Recaps: Mystics and Lynx get wins on Saturday, creating 4-way tie for fourth place

There were two WNBA games on Saturday. Here’s what went down.

Mystics blow out the Liberty, 95-78

Elena Delle Donne and Kristi Toliver scored 28 of the Mystics’ 32 points in a third quarter where Washington shot a blistering 75 percent from the field while the Liberty just shot 37.5 percent.

New York’s best chance to catch up against the Mystics was in the second quarter, when Washington shot just 31.3 percent from the floor. However, the Liberty committed 6 turnovers and shot just 30.8 percent from the field themselves. Besides that sluggish second quarter, the Mystics played an otherwise great game.

Tina Charles led New York with 22 points, but 11 of them came in the fourth quarter when Washington had the game in hand.

Delle Donne ended up with 30 points and 10 rebounds in the win while Toliver added 19 points. Watch Delle Donne’s highlights below:

Lynx defeat the Mercury, 80-75

Maya Moore scored 38 points, including making 12 of 13 from the free throw line, to get Minnesota a big win over Phoenix late Saturday night. For the Mercury, DeWanna Bonner had a team-high 29 points.

The game was quite chippy and physical throughout, and Diana Taurasi was ejected from the game after receiving two technical fouls. If she wasn’t ejected, perhaps the outcome would have gone the other way. Taurasi still scored 14 points while playing just 13 minutes.

Minnesota was able to get to a comfortable lead during the third quarter, when they outscored Phoenix 29-16 to head into the fourth quarter with a 15-point lead after shooting an impressive 72.2 percent from the field.

Playoff picture: Four teams are tied for fourth

With the Mystics and Lynx winning tonight, both teams have identical 14-10 records. It also just so happens that the Sparks and Lynx are also 14-10, creating a four-way tie for the fourth seed.

Ultimately, thanks to tiebreakers, the Lynx jumped from seventh (after the Mystics’ win and before their game against the Mercury) to fourth. Meanwhile, the Sparks are fifth and the Wings are sixth, leaving Washington exactly where they started.

This isn’t to say that the Mystics’ win was in vain. Though Washington didn’t gain ground on the teams ahead of them, they did get a solid two-game lead over the eighth-place Connecticut Sun, who are just one game ahead of the Las Vegas Aces.

This WNBA season has been the most competitive ever, and it shows no signs of slowing down!