Kelsey Mitchell had 20 points and eight assists and Natasha Howard added 18 points to boost the Indiana Fever to a 97-77 victory against the Chicago Sky on Friday in Indianapolis.

Seventh-place Indiana (22-20) moved 2 1/2 games clear of the ninth-place Los Angeles Sparks in the WNBA playoff race after the Sparks lost at Atlanta earlier Friday. The Fever are a half-game up on the eighth-place Seattle Storm, who lost later Friday night to the New York Liberty. The top eight teams make the playoffs.

The Sparks (19-22) have a game in hand on the Fever and hold the tiebreaker. Indiana can clinch a playoff appearance with one victory or one Sparks loss.

Odyssey Sims (13 points), Aliyah Boston (11) and Aerial Powers (10) also scored in double figures as the Fever swept the five-game season series from the Sky.

Kamilla Cardoso and Michaela Onyenwere both scored 18 points for the Sky. Elizabeth Williams posted 13 points and 11 rebounds off the bench, Ariel Atkins scored 10 points and Cardoso grabbed nine boards.

Both teams shot 52.1 percent, but the Fever took 25 more shots from the field by capitalizing on Chicago’s 24 total turnovers.

Chicago (10-31) played without top scorer and rebounder Angel Reese, who was suspended for the game after being called for her eighth technical foul of the season during Wednesday’s home victory against Connecticut.

Reese also was suspended for the first half of Sunday’s game at Las Vegas for what the organization called “statements detrimental to the team.”

Long out of postseason contention, the Sky trailed the Fever by as many as 21 points. Chicago trimmed the deficit to 11 on Cardoso’s layup with 7:14 left in the third quarter before Indiana responded with an 11-2 run in less than two minutes to stretch the lead back to 20.

Mitchell and Howard each contributed four points during the spurt.

A hot start paced the Fever to a 31-15 advantage after one quarter. Mitchell sparked a torrid showing from the floor in the first 10 minutes, going 4-for-5 for 13 points as part of Indiana’s 71.4 percent (10-for-14) overall effort.

The Sky outscored the Fever 26-25 in the second quarter, but the early deficit proved insurmountable for Chicago.

The Sky have lost five of six and 18 of 21.

–Field Level Media