WASHINGTON -- Shakira Austin had 25 points and 13 rebounds to help the Washington Mystics beat the Connecticut Sun 79-69 on Tuesday night for their franchise-record 27th win of the season.
Washington (27-16) set the previous mark of 26 wins in 2019, en route to the franchise's only WNBA championship.
The Mystics stretched their lead over Dallas and New York (tied for seventh) to one game with two days remaining in the regular season.
Diamond Miller led Connecticut (10-33) with 19 points. Leila Lacan and Raegan Beers scored 11 points apiece.
Washington used a 15-4 run to push its lead into double figures with 3:26 left in the third quarter and Cotie McMahon hit a 3 about 90 seconds later that made it 66-53.
McMahon had 13 points and Sonia Citron 12 for the Mystics.
Austin made a career-high 11 free throws, extended her single-season franchise record to 397 rebounds and had her 20th double-double this season. Austin and Kiki Iraiafen (22 double-doubles) are the first teammates in WNBA history with at least 20 double-doubles in the same season.
The Sun outrebounded Washington 43-34. The Mystics have outrebounded their opponents a WNBA-record 39 times this season.