Kayla McBride scored 30 points to lead the host Minnesota Lynx over the Atlanta Dream 86-79 on Wednesday afternoon in Minneapolis in their final game before the WNBA’s All-Star and Olympic break.
Natisha Hiedeman was key for Minnesota (17-8), scoring a season-high 18 points, all off the bench. Alanna Smith contributed 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Courtney Williams added eight points and nine assists.
Atlanta (7-17) received a boost from Rhyne Howard, who returned from an ankle sprain to score 15 points in the loss. Cheyenne Parker-Tyus led the Dream with 16 points, shooting 5-for-5 from the floor and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. Tina Charles added 12 points and All-Star Allisha Gray scored seven points, below her team-leading 15.9 points per game average entering Wednesday.
It looked like the Dream might put their seven-game losing streak behind them with a four-point lead heading into the final quarter, but they couldn’t handle the Lynx. Specifically, the play of Hiedeman, who took over in the final 10 minutes.
Hiedeman scored 16 points and added an assist in the fourth, accounting for more points than the Dream until late in the quarter.
Her scoring run started with two 3-point shots and a mid-range jumper to help the Lynx tie the game with 6:38 remaining. After the Atlanta lead disappeared, the Minnesota advantage began. The Lynx outscored Atlanta 30-19 in the fourth — the most points in a quarter this season for the Lynx – in the victory.
Minnesota and Atlanta went back-and-forth for four quarters, with 13 lead changes and 15 ties. Neither team had more than a two-possession advantage until the final quarter.
The win comes despite Atlanta outshooting the Lynx 49.2 percent to 37.8 percent and outscoring Minnesota 52-20 off the bench. Atlanta’s turnovers kept Minnesota in the game, as the Dream gave away more (16-7), resulting in 15 points off turnovers for the Lynx.
Minnesota beat Atlanta for the third time this season. The two teams play their final regular-season game on Sept. 10 in Atlanta.
–Field Level Media
