On the road, against a Washington Mystics team as motivated as a WNBA team could be, the Lynx took the best punch the Mystics could offer, then punched back for an 83-77 victory Sunday afternoon.
The victory, Minnesota’s fourth straight to end the regular season, gave the Lynx (22-10) the third seed in the upcoming WNBA playoffs. The Mystics, who needed to win the game to qualify for the playoffs, saw their season end.
A 10-point fourth-quarter lead whittled to two, Layshia Clarendon — seeing their first action in eight games — hit two free throws with 27.5 seconds left. On the ensuing possession, Clarendon stole the ball, resulting in two free throws by Aerial Powers that clinched the game.
Powers, the former Mystics player, in her first game back in Washington, D.C., led all scorers with 27 points, including 11 in the Lynx’s 27-17 third quarter. Napheesa Collier had a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double. Center Sylvia Fowles had 13 rebounds to go with eight points.
Natasha Cloud led the Mystics with 22 points.
Down 12, the Mystics used an 18-3 run over a stretch of six minutes from the second quarter into the third, giving them a three-point lead on Ariel Atkins’ three-pointer.
But, after finally ending an 0-for-12 streak of shooting, the Lynx embarked on an 18-2 run of their own over the next five-plus minutes, taking a 13-point lead on Collier’s jumper with 4:41 left in the third quarter.
The Lynx offense was running smoothly. Up eight after a quarter, the Lynx lead grew to 38-26 when Natalie Achonwa hit two free throws with 5:17 left in the half.
Minnesota went nearly five minutes without scoring again.
While the Lynx were turning the ball over twice and missing seven straight shots, Washington was taking advantage of poor Lynx transition defense to go on a 15-0 run to take a 41-38 lead on Nurse’s two free throws with 56.6 seconds left in the second quarter.
The Lynx scored the final three points of the half — all free throws — to tie the game entering the third quarter. Still, the Lynx did not hit a field goal over the final 5:45 of the quarter.
The Star Tribune did not travel for this event. This article was written using the television broadcast and video interviews before and/or after the event.