Fowles makes history, helps Lynx beat Mercury 75-62

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Sylvia Fowles set a WNBA record with her 157th career double-double and the Minnesota Lynx pulled away in the second half to beat the Phoenix Mercury 75-62 on Sunday night.

Fowles finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds for her fourth consecutive double-double and broke Lisa Leslie’s mark of 156 set from 1997-2009. Odyssey Sims led Minnesota (10-7) with 15 points and Napheesa Collier had 14 points, 11 rebounds and three steals. Danielle Robinson and Stephanie Talbot added 13 points apiece.

Fowles scored on a putback of a miss by Sims to make it 36-35 at halftime and the Lynx led the rest of the way. Yvonne Turner hit a 3-pointer to pull Phoenix (7-8) within three late in the third quarter but Fowles and Sims answered with back-to-back layups, Collier converted a 3-point play to close the period before Robinson scored the first seven points of the fourth to make it 62-46 with 7 1/2 minutes to play.

DeWanna Bonner led the Mercury with 27 points and Brittney Griner scored 12. Diana Taurasi, who made her season debut on Friday night after recovering from offseason back surgery, did not play Sunday. She scored five points in 16 minutes Friday in a loss at Connecticut, but tweaked her back and was examined by the team’s trainer after the game.