WASHINGTON — For the second night in a row, one of the WNBA's all-time greats hit a shot late and damaged the playoff hopes for the Lynx.
This time, it was former Lynx star Katie Smith, whose three-pointer with 43.5 seconds remaining helped lift the Washington Mystics to a 61-58 victory over the Lynx on Friday night.
The Lynx (11-19) fell into a tie with the idle Los Angeles Sparks for the final Western Conference playoff spot.
Another former Lynx player, Lindsey Harding, led Washington (18-12) with 15 points, and Smith scored 11 points. Crystal Langhorne finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds. The Mystics improved to 11-4 at home, swept the season series from the Lynx and tied a franchise record for most victories in a season.
Lindsay Whalen and Monica Wright scored 13 points for the Lynx, who lost Thursday night to Los Angeles at Target Center on a buzzer-beater by Tina Thompson, the WNBA's all-time leading scorer.
"They are battling for their lives, we are still trying to get ourselves in," Smith said. "This is the way it's going to be, I think, throughout the rest of the season, but also when the playoffs arrive. Nip and tuck."
Just like Thursday, the Lynx were in control at halftime Friday, leading 40-29 at the break. But they scored only 18 points and shot 20.5 percent from the field in the second half.
The Mystics made their first five shots of the second half and went on a 13-4 run to make it 44-42. They didn't get over the hump until a wide-open Smith made a shot from the left wing, her third three-pointer of the game.
"Everybody knows who Katie Smith is," Langhorne said of the three-time Olympian and 2008 WNBA finals MVP. "She hits big shots and did it again tonight."
After the Lynx missed two shots, Langhorne made two free throws with 15.7 seconds left, but she missed a pair 7 seconds later.
Whalen, who finished the first half in style with a running double-clutch three-pointer at the buzzer, had a similar look from the top of the key in the closing seconds -- only this time, it went in and out.
"It was about the same shot," said Whalen, who was 0-for-5 and failed to score in the second half. "Probably should have tried to bank it like the first half and maybe I would have got lucky."
The Lynx, fighting for a Western Conference playoff spot despite their record, have four games remaining.
After Sunday's home game against San Antonio -- which began Friday tied with the Lynx for third -- the Lynx finish the regular season with three road games: at Seattle on Tuesday, at Los Angeles on Friday and at Indiana on Sunday.
