Olivia Miles is just fine as Lynx win for 16th time in 17 games by bouncing past Mystics

Cassidy Hettesheimer, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Aug 21, 2026

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At a recent Lynx practice, coach Cheryl Reeve reminded her team that only Natasha Howard has won a WNBA title.

Howard, 34, has won three, in fact: with the Lynx in 2017, then twice with Seattle.

Napheesa Collier recalled Reeve’s point in early August: “[Howard] does the championship things, night after night, with rebounds and getting stops and finishing plays.”

In a 94-84 win on the road against a young Washington Mystics team, with Collier taking the night off, the Lynx showed how that veteran experience surrounding star rookie Olivia Miles has been key to closing in on the No. 1 seed.

Miles finished with 24 points, seven assists and three steals on Friday, having been cleared to play after turning her left ankle Wednesday. The Lynx won for the 16th time in 17 games as Collier missed the game for rest reasons.

Howard finished with 21 points on 10-for-12 shooting, seven rebounds, five assists and three blocks.

The Mystics draw the most fouls per game in the league, and Miles picked up her fifth personal foul with 5:13 to play, up 82-76.

Reeve left Miles in as the rookie scored nine consecutive points for the Lynx. Kayla McBride sank back-to-back 3-pointers to put the game out of reach for Washington.

“Liv at times appears unfazed, but we see when she has her moments,” Reeve said pregame from D.C. “It is those veterans that that are helping her through that.”

There’s a world in which, in a month, the Lynx (31-7) are gearing up to face an upset-hungry Mystics team (with Collier, for the first time this season) in the first round of the WNBA playoffs.

The Lynx clinched home-court advantage and a top-four seed with Friday’s win.

The Mystics (21-15) sit seventh in the WNBA standings, but only three games separate Indiana in fourth and Dallas in eighth.

Eleven of the 14 players on the Mystics’ roster are rookies or second-year players. And yet, the team’s stout defense and paint dominance have greatly accelerated their rebuild.

“The pace, it accommodates young kids,” McBride said of the changing league earlier this month. “Even as an ‘old head’ now in the league, I have to be in great shape to play.”

Washington kept the Lynx close and, with eight minutes to play, took a 76-75 lead off a putback from Kiki Iriafen (19 points, 13 rebounds).

The Mystics’ size helped them outrebound the Lynx 36-26, and finish with a 40-36 edge in the paint. But Howard’s footwork helped her evade the Washington frontcourt when it counted.

Besides Miles, all of Friday’s Lynx starters are in their 10th WNBA season or more, including Coffey, who slotted in for Collier. Collier, too, is in her eighth.

“You get down in those those moments of winning or losing games, which is like what really the game comes down to, three or four possessions to win,” McBride said. “When you have that cohesion and that chemistry, that’s what kind of separates.”

“Even adding Liv, it’s like Liv and a bunch of vets,” McBride said. “We understand.”

Courtney Williams appeared to tweak her right ankle on defense in the game’s final minute, but was able to walk off under her own power.