Naphessa Collier recorded 28 points and eight rebounds and Courtney Williams had a basket and two key free throws down the stretch as the Minnesota Lynx held off the Dallas Wings 85-81 on Wednesday in Minneapolis.
The Lynx (3-0), playing their home opener, remained undefeated with a solid performance against a retooled Dallas squad that has a new coach and nine new players from last season.
Minnesota led by seven points at halftime and by as many as 11 in third quarter before taking a 70-62 advantage into the final 10 minutes of play. The Wings rallied, drawing within 76-73 on DiJonai Carrington’s 3-pointer with 3: 41 remaining.
The Lynx answered with a basket and a pair of free throws by Williams, the latter with 1:36 to play. Natisha Hiedeman added a free throw four seconds later to stoke the Minnesota lead to 81-73 but Dallas kept coming, whittling its deficit to 83-81 on Arike Ogunbowale’s 3-pointer with 39.3 seconds remaining.
Collier canned a pair of free throws with 17.5 seconds left and Minnesota was able to hold on.
Alanna Smith and Williams finished with 13 points each for the Lynx, with Hiedeman adding 10 and Jessica Shepard taking 10 rebounds off the bench.
Ogunbowale paced the Wings (0-3) with 21 points. Paige Bueckers added 12 points and 10 assists but shot just 3-for-11. Carrington and Myisha Hines-Allen scored 11 points apiece.
The Wings ruled the opening four-plus minutes, forging a 15-5 lead after NaLyssa Smith’s layup with 6:01 left in the quarter. But Minnesota swung back, ending the period on a 14-3 run capped by Williams’ jumper with 1:13 left to take a 19-18 lead after one period of play.
A 3-pointer by Hiedeman with 3:41 to play in the second period rose the Lynx’s lead to eight points and Alanna Smith’s layup a minute later made it 42-32. Ogunbowale canned a running jumper with 47 seconds to play to cull Minnesota’s advantage to 47-40 at the break.
Minnesota was uber-balanced on the offensive end over the first two quarters with Karlie Samuelson leading the way with nine points and Collier, Smith and Hiedeman adding eight points each. The Lynx outshot Dallas 57.1 percent to 42.1 percent in the first half.
Ogunbowale led the Wings with 11 points before halftime.
–Field Level Media
