Olivia Miles rolled her ankle two nights earlier stepping on Napheesa Collier's foot during Minnesota's win over Golden State, and the Lynx only listed her as probable heading into Washington. She played anyway, and by the time the final horn sounded on a 94-84 win over the Mystics, she'd tied Caitlin Clark for the second-most 20-point games ever by a rookie and crossed 700 career points as the 4th-fastest player in WNBA history to get there.
Recap of Miles' 24-point, 7-assist, 3-steal night that pushed the Lynx to their 6th straight win and a 31-7 record.
Minnesota drafted Miles 2nd overall out of TCU after a three-season run at Notre Dame, and she's spent her rookie year making that pick look like a steal. She's in the thick of the Rookie of the Year race and, per the league's own numbers dropped earlier this week, on pace to become the first WNBA player ever to average 19-plus points and 6-plus assists on 49% shooting.
Miles hits her 19th 20-point game of the season, tying Caitlin Clark's rookie record, as the Lynx push for their 6th straight win late in the 4th quarter.
It wasn't a one-woman show. Kayla McBride kept pouring in threes from the corner and off the dribble to keep Washington from ever climbing back into it, buckets that mattered plenty on a night the Mystics were trying to defend home turf against the West's top seed.
Kayla McBride drills back-to-back triples to stretch the Lynx's lead to double digits late in the 4th.
This win came just two days after Miles had already climbed into 3rd on the all-time rookie scoring list during a blowout of the Valkyries, passing A'ja Wilson and Paige Bueckers in the same night before the ankle injury cut her evening short. Getting past 700 points against the Mystics wasn't a new placement on the list, but it's confirmation she's not slowing down, ankle and all.
At 31-7 and winners of 16 of their last 17, the Lynx look like the team to beat out West, and Miles' rookie-record chase is only going to get louder as the playoffs approach. If she's already tying Clark's marks in year one, the question isn't whether she wins Rookie of the Year — it's how many rookie records are left standing by the time she's done.