Three-pointers, defense lead Lynx to victory over Mercury

Led by 11 3-pointers and sticky defense, the Minnesota Lynx cruised to an easy seventh straight victory by besting the Phoenix Mercury 89-76.

In the victory, the WNBA's top 3-point shooting team was in typical form, as was the league's top shooting defense -- both are Minnesota. The Lynx have won all six games played since the All-Star break by double digits, a trend that comfortably continued.

Minnesota (23-8), shooting 39.1 percent from 3-point range on the season, was led by 19 points from perimeter scoring standout Kayla McBride, who hit 3-of-7 3-pointers. Point guard Courtney Williams added 16 points and five assists. Napheesa Collier chipped in 12 points and eight rebounds, while reserve Myisha Hines-Allen dropped in 11 points and grabbed five boards.

Phoenix (16-16) connected on just 38.2 percent of its shots. Reserve guard Sophie Cunningham and veteran Diana Taurasi paced the Mercury with 16 points each. Cunningham was ejected midway through the fourth quarter after drawing a pair of technical fouls. Several of Phoenix's usual top scorers struggled through poor shooting nights, as Kahleah Copper was held to 13 points on 3-for-10 shooting and Brittney Griner had 10 points on 3-for-13 shooting.

Phoenix took an early 5-3 lead on a Taurasi 3-pointer, but then watched Minnesota make a 17-0 run to control the game. That run included a pair of 3-pointers and concluded with a Hines-Allen put back to stretch the Lynx edge to 20-5 with 3:15 left in the opening quarter.

Phoenix rallied to cut the lead to six points twice late in the second quarter. Taurasi had eight points in that frame, and the Mercury trimmed the halftime gap to 46-37.

But a Minnesota outburst stretched the lead to 20 with 5:27 left in the third quarter. McBride canned two treys and Collier added one in the run. The advantage stretched as far as 23 in that quarter. Phoenix pulled within a dozen points late, but never came closer.

Minnesota bested Phoenix 3-1 in the season series. With the victory, Minnesota jumped into second place in the league standings, while Phoenix is a half-game ahead of Indiana for possession of sixth place.

--Field Level Media