Jessica Shepard had a triple-double, Kayla McBride tied her season-high with 29 points and the visiting Minnesota Lynx rode a strong third quarter to a 95-90 victory over the Indiana Fever on Friday night.
Shepard finished with season highs of 22 points and 11 assists and added 11 rebounds, and Natisha Hiedeman scored 17 for the Lynx (29-7), who trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half before McBride helped them get within two points at halftime and outscore the Fever (19-17) by 15 points in the third quarter (32-17).
WNBA-leading Minnesota, playing its seventh consecutive game without star forward Napheesa Collier (ankle), had lost consecutive games for the first time this season and was completing a back-to-back after a 75-73 loss at Atlanta on Thursday.
Kelsey Mitchell scored 27, Lexie Hull had 23, Aliyah Boston had 15 and Shey Peddy added 10 in her debut for the Fever, who played their 14th consecutive game without All-Star guard Caitlin Clark (groin) and their first since losing guard Sophie Cunningham, the team’s most accurate 3-point shooter, to a season-ending knee injury.
McBride made a jumper to start the third-quarter scoring and added two more during a 9-0 run that gave Minnesota a 65-56 lead. Mitchell made a 3-pointer to end the run, but Hiedeman scored the final four points to give the Lynx an 82-69 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Indiana got within five points four times in the final 2:02, but got no closer.
Hull scored 11 points and the Fever made 5 of 6 3-pointers while taking their largest lead of the first quarter, 22-13. Shepherd had the last four of her 10 first-quarter points and two assists to help the Lynx close within 27-22 at the end of the first quarter.
Minnesota’s DiJonai Carrington’s basket started the second quarter, but Damiris Dantas, Hull and Peddy made consecutive 3-pointers and Indiana expanded the lead to 36-24. McBride responded with consecutive 3-pointers and added nine more points and an assist to help the Lynx pull even at 50 before Mitchell’s jumper gave Indiana a 52-50 halftime lead.
–Field Level Media
