HOUSTON, June 22 (AP) -- Tina Thompson scored 23 points to lead the Houston Comets to a 95-85 win over the Washington Mystics on Friday night.

Rookie Ashley Shields added 20 points and Hamchetou Maiga-Ba had 16 for Houston (2-10), which won its first game of the season Wednesday against Los Angeles.

DeLisha Milton-Jones scored 24 points, and Nakia Sanford had 21 and 11 rebounds for the Mystics (2-10).

The Comets, who outrebounded Washington 33-23, took the lead for good in the third quarter on Sancho Lyttle's layup with 8:20 to go.

Houston started the second half on a 16-4 run, including 12 straight points that gave the Comets a 59-47 lead with 5:16 left.

After the Mystics responded with a 6-0 run of their own, Houston scored seven unanswered points to take its biggest lead of the game at 66-53.

Sanford had 15 points in the first half and made 13 free throws before attempting her first field goal with 2:58 to go. After missing the shot, Sanford made the put-back to give the Mystics a 40-34 lead.