Alanna Smith scored a career-high 26 points and tied a career-high with six blocks Tuesday night in Washington.
Jessica Shepard was solid in her first game back after missing four, with 12 points and 15 rebounds. But she and Smith didn’t get enough offensive help.
In scoring their fewest points this season, the Lynx lost 68-64 to the Mystics.
The blame can easily be directed at failing to hold on to the basketball. Minnesota committed 19 turnovers that the Mystics turned into 26 points.
Courtney Williams had 10 of Minnesota’s miscues, including one that Sug Sutton turned into a layup for a 66-64 Mystics lead with 27.2 seconds left.
Williams missed a jumper with 15.2 seconds left and Sonia Citron made two late free throws to seal the win.
Minnesota’s final basket came with 8:48 remaining, missing six shots and making six of 12 free throws the rest of the way. The Lynx scored just nine points in the final 10 minutes, a season-low for a quarter.
“We had chances, we couldn’t get the free throws to get enough separation,” said Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve. “Clearly our defense was good enough. We should be the team that gets the stop, and then gets the possession and then at least gets a shot out of it, and we couldn’t catch the basketball, then turn it over and give them two points. That was frustrating to watch.”
The Lynx (12-2) were playing their second straight game without Napheesa Collier (lower back), the league’s top scorer and the league’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year.
Shepard had the first four points and Smith scored the next 13 as Minnesota jumped out to a 17-6 lead. A 3-point play by McBride pushed the lead to 14. But, as part of a 23-4 run, the Mystics cut it to two by quarter’s end.
“Rebounding, turnovers, I think were our biggest problems in the first half. And then when push came to shove, probably free throws. But we need to be able to rebound the ball and take care of the ball a lot better,” Smith said.
Washington (7-8) had a 40-39 rebounding advantage.
Minnesota’s starting backcourt of Williams and Kayla McBride was a combined 3 for 20 as the Lynx shot just 37.9%.
“They outplayed, they out-physicaled us, they out-toughed us, they out-wanted us. They took the game. They took it. They were aggressive, they wanted it, and the guard play for us was just not good enough” Reeve said.
Shepard returned after missing four games to play for Slovenia in the 2025 FIBA EuroBasket tournament, where she was playing 30-plus minutes per game. In three starts there, she averaged 22.7 ppg and 11.3 rebounds.
Trailing by six with less than four minutes to play in the third quarter, Shepard scored five points in an 11-4 Lynx run — capped by putting back a Bridget Carleton miss a split-second before the third quarter expired — for a 55-54 Lynx lead.
It is the first time in 11 games the Lynx lost this season when leading or tied after three quarters.
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