Kayla McBride scored 32 points on 9-for-13 shooting, including 7-for-10 from beyond the arc, and the Minnesota Lynx pulled away for an 83-64 win over the Seattle Storm on Sunday evening in Minneapolis.
Napheesa Collier recorded a double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds for Minnesota (8-3), which beat Seattle for the third time in as many games this season. Bridget Carleton chipped in 13 points.
Jewell Loyd scored 25 points to lead Seattle (7-4). Nneka Ogwumike scored 14 points for the Storm, whose six-game winning streak ended.
Minnesota outscored Seattle 47-23 in the second half.
The Lynx shot 45 percent (27 of 60) overall and 54.5 percent (12 of 22) from deep. Meanwhile, the Storm shot 34.7 percent (26 of 75) overall and just 18.2 percent (4 of 22) from beyond the 3-point line.
Seattle cut the deficit to 65-60 on a jump shot by Skylar Diggins-Smith with 5:38 left. That was as close as the Storm got in the final quarter.
The Lynx opened a double-digit advantage in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. Carleton made a 3-pointer to give Minnesota a 73-62 lead with 3:57 remaining.
Alanna Smith followed with a pair of free throws to make it 75-62, and McBride made a 3-pointer to increase the Lynx’s lead to 16 points with 2:14 to play to seal the outcome.
Minnesota outscored Seattle 23-11 in the third quarter to seize the lead.
The Lynx trailed by five points to start the quarter and ended it with a 59-52 edge. Collier started the second-half scoring with a layup off an assist from Smith.
The score was even at 49-49 with 4:34 remaining in the third quarter. Minnesota then went on an 8-0 run that included a 3-pointer by Collier and five points from McBride.
Seattle led 41-36 at the half.
Loyd led all scorers with 16 points before the break. She made a pull-up jump shot to put the Storm on top by 10 with 1:20 to go.
The Lynx scored the final five points of the first half thanks to a 3-pointer by Collier and a pair of free throws by Courtney Williams.
–Field Level Media