Artistically, this Lynx victory wasn't pretty. But badly needed, it was.

The Lynx opened what they hope will be a post-Olympics run to a WNBA playoff spot by beating Washington 92-78 on Saturday in a matchup of two teams on the fringe of playoff spots.

Five players scored in double figures for the Lynx (14-13). Supersub Candice Wiggins had a team-high 22, including 13 in the fourth quarter before an announced crowd of 6,980 at Target Center.

"We've been going against each other for 30 days so we were ready to go," said Wiggins, a rookie guard averaging 16.4 points. "This win really validates all the hard work we put in."

Anna DeForge added 14 points. Seimone Augustus, who played on the gold medal U.S. team, had 12 points on a rough shooting night (4-for-16). Rookie center Nicky Anosike and her backup, 6-4 Vanessa Hayden-Johnson, had 11 points apiece. Hayden-Johnson also had a game-high nine rebounds in 12 minutes.

"When Vanessa plays like that, she gives us a huge lift," said Lynx coach Don Zierden, whose team is sixth in the Western Conference, two spots out of a playoff berth with seven games left.

The Mystics, tied for fifth in the Eastern Conference coming into this game, fell to 10-18. They were within seven in the middle of the final period when Wiggins sparked a 10-0 run.

It started with Hayden-Johnson's rebound basket after Wiggins missed a shot. Then Wiggins made two free throws and two three-pointers, the first from the right wing.

Her second three, from the left wing, made it 79-62 with 4 minutes, 44 seconds left.

"As a coach, you always like it when those threes go down," Zierden said. "She hit a couple big shots. We found a play we were able to go to."

Even with Alana Beard on the Mystics' side that 17-point Lynx cushion was too much for the lowest-scoring team in the WNBA to overcome. Beard scored 27 points.