wnba roundup Saturday’s games

Mercury 87, Lynx 74

MINNEAPOLIS — Diana Taurasi scored 20 points, Cappie Pondexter had 17 and Phoenix recovered from their biggest loss of the season to beat Minnesota. The Western Conference-leading Mercury (15-6), who lost by 30 at Atlanta on Thursday, got off to a fast start against Minnesota. Taurasi scored 17 in the first half on 7-of-8 shooting and hit a buzzer-beating shot from three-quarters court at the end of the first half to give Phoenix a 47-24 lead at the break. Rookie Quanitra Hollingsworth had a season-high 17 points and Candice Wiggins scored 14 points for the Lynx (10-10), who have lost five of their last six. Minnesota, the league’s third-highest scoring team, shot just 29 percent (20 for 70) from the field — including 3 for 22 on 3-pointers.

Pondexter, third in the league in scoring, had only two points on 1-for-8 shooting against Atlanta. She bounced back to make 8 of 15 against the Lynx as Phoenix shot 54 percent (35 for 65) to overcome 28 turnovers.

Sky 84, Sun 72

CHICAGO — Candice Dupree scored 20 of her 23 points in the first half to lead Chicago. Jia Perkins scored 16 points, Dominique Canty and Erin Thorn had 11 each and Shyra Ely added 10 for the Sky (10-10). Canty also had two steals to reach 300 for her career. Tan White scored 16 points, Anete Jekabsone-Zogota had 12 and Asjha Jones 10 for the Sun (9-9). Trailing by six early in the second quarter, Chicago used a franchise-record 26-0 run to take a 46-26 lead on Ely’s driving layup with 59 seconds left in the first half. The Sky stretched the lead to 72-48 after three quarters on the way to their second straight win.

Associated Press