If you haven't been paying attention, the Minnesota Lynx have quickly become one of the WNBA's best teams and have the best record in the Western Conference.
Kayla McBride hit seven 3-pointers and finished with a season-high 32 points, Napheesa Collier scored 19 points and grabbed 14 rebounds and the Minnesota Lynx beat Seattle 83-64 on Sunday night and snapped the Storm’s six-game win streak.
Minnesota (8-3), which beat the Storm in back-to-back games to open the season, has won four of its last five games. The Lynx had a three-game win streak snapped Friday when Kahleah Copper’s 3-pointer just before the buzzer gave the Mercury an 81-80 win over Minnesota
McBride — who set a franchise record by hitting eight 3-pointers in Friday’s loss to the Mercury — made 9 of 13 from the field, 7 of 10 from 3-point range and 7 of 7 from the free-throw line.
McBride hit 3s to open and cap a 10-3 spurt that made it 57-49 with 2:15 left in the third quarter and Minnesota led the rest of the way.
Skylar Diggins-Smith hit a mid-range jumper to cut the Storm’s deficit to five with 5:38 left in the fourth quarter but McBride answered with two free throws and followed with a 3-pointer to make it 70-60 less than a minute later and Seattle got no closer.
Jewell Loyd led Seattle with 25 points but shot just 9 of 27, 1 of 9 from behind the arc. The No. 1 pick in the 2015 WNBA draft, Loyd moved past Taj McWilliams-Franklin (5,013) into 24th on the WNBA’s career scoring list with 5,030 points. Nneka Ogwumike added 14 points.
Bridget Carleton scored 13 points for the Lynx.
The Storm used a 19-2 run to take a 10-point lead late in the second quarter.
Minnesota shot 45% from the field, hit 12 of 22 (55%) from 3-point range, made 17 of 21 (81%) from the free-throw line and had 25 assists on 27 made field goals.
Seattle (7-4) was coming off a 78-65 road win over the defending champion Las Vegas Aces on Friday, who the Lynx play next on Tuesday.
Minnesota Lynx (8-3, 6-2 Western Conference) at Las Vegas Aces (5-3, 4-2 Western Conference)
Las Vegas; Tuesday, 9:00 p.m.
BOTTOM LINE: Minnesota Lynx faces the Las Vegas Aces after Kayla McBride’s 32-point game in the Lynx’s 83-64 win over the Seattle Storm.
Las Vegas finished 18-2 in Western Conference play and 19-1 at home during the 2023-24 season. The Aces averaged 92.8 points per game last season, 16.4 from the free-throw line and 27.9 from deep.
Minnesota went 12-8 in Western Conference action and 19-21 overall during the 2023-24 season. The Lynx shot 43.5% from the field and 32.5% from 3-point range last season.
INJURIES: Aces: Chelsea Gray: out (foot).
Lynx: Diamond Miller: out (knee).