MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Skylar Diggins scored 26 points to help the Tulsa Shock beat the Minnesota Lynx 86-78 on Sunday and take over sole possession of the first place in the Western Conference.
The Shock (6-1) won the second of their last 22 meetings with Minnesota (5-2) and extended their winning streak to six - a franchise best since 2010.
Diggins kept the Shock close with 10 points in the latter part of the third quarter, and Jordan Hooper's 3-pointer with 2.9 seconds left gave the Shock a 58-57 lead going into the fourth.
Tulsa stretched it to 71-63 before Minnesota rallied within three with 1:50 left. Riquna Williams and Diggins then hit back-to-back 3s to put it out of reach at 82-73.
Williams finished with 17 points and Courtney Paris added 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Shock.
Rebekkah Brunson led the Lynx with 18 points, Maya Moore scored 16, and Seimone Augustus and Damiris Dantas added 15 apiece.
SUN 76, SPARKS 68
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Alex Bentley had a season-high 21, and Chelsea Gray scored all of her 11 points in the final 14:24 to help the Sun beat the Sparks.
Kelsey Bone added 14 points and Camille Little 13 for Connecticut (6-1), which won its sixth in a row and snapped a six-game skid, dating to Aug. 3, 2011, against the Sparks.
Los Angeles (0-4), which has been without Candace Parker, Kristi Toliver and Nneka Ogwumike all season - and leading-scorer Alana Beard for the last two games - is off to its worst start in franchise history.
The two teams will play again in Connecticut next Friday night.
LIBERTY 73, DREAM 64
ATLANTA (AP) - Brittany Boyd scored a career-high 18 points, and the Liberty beat the Dream.
Carolyn Swords had 12 points, three steals and a career-high five blocked shots for New York (4-3), which had dropped two in a row. Sugar Rodgers scored 17 points, and Tina Charles added 13 points and 12 rebounds.
The Liberty closed the first quarter with a 14-2 run to take a 21-10 lead and never trailed again. New York led by as many as 21 in the third quarter.
Sancho Lyttle made a 3-pointer and a jumper to close a 10-0 run by Atlanta (3-5), trimming its deficit to 63-56 with 1:59 to play, but Boyd and Rodgers combined to go 10 for 10 from the free-throw line down the stretch for New York.
MERCURY 84, STORM 72
SEATTLE (AP) - DeWanna Bonner scored 22 points and Candice Dupree added 15 to help the Mercury beat the Storm.
Monique Currie had 12 points and Cayla Francis 11 for the Mercury (3-3), who pulled away with a 16-5 run in the middle of the second quarter to a 38-28 lead.
Sue Bird rallied the Storm (2-4) within 71-69 when she put back her own missed 3-point attempt with 5:18 left in the game. But Phoenix closed on a 13-3 burst as Seattle's offense suffered a pair of shot-clock violations in the final 1:30.
Crystal Langhorne had 13 points to lead the Storm. Bird and Alysha Clark added 11 each.
It was the sixth contest of Brittney Griner's seven-game suspension for a domestic violence incident.