Skylar Diggins-Smith scored 13 of her 25 points in the fourth quarter, Diana Taurasi had 23 points and 12 rebounds, and the Phoenix Mercury held off the Minnesota Lynx for an 83-79 win for their third win in a row
BRADENTON, Fla. — Skylar Diggins-Smith scored 13 of her 25 points in the fourth quarter, Diana Taurasi had 23 points and 12 rebounds and the Phoenix Mercury held off the Minnesota Lynx 83-79 win on Sunday night for their third victory in a row.
Diggins-Smith made all of her 11 free-throw attempts, including four in the final 13 seconds. Brianna Turner scored 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting, grabbed 15 rebounds and blocked four shots for Phoenix (9-7). The second-year forward continued her strong play in the absence of All-Star center Brittney Griner — who left the bubble for personal reasons last week. Turner is averaging 13 rebounds and 3.7 blocks over the last three games.
Taurasi hit 3-pointers 32 seconds apart to make it 6-5 and the Mercury led the rest of the way. She made another 3 to give Phoenix a 68-53 lead early in the fourth quarter but the Lynx answered with a 12-2 run to trim their deficit to 70-65 with 6:18 to play. Odyssey Sims made two free throws to cap an 8-0 spurt and make it a three-point game with 1:27 left but Diggins-Smith scored six points in the final minute to seal it.
Crystal Dangerfield scored 15 of her 20 points in the fourth quarter for Minnesota (10-5). Napheesa Collier finished with 13 points, six rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks.
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