Napheesa Collier scores 23, Courtney Williams 22 to lead Lynx to 98-87 win over Aces

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Napheesa Collier scored 23 points, Courtney Williams added a season-high 22 and the Minnesota Lynx raced past the Las Vegas Aces 98-87 on Wednesday night.

Minnesota scorched the two-time defending champions at home for the second time this season, winning its June game in Las Vegas 100-86.

The Lynx shot 55.2% in the first win, 59.4% in this one with Williams, who also had 10 assists and seven rebounds, providing the clincher. Las Vegas cut a 15-point deficit with 4:40 to play to 93-85 on a layup by Jackie Young with 1:37 left. Williams then drilled a 3-pointer from the left wing.

Bridget Carleton added 12 points, Kayla McBride had 11 and Alanna Smith 10, giving the Lynx (20-8) five starters in double figures for just the second time, the first coming in the other win over the Aces. Myisha Hines-Allen, acquired in a trade on Tuesday, had eight points off the bench.

Young had 26 points, hitting 6 of 8 behind the arc, and Kelsey Plum had 20 for Las Vegas (17-10). A'ja Wilson had 15 with nine rebounds, ending her run of 20 and 10 at eight straight. Tiffany Hayes scored 12.

The teams were a combined 20 of 31 in the first quarter with 17 assists as the Lynx took a 26-25 lead. Minnesota finished the half 20 of 31 (64.5%) to take a 54-46 lead at the break.

The Lynx again made 10 baskets in the third quarter and entered the fourth quarter shooting 62.5% for a 79-67 lead.

Minnesota finished at 59% (38 of 64), 11 of 19 from 3-point range (58%) and had 28 assists.

The teams play again in Minnesota on Friday, where the Aces won 80-66 in May.

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Minnesota Lynx guard Courtney Williams, left, stands on the court during the final seconds of the second half of a WNBA basketball game against the Las Vegas Aces, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Minnesota Lynx guard Courtney Williams (10) shoots over Las Vegas Aces guard Chelsea Gray (12) during the second half of a WNBA basketball game Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Las Vegas Aces guard Kelsey Plum (10) reacts after scoring against the Minnesota Lynx during the first half of a WNBA basketball game Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Minnesota Lynx guard Courtney Williams (10) celebrates after scoring against the Las Vegas Aces during the second half of a WNBA basketball game Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier (24) shoots against Las Vegas Aces guard Tiffany Hayes (15) during the second half of a WNBA basketball game Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Minnesota Lynx Myisha Hines-Allen shoots around Las Vegas Aces center Megan Gustafson (17) during the second half of a WNBA basketball game Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Minnesota Lynx guard Courtney Williams drives against Las Vegas Aces guard Kelsey Plum (10) during the second half of a WNBA basketball game Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon, right, motions to her player during the second half of a WNBA basketball game against the Minnesota Lynx, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier (24) drives gainst Las Vegas Aces guard Jackie Young (0) during the second half of a WNBA basketball game Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Minnesota Lynx guard Kayla McBride, right, guards Las Vegas Aces guard Jackie Young (0) during the first half of a WNBA basketball game Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Conflict is likely among partners in South Africa's new coalition government but that won't be “catastrophic” for its hopes of turning around the country, the leader of the second biggest political party said Thursday.

John Steenhuisen's Democratic Alliance joined a coalition government led by the long-ruling African National Congress against all expectations after May's national election, making staunch foes from either side of the South African political spectrum partners in government.

Analysts predicted it would be a difficult working relationship — and Steenhuisen called it “a marriage of inconvenience” for Africa's most advanced economy, which is burdened by problems of poverty, inequality, unemployment and failing state-run businesses.

Steenhuisen said that there would likely be many moments of disagreement between his center-right DA and the left-leaning ANC over the next five years of the parliamentary term to end South Africa's “deep crisis,” and that should be accepted.

“Conflict over policy ... is not necessarily an existential threat to the government," Steenhuisen said in a lunchtime speech to a largely elderly audience at a plush sports club in Cape Town. “There will be conflict. There will be differences in policy.”

The ANC and the DA came together along with eight other smaller parties to form what's been called a government of national unity after weeks of painstaking negotiations following the May 29 election. The historic agreement was brokered after the long-dominant ANC lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since the end of the apartheid system of racial segregation in 1994, forcing it to find coalition partners to stay in government. It put South Africa in uncharted political waters.

The coalition government was finally formed at the end of June and faces the challenge of reigning in South Africa's desperate unemployment rate of 32%, the highest in the world outside of a war zone. South Africa's economy has hardly grown over the last decade, and Steenhuisen, the former main opposition leader who is now the minister of agriculture, said his party had a singular focus on those issues in government.

“Economic growth and job creation. Growth and jobs. Me and my party are not going to let anything get in the way of that,” he said.

The conflict Steenhuisen spoke of between the DA and ANC could be seen on Friday if President Cyril Ramaphosa, the ANC leader, signs an education bill into law that the DA is strongly opposed to, as Ramaphosa has said he will.

Steenhuisen said his party would take the government it is part of to court over the law if Ramaphosa signs it and accused the ANC of “riding roughshod” over its coalition partners.

The DA is also deeply opposed to a national health law that was introduced before the election that will effectively make the government the sole procurer of healthcare. Critics, including the DA, say it will wipe out the private healthcare business instead of improving public healthcare. The DA is also committed to challenging that in court, Steenhuisen said, another issue where the two main parties that hold the fate of the coalition are at loggerheads.

But Steenhuisen said there was also “a long list” of policies the ANC and DA have agreed on in the 2 1/2 months since the coalition government was formed, mostly with regards to reforming an economy that is meant to be a leader in Africa and for the wider developing world but had just 1.9% GDP growth in 2022 and 0.6% last year.

Steenhuisen said Ramaphosa and the ANC had “no better ally than the Democratic Alliance" when it came to economic reforms that would create jobs and fight poverty.

AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

FILE - Cyril Ramaphosa waves as he arrives ahead of his inauguration as President, at the Union Buildings in Tshwane, South Africa, June 19, 2024. (Kim Ludbrook/Pool Photo via AP, File)

FILE - Main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party leader, John Steenhuisen, delivers his speech at a final election rally in Benoni, South Africa, May 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, File)