Elena Delle Donne had 17 points, Brittney Sykes scored 16 in the first half before leaving with an eye injury, and the Washington Mystics never trailed during their 88-69 win over the visiting Phoenix Mercury.

From the get-go, Washington took advantage of the absence of active WNBA legends Brittney Griner (hip) and Diana Taurasi (hamstring), who was a late scratch for Phoenix. The Mystics scored the game’s first nine points.

Delle Donne opened the game with a short jumper, Sykes followed with a bucket and made another on the other side of a 3-pointer from Li Meng (14 points) to give the Mystics (6-4) a 9-0 lead.

Washington maintained control from there, making 11-of-19 field goals and owning an 11-5 rebound advantage to lead by 14 after one quarter.

Meng went 4-of-9 from 3-point range overall for the Mystics, who shot 58.3 percent and made seven of their 11 overall 3s to lead 54-38 at halftime.

The Mystics, who led by as many as 24 in the second half, shot 50 percent for the game, totaled 22 assists and held a 16-6 advantage in fast-break points despite playing without their own injured star guard Natasha Cloud (ankle).

Sykes, who entered averaging 9.3 points and scored 18 at Seattle on June 9 for her only other double-digit performance this season, went 6-of-7 from the field in the first half.

However, Sykes, who also recorded five steals, took a hit to the face while passing in traffic early in the second half and did not return.

Michaela Onyenwere had a season-high 20 points with nine rebounds, while Sophie Cunningham knocked down three 3-pointers and finished with 13 points for the Mercury (2-7), who missed their first five field-goal attempts.

Phoenix shot 39 percent for the game, but committed 19 turnovers and were outrebounded 28-22 at the defensive end of the court while dropping to 1-4 on the road this season.

–Field Level Media

The Dallas Wings have lost four of their last six games with three of the losses on the road as they prepare to host the struggling Seattle Storm on Saturday.

Both wins for Dallas (5-5) in its last six games were against the Phoenix Mercury at home.

The Storm (2-7) are tied for last in the WNBA’s Western Conference with the Minnesota Lynx.

The Wings fell for the first time at home this season in Wednesday’s 79-61 loss to the Los Angeles Sparks. They are now 4-1 at the College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.

Satou Sabally, the Western Conference WNBA Player of the Week, posted her seventh straight double-double — a franchise record — with 14 points and 13 rebounds in the loss.

Sabally is averaging a career-high 20.5 points per game, almost double her clip from the past two seasons. She is also averaging a career-best 11.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.6 steals while shooting a career-high 43.0 percent from the field and 92.6 percent from the free-throw line.

The Wings shot 36.2 percent (25 for 69) from the field and had 17 turnovers in the loss to the Sparks.

Dallas coach Latricia Trammell was encouraged after listening to her players talk in the locker room after the game about adjustments necessary heading into their game with Seattle.

“They have this championship mentality, which I absolutely love,” Trammell said. “I love this team. They’re incredible people. They’re ready to get back in and work on some of those things.”

Seattle is coming off a 96-63 loss at the defending WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces on Thursday night.

That was an improvement from a 105-64 loss at Las Vegas in the season opener.

“I thought we were better than the first time we played them,” Seattle coach Noelle Quinn said. “That is an amazing team over there.”

Ezi Magbegor, a center in her fourth season in the WNBA, finished with 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field, 11 rebounds, two assists and a block against the Aces.

Jewell Loyd leads the Storm with 23.8 points and 3.5 assists per game.

–Field Level Media

Jackie Young scored a game-high 28 points and the host Las Vegas Aces rolled to a 96-63 victory against the Seattle Storm on Thursday night.

Kelsey Plum put up 19 points, A’ja Wilson added 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Kierstan Bell scored 12 points off the bench as the defending WNBA champion Aces (9-1) strengthened their hold on first place.

Ezi Magbegor had 23 points and 11 rebounds, Jewell Loyd scored 17 points and Ivana Dojkic scored 16 to lead the Storm (2-7).

After the first quarter ended with the score 17-17, Las Vegas outscored Seattle 30-20 in the second quarter to take a comfortable lead. The Aces added five points to the margin in the third quarter and dominated the final period 29-11.

Young’s 3-pointer started the third-quarter scoring and gave Las Vegas a 13-point lead, but Seattle closed within eight points on Loyd’s basket with 5:06 to go in the frame.

Chelsea Gray, Young, Wilson and Plum scored two points each during an 8-1 closing run that gave the Aces a 67-52 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Young made a 3-pointer to start the fourth-quarter scoring, and Las Vegas soon expanded its lead to 23 points.

The Aces scored the first five points of the game, but Kia Nurse’s jumper gave Seattle its first lead of the game, 10-9.

Las Vegas regained the advantage on two free throws by Wilson before Loyd’s 3-pointer with two seconds left pulled the Storm even at the end of the opening period.

The lead changed hands six times early in the second quarter before Plum’s 3-pointer started a 10-0 run that gave Las Vegas a 43-35 lead.

Seattle got within six points before Wilson hit two free throws and then Plum sank a layup with 3.2 seconds left to give the Aces a 47-37 halftime lead.

–Field Level Media

Kelsey Mitchell’s jumper with 1.1 seconds remaining lifted the visiting Indiana Fever to a 92-90 victory over the Chicago Sky on Thursday.

Rookie Aliyah Boston led the way with 19 points and eight rebounds for the Fever (4-6), who had five players finish in double figures. NaLyssa Smith had 15 points and eight rebounds, while Victoria Vivians had 17 points, Mitchell added 15 points and five assists and Erica Wheeler finished with 10 points.

The Fever, who trailed by seven with 6:43 left, have won three of their past four games. They went 5-31 last season.

The Sky (5-6) were paced by Marina Mabrey, who had a career-high 36 points to go along with six rebounds. Dana Evans had 21 points, and Robyn Parks chipped in 13 points. Alanna Smith had eight points and 11 rebounds for Chicago, which has lost three straight.

After trailing 38-37 at halftime, the Sky closed the third quarter on a 13-7 run to take a 71-65 lead.

The Sky pushed their advantage to 74-65 on Mabrey’s jumper before the Fever went on a 17-6 run to take a 82-80 lead after NaLyssa Smith’s short jumper with 3:09 to go.

Mitchell’s layup made it a four-point game with 2:42 left before Evans’ three-point play with 2:28 to go pulled Chicago to within 84-83.

Evans’ short jumper gave the Sky an 87-86 left with 1:09 remaining before NaLyssa Smith’s layup put the Fever ahead with 51 seconds to go.

Evans’ floater with 38.1 remaining regained the lead for the Sky, but Smith’s short shot in the lane on Indiana’s next possession gave the Fever the advantage for good with 14.5 seconds left.

Evans drew a foul with 7.5 seconds remaining, but she missed her first free-throw attempt before making the second to tie the game. The Fever called timeout so they could advance the ball across midcourt.

Mitchell caught the inbounds pass along the right wing and hit a 21-foot step-back jumper that proved to be the game-winner after Alanna Smith’s 3-point try clanged off the backcourt as time expired.

–Field Level Media

Allisha Gray scored a career-high 27 points as the visiting Atlanta Dream rallied for a 92-88 overtime victory over the Connecticut Sun on Thursday in Uncasville, Conn.

Gray shot 10 of 14 from the field and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Dream (4-5), who overcame a 10-point halftime deficit to knock off the Sun for the first time in the teams’ past eight meetings dating to 2019.

Cheyenne Parker added 19 points, Rhyne Howard finished with 19 points and six assists and rookie Haley Jones chipped in 10 points and nine assists for the Dream, who have won two straight.

Brionna Jones paced the Sun (8-3) with 28 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out. Alyssa Thomas had 23 points, seven assists and six rebounds, and DeWanna Bonner added 20 points for the Sun, who lost for just the second time in their past seven games.

Tied at 80 at the end of regulation, Gray’s layup gave the Dream a two-point lead before Parker’s layup made it a four-point game with 4:15 to go.

Jones’ driving layup extended the lead to 87-82 with three minutes left. The Sun closed to within 89-86 and had the ball in the final minute, but DiJonai Carrington missed a driving layup with 40 seconds left.

Gray secured the win with two free throws with 21 seconds left.

Trailing 71-70 with 5:07 left, Naz Hillmon’s layup gave the Dream a 72-71 advantage with 4:43 remaining. Jones followed with a jumper with two free throws to push it to 76-71 with 3:18 to go.

The Sun pulled to within 78-75 with 1:43 left on Carrington’s layup, although she failed to complete the three-point play. Thomas’ jumper made it a one-point game with 1:09 remaining.

After an Atlanta turnover, the Sun got the ball to Bonner, whose 3-pointer gave the Sun an 80-78 with 43.4 seconds left. Parker’s short baseline jumper with five-tenths of a second to play sent the game into overtime.

The Dream dominated the third quarter, opening on a 13-2 run to take a 53-52 lead on Gray’s technical free throw with 5:47 left. The Sun rallied to take a 62-61 advantage entering the final period.

Atlanta overcame the Sun’s eight-point lead after the first quarter to pull even at 32 on Nia Coffey’s jumper with 6:22 left in the second quarter. However, Connecticut closed on an 18-8 run to take a 50-40 halftime advantage.

–Field Level Media