MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Skylar Diggins scored 19 of her 23 points in the second half, Nneka Ogwumike had 12 points and nine rebounds, and the Seattle Storm rallied from a 21-point deficit to beat the Minnesota Lynx 93-79 on Thursday night.
Seattle, which trailed 39-18 midway through the second quarter, tied its second-largest comeback win in franchise history.
Kayla McBridehad 20 points with five 3-pointers to lead Minnesota (30-8), which lost for just the second time in 20 home games this season. A win would have secured the Lynx home court advantage for the entire playoffs.
Seattle closed the third quarter on a 25-6 run over a six-minute span to take a 67-63 lead, capped by 3-pointer by Diggins with 0.6 seconds left.
The Storm scored 34 points in the frame — after scoring just 33 points in the entire first half. Seattle was 12 of 19 from the field in the third, including 7 of 11 from 3-point range.
Seattle made four of its 16 3-pointers in the fourth.
Gabby Williams added 16 points for Seattle (21-19). Dominique Malonga and Erica Wheeler each added 13.
LIBERTY 89, MYSTICS 63
NEW YORK (AP) — Isabelle Harrison scored a season-high 16 points and Marine Johannes added 14 to help short-handed New York beat Washington.
New York (24-15) was missing three starters. Sabrina Ionescu (toe), Jonquel Jones (illness) and Natasha Cloud (nose) all were out. Ionescu hurt a toe on her left foot in practice Wednesday. Jones wasn’t feeling well earlier on Thursday and was a late scratch. Cloud broke her nose against Atlanta last week and is day-to-day.
While those three missed the game, Harrison made her return to the New York lineup after missing more than two weeks while dealing with a concussion. She gave the Liberty a lift inside as well as hitting two 3-pointers.
The veteran forward helped turn a six-point halftime lead into a double-digit advantage in the third quarter, hustling on both ends of the court. She helped the Liberty reserves score 35 points.
New York now is tied with Phoenix for the four seed and a half game behind Atlanta for No. 3 with five games to play. Washington (16-23) dropped four games behind eighth place Seattle, which played Minnesota later Thursday night.
The Mystics have lost five straight games despite having a solid pair of rookies in Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen.
MERCURY 83, SKY 79
PHOENIX (AP) — Kahleah Copper scored 28 points on her 31st birthday, Natasha Mack had her first career double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds, and Phoenix edged Chicago.
In the last minute, Mack had two offensive rebounds and her career-high fifth block, Alyssa Thomas had two offensive rebounds and a basket and Satou Sabally clinched it with two free throws with six seconds left.
Thomas had 15 points and nine rebounds. Phoenix (24-14), in front of its 15th sellout, won its third straight, fifth of six and moved into a tie for third with six games to play.
The Mercury had 17 steals, led by DeWanna Bonner’s five, and 11 blocks.
Kia Nurse was 6-of-8 shooting with five 3-pointers to lead Chicago (9-29) with 17 points. Angel Reese had 15 points and 20 rebounds, eight on the offensive end, and Kamilla Cardoso also had 15 points.
The Associated Press
