 points before Minnesota ended the game on a 14-3 run to make the score look like less of a blowout than it actually was.
Kristi Toliver led the Mystics with 32 points and six assists.
The Lynx were led in scoring by Lexie Brown (19 points), while Sylvia Fowles finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds, and rookie Napheesa Collier had 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Minnesota enters the WNBA All-Star break with a record of 10-10, good for eighth place in the WNBA and just 3.5 games behind the top two teams, Connecticut and Las Vegas, who are both 13-6.
WNBA All-Star festivities are this weekend, and it’ll include Fowles, Collier and Odyssey Sims playing in the All-Star Game, while both Sims and Collier also compete in the skills challenge Friday at 6 p.m. on ESPN.
