Thomas posts 1st triple-double in franchise history to lift Suns past Lynx

Alyssa Thomas had the first triple-double in franchise history, DeWanna Bonner scored 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting and the Connecticut Sun beat host Minnesota Lynx 94-84 Friday night.

Thomas made 7 of 13 from the field and finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds, 12 assists — the 17th triple-double in WNBA history — and three steals. Courtney Williams also scored 15 points for Connecticut (18-9) and Brionna Jones and Bria Hartley scored 11 apiece.

Aerial Powers led the Lynx (10-18) with 14 points and Rachel Banham added 11. Sylvia Fowles, Kayla McBride and Nikolina Milic scored 12 points apiece.

Natalie Achonwa of Guelph, Ont., had five assists and six rebounds for the Lynx. Her teammate Bridget Carleton of Chatham, Ont., added five points and two assists.

Diggins-Smith guides Mercury past Storm

Skylar Diggins-Smith scored a career-high 35 points, Diana Taurasi hit 6 of 10 from 3-point range and finished with 28 points and the Phoenix Mercury used a dominant fourth quarter to beat the visiting Seattle Storm 94-78 Friday night.

Sophie Cunningham hit five 3-pointers — her 10th consecutive game with at least two made 3s — and scored 19 points for Phoenix. The Mercury made a season-high 14 3s.

The Mercury went into the fourth quarter trailing 65-60 but Taurasi hit a 3 to open the period and her three-point play with 7:35 to play gave Phoenix a one-point lead. Tina Charles scored to give Seattle a 69-68 lead 25 seconds later but Diggins-Smith hit a jumper with 6:55 left that sparked a 17-0 run.

The game was 46th, and potentially the last, meeting between Taurasi and Seattle’s Sue Bird, the WNBA’s all-time leaders in points and assists, respectively and gave Taurasi 500 career games, second-most in league history — behind Bird.

Bird — who has announced that she’ll retire at the end of the season — and Taurasi (who will become a free agent) played together at UConn before being picked No. 1 overall in the 2002 (Bird) and 2004 (Taurasi) drafts, won seven combined WNBA titles and won five Olympic gold medals together.

Phoenix (12-16) swept the three-game regular-season series with the Storm 3-0 and, with 10 regular season games remaining, moved into a virtual tie with Dallas for the eighth and final playoff spot.

Breanna Stewart lead Seattle (17-10) with 22 points and 14 rebounds but did most of her damage in the first half. Jewell Loyd added 15 points and Tina Charles added 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Taurasi has hit at least six 3-pointers in a single game 12 times since turning age 35, a WNBA record.

Copper, Allemand lead Sky to win over Wings

Kahleah Copper scored 19 points, Julie Allemand had 11 of her season-high 13 in the fourth quarter and the Chicago Sky beat the visiting Dallas Wings 89-83 on Friday night.

Candace Parker had 14 points, 10 rebounds and three steals for Chicago (21-6), which has won six straight. Emma Meesseman added 13 points, a season-high nine assists and three blocks, and Allie Quigley scored 10 points.

The Wings trailed by 14 late in the first half but scored six consecutive points in the fourth quarter to make it 75-74 and give Dallas its first lead of the game when Tyasha Harris hit a floater with 6:57 to play. Allemand answered with a three-point play to put Chicago back in front about a minute later but Arike Ogunbowale made a 3-pointer to give Dallas an 80-79 lead with 4 minutes to go.

Ogunbowale hit another 3 to pull the Wings to 84-83 but Parker scored inside and Allemand made 3 of 4 from the free-throw line in the final 90 seconds to seal it.

Ogunbowale finished with 28 points. Isabelle Harrison scored 18 on 8-of-10 shooting for Dallas (11-15), Teaira McCowan added 15 points and Kayla Thornton scored 11