Miles, Williams help WNBA-best Lynx hold off Fever 108-100

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Rookie sensation Olivia Miles spearheaded an efficient offense with 28 points, Courtney Williams added 27 points, and the Minnesota Lynx won their 10th straight game with a 108-100 victory over the Indiana Fever on Sunday.

There was a rally outside the Target Center that pitted those supporting Fever reserve Sophie Cunningham, who told ESPN last week she believed trans athletes should not play against girls, against those with the opposite feeling. Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve wore a shirt that read, “Trans kids belong,” and had a pregame conversation with Cunningham, who was booed throughout the game.

"Both of us understand that we have platforms and we both talked about wanting to, more than anything, educate,” Reeve said after the contest.

Minnesota had a 96-82 lead with 6:41 to play before the Fever, who had scored 100 in a record six-straight games, pulled within 100-98 with more than 2 1/2 minutes to go. Miles and Williams both came up with big baskets as the Lynx won their 10th straight for the first time since 2016.

“First time playing each other, so there’s a bit of a feeling out sort of thing," Reeve said. "And offense definitely had their way with each of the teams’ defense. Certainly knew it probably wasn’t going to be sustained, and it wasn’t. We were hoping at some point our defense could be a separator.

“We felt like we had to really fight to win, and glad we glad we did that. The next time we play them, each team is going to have a lot more information.”

The league’s No. 1 offense definitely made life difficult for the league’s No. 2 defense, but the Fever, who played in Portland on Friday night, struggled to stop the Lynx on the offensive end. Both teams shot 57% and both had 11 3-pointers and went 11 of 15 from the foul line. They also combined for 55 assists. The big difference was Indiana had 12 turnovers to six for Minnesota, which had an 11-5 edge in offensive rebounds and 9-0 advantage in fast-break points.

Napheesa Collier had 18 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Lynx (25-6). Natasha Howard scored 13 points and Kayla McBride 10.

The Fever (19-11), who had their five-game winning streak halted, were led by Kelsey Mitchell with 37 points, her fifth 30-point game of the season and 14th straight 20-point game, second in league history behind A'ja Wilson's 15-straight in a single season. Caitlin Clark added 19 points and 10 assists and Aliyah Boston had 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

“We were just a little bit of a step slow," Clark said of the defense. “ Proud of our group for finding ways to adjust, and that’s what you have to do versus a really good team.”

Both teams got off to a blistering start with Minnesota leading 36-32 after one quarter, tying the league record for most points in an opening period. Mitchell had 16 points in the first period, but Miles had 14 in the second and the Lynx led 64-53 at the break.

The crowd, listed as 16,505, certainly had plenty of Fever fans. That's not a surprise given that Clark grew up in West Des Moines, Iowa, which is about 3 1/2 hours away.

“It was weird hearing fans cheer when the other team scored,” Miles said. “Both ways, there was cheering for baskets and it was just loud in there. The energy, it's what you want as a basketball player.”

Fever: Home against Las Vegas on Thursday.

Lynx: Home against Los Angeles on Thursday.

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Minnesota Lynx guard Courtney Williams (10) celebrates with teammates after making a basket during the second half of a WNBA basketball game against the Indiana Fever, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, left, dribbles downcourt as Minnesota Lynx guard Kayla McBride (21) defends during the first half of a WNBA basketball game Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve, left, and guard Olivia Miles (5) stand on the court during the first half of a WNBA basketball game against the Indiana Fever, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Fans wear shirts saying "Trans Kids Belong In Sports" during a WNBA basketball game between the Minnesota Lynx and the Indiana Fever Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham (8) and Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve, right, stand on the court during the first half of a WNBA basketball game Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

DALLAS (AP) — Kay Granger, the first Republican woman from Texas to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and who served for nearly three decades, died Sunday at the age of 83, her son J.D. Granger said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a post on X that throughout her career, Granger "broke barriers for women in public service.” He added that she “was a dear friend who will be greatly missed.”

Granger, who began her career as a high school teacher and a businesswoman, accomplished many firsts as a politician. She was the first woman elected mayor of Fort Worth, Texas, and the first Republican woman to chair one of the most powerful committees in Congress, the House Appropriations Committee.

First elected to the House in 1996, she did not seek reelection in 2024 and experienced worsening “health challenges” in her final months in Congress, according to a statement her office released in December 2024. Granger, who didn’t cast a vote in Washington after July 2024, didn’t specify or elaborate on those health challenges but said in the statement that frequent travel to Washington had become “both difficult and unpredictable" since early September of that year.

Granger graduated from Texas Wesleyan University in 1965 and considered a career in fashion design but followed her mother into teaching. She worked in the Birdville school district for nine years, teaching English literature and journalism, according to a profile compiled for the publication “Women in Congress, 1917-2006.”

A divorce would lead to a career change. To earn more money, Granger worked from home selling insurance. Her mother, Alliene Mullendore, who moved in with Granger after a stroke, helped keep an eye on the kids. Granger eventually built a successful insurance business that she managed for more than two decades.

“I was a high school teacher with three children, a 2-year and 6-month-old twins, and my husband left," Granger told The Hill in a 2008 profile. “It's the reason I talk so much to working mothers ... you just fight your way through the day.”

Granger got her political start serving on Fort Worth's zoning commission and then won office to the city council. She went on to win election as the city's first female mayor, serving from 1991 to 1995.

Granger’s “Code: Blue” programs included citizen patrol initiatives that halved the rampant crime rate and partnerships with the private sector that drew major businesses to the city. Her resuscitation of Fort Worth’s flagging economic fortunes drew national attention.

In 1996, she was recruited by both parties to run for the House under their banner, and she won as a Republican.

Upon entering Congress, she was named to an advisory board that consulted then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich. She also received seats on three committees: Budget, House Oversight, and Transportation and Infrastructure. She resigned those assignments as part of accepting a seat on the Appropriations Committee.

On the committee, she focused on defense spending, including championing the production of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter in Fort Worth.

When Republicans took charge of the House in 2023, Granger became the committee's chair, where she sought to enact steeper non-defense spending cuts than the top-line numbers House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden agreed to as part of avoiding an economically disastrous government default.

FILE - Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, looks on as the House votes for a new speaker, at the Capitol in Washington, on Oct. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE - House Appropriations Committee Chair Kay Granger, R-Texas, and her panel begin work on fiscal 2024 spending bills, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, June 14, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)