Washington ? Katie Smith and Michele Van Gorp were too much for the Washington Mystics to stop.

Smith scored a game-high 19 points, and Van Gorp added 17 off the bench as the Minnesota Lynx beat the Mystics, 59-50, Sunday.

Smith had a big first half, while Van Gorp dominated inside in the second half.

Minnesota (7-6) jumped ahead early behind Smith, who made her first six shots from the field and scored 14 points in the first eight minutes as the Lynx won their third straight game.

“That’s Katie, she gets us going offensively and defensively,” Minnesota coach Suzie McConnell Serio said. “I think Michele … came in the game and changed the game.”

Washington switched to a 2-3 zone defense after Minnesota took the lead. Smith already had scored 14 points, and the zone slowed her and the Lynx down.

“It just slowed down the tempo of the game,” Smith said. “I don’t think we adjusted really well in the first half.”

But in the second half, Van Gorp scored 15 of her season-high 17 to help the Lynx slowly pull away.

“We did a better job in the second half of attacking their zone,” Van Gorp said. “We hurt them from the inside as well as outside.”

Washington's Stacey Dales-Schuman, left, gets stripped of the ball by Minnesota's Teresa Edwards. The Lynx won, 59-50, Sunday in Washington.

Washington (2-9) struggled without leading scorer Chamique Holdsclaw, out for the second straight game because of a bruised hamstring.

The Mystics have lost six straight. Reserve Nakia Sanford led the Mystics with 10 points. No Washington starter scored in double figures.

The Mystics bounced back from the early deficit and cut the lead to 30-25 at halftime. Washington cut the deficit to one several times early in the second half before Van Gorp started rolling.

Van Gorp scored nine of Minnesota’s 15 points and helped the Lynx take a 51-41 lead with 6:26 left. She then made four free throws in the final 42.4 seconds to help Minnesota clinch the victory.

Rockers 66, Fever 53

Cleveland — LaToya Thomas scored a season-high 23 points to lead Cleveland to a win over Indiana, snapping the Rockers’ three-game losing streak.

Thomas, the first pick in the 2003 WNBA draft, came off the bench early in the first half, hit her first six shots and finished 10-for-11 from the field.

Tamika Catchings had 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead Indiana, which had a two-game winning streak broken.

Deanna Jackson added 19 points off the bench for Cleveland.