Wheeler helps Fever clinch, 80-73 over Mystics

WASHINGTON (AP) Erica Wheeler scored nine of her 17 points in the final 2:17 to help the Indiana Fever pull away from the Washington Mystics and clinch a playoff berth with an 80-73 win on Sunday.

Wheeler's 3-pointer with 2:17 left gave the Fever (16-15) the lead for good at 72-69 and sparked an 11-4 run in which she made all six free-throw attempts to secure the victory. Indiana is currently in the fifth playoff spot, holding the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Chicago Sky (16-15).

Lynetta Kizer added 17 points, Briann January had 15 and Shenise Johnson scored 12 for the seventh-ranked Fever.

Emma Meesseman had 19 points, Tayler Hill scored 15 and Kia Vaughn added 12 for the No. 10 Mystics (12-19), who are one spot out of the playoffs.

Washington led by seven early in the third quarter before the Fever scored 10 straight and it went back-and-forth from there.