Kayla McBride scored 23 points, and Minnesota beat the Connecticut Sun 86-80 on Wednesday night to give Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve the WNBA record for career wins.
Reeve has 380 regular-season wins, one more than Mike Thibault, whose son Eric Thibault is Minnesota's associate head coach.
"I'm excited for the team that we won," Reeve explained. "We had to really gut it out, and it wasn't pretty, and we had to find a way. Just glad it's over."
A four-time WNBA coach of the year, Reeve was hired by the Lynx in 2010 and has led the franchise to each of its four championships — tied with the Houston Comets and Seattle Storm for the most in history.
"Learned a lot from Mike through the years, tremendous coach, and so just so much respect that we've had for each other through the years," Reeve said after the game. "And so, I know he's happy for me, and somebody's going to pass me and I'm going to be happy for them too. At the end of the day, I've been doing this a long time, so, you know, I guess this is bound to happen. It's such a young league."
After Reeve tied Thibault with an 85-77 win at Dallas on June 28, the Lynx (16-6) lost back-to-back games for the first time this season. Minnesota — which moved a half-game in front of Las Vegas, the defending WNBA champion, atop the standings — lost Friday at New York in her first chance to set the record, then fell 90-89 to the Sun at home on Monday.
Natasha Howard had 12 points and 10 rebounds for Minnesota.
Minnesota rookie Olivia Miles, the No. 2 overall draft pick who was named an All-Star last week, missed her second consecutive game with a calf strain. The Lynx are also still waiting for star forward Napheesa Collier to return to the lineup after having surgery on both her ankles. She has been cleared to practice with the team, but has yet to make her season debut.
Up next
Lynx: Begin a four-game homestand Saturday against New York.
(The Associated Press contributed to this story)
