Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS — Kara Lawson scored 22 points and the Connecticut Sun held on to beat the Minnesota Lynx 86-80 on Saturday in a matchup of conference leaders.
Tina Charles had 19 points and 15 rebounds for the Sun (12-4). Asjha Jones also had a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Maya Moore led Minnesota with 19 points while Taj McWilliams-Franklin had 15 for the Lynx (13-4), who have lost three straight for the first time since July 17-29, 2010. The defeat was Minnesota’s first in nine home games this season.
The Sun led 74-54 with 7:10 to play, but Minnesota made five 3-pointers — two each by Moore and Candice Wiggins — during a 20-4 run that got the Lynx within 78-74 with 2:23 to play. McWilliams-Franklin scored the other eight points.
But Moore missed a 3-pointer and McWilliams-Franklin committed an offensive foul before the Sun made seven of eight free throws in the final 32 seconds to secure the win.
FEVER 88
KY 86, OT
INDIANAPOLIS — Tamika Catchings had 18 points, nine rebounds and six assists to lead the Fever to a win over the Sky.
Catchings, who is set for her third Olympics later this month, became the first player in WNBA history to score 1,500 career free throws on 6 of 8 free throw shooting.
Jessica Davenport scored 15 points and Shavonte Zellous scored 14 points for the Fever (9-6).
Sylvia Fowles had 24 points and 16 rebounds and Shay Murphy scored 20 points for the Sky (8-7), who have lost six of seven.
Davenport scored the go-ahead basket with 2:41 left in overtime and was fouled on the shot. She missed the free throw, but Zellous grabbed the rebound and Davenport scored to give the Fever an 83-80 lead.
SPARKS 83
STORM 59
LOS ANGELES — Kristi Toliver scored 23 points to lead all five starters in double-digit scoring and the Sparks defeated the injury-depleted Storm.
Candace Parker scored 17 points, DeLisha Milton-Jones 15, Nneka Ogwumike 13 and Alana Beard 10. Toliver, coming off a career-high tying 29-point game, went 9 for 14 from the field to lead an excellent game by the starters.
Los Angeles did not get any points from its bench until Jantel Lavender scored with fewer than three minutes remaining.
The Sparks (12-6) improved to 4-0 this season against the Storm, who finished the game with seven healthy players after Tina Thompson left with a leg injury in the fourth quarter.
DREAM 100
MERCURY 93, 2 OT
PHOENIX — Sancho Lyttle scored a career-high 31 points, including five in the second overtime, to lead the Dream past the Mercury.
Lyttle added 10 rebounds and made a pair of 3-pointers during a key stretch early in the fourth quarter and then nine points in the two extra periods as the Dream won their fourth game in the past five.
DeWanna Bonner had 27 points, 15 rebounds and six steals to lead the Mercury (4-12), who have played since a May 31 loss at Atlanta without injured star Diana Taurasi. Phoenix has lost five of six and is 3-10 without Taurasi.
The Dream (8-8) used a 16-0 run to end the third period and an 8-3 start in the fourth quarter to erase a 17-point deficit and led by five with 1:03 left in regulation.
The Dream did not play Angel McCoughtry, the league’s leading scorer at 22.6 points per game and a member of the U.S. Olympic team with a week before the WNBA breaks for London.
