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Nurse And Durr Help Liberty Beat Lynx 75-69

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) — Kia Nurse scored 26 points and Asia Durr added a career-high 20 to help the New York Liberty beat the Minnesota Lynx 75-69 on Wednesday night.

Nurse had 11 of her points in the fourth quarter and the Liberty (2-4) held off a few Lynx rallies. Minnesota got to 61-58 before Nurse hit a 3-pointer as the Liberty scored 10 of the next 14 points to build a 71-62 lead.

The Lynx rallied within four, but Durr made a spectacular move, splitting two defenders and scoring with 20 seconds left to seal the win.

Sylvia Fowles had 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead Minnesota (4-3), which has dropped three of its last four games.

The win was the second straight for New York, which had a 17-game losing streak before Sunday's victory over Las Vegas.

New York used a 14-2 run spanning the end of the first quarter and beginning of the second quarter to turn a 9-8 lead into a 13-point advantage. Durr was a big part of that spurt as the rookie surpassed her previous career-high of 12 points before halftime. She finished the opening 20 minutes with 14 points as New York led 38-28 at the break.

MILESTONES

Fowles moved into the top 20 on the WNBA career scoring list, passing Taj McWilliams-Franklin in the first quarter for 20th. The Lynx star has 5,025 points.

CHINESE CONNECTION

Wednesday night marked the first time in WNBA history that two Chinese players competed against each other in a regular-season game. New York's Han Xu and Minnesota's Shao Ting chatted before the game. Han was drafted 14th by New York this year while Shao was signed as a free agent in April. The pair played together for China on the national team that finished sixth at the FIBA World Cup last fall.

TRAINING ROOM

Liberty forward Rebecca Allen broke the third metacarpal bone in her right hand in practice on Tuesday. She's out at least three weeks. Allen was wearing a soft cast. ... Minnesota guard Seimone Augustus traveled with the team and is still recovering from arthroscopic surgery on her right knee on May 30. She's out indefinitely. She was charged with a technical foul from the bench early in the fourth quarter. ... Lynx rookie Jessica Shepard wasn't with the team after tearing the ACL in her right knee. She will miss the remainder of the season and have surgery once the swelling on the knee goes down.

UP NEXT

Lynx: Host Connecticut on Friday night.

Liberty: At Las Vegas on Friday night to begin a two-game trip.

(© Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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