NBA

Minnesota Lynx at Atlanta Dream

· Women's National Basketball Association
4-1, 2-1 Away
Final
79 - 92

2-2, 1-1 Home

Kayla McBride pours in 31 as Lynx extinguish Dream

Kayla McBride sinks 6 3-pointers on way to 31-point game

Kayla McBride scored a season-high 31 points on 10-for-12 shooting and matched her career best of six three-pointers to help lead the visiting Minnesota Lynx to a 92-79 win over the Atlanta Dream on Sunday.

Napheesa Collier added 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Lynx, while Alanna Smith chipped in 17 points. Minnesota (4-1) won its second game in as many nights after Saturday's victory over the Liberty.

Rhyne Howard led the Dream (2-2) with 23 points, followed by Tina Charles' 14. Cheyenne Parker-Tyus tallied 10 points and eight rebounds before fouling out for Atlanta, which has dropped two of three.

After leading by four at halftime, Minnesota saw its advantage cut in half on Howard's pullup jumper with 9:20 left in the third quarter.

A pair of Collier free throws extended Minnesota's lead to 77-59, which it held entering the final quarter.

Trailing 81-63 in the fourth, Atlanta trimmed the deficit with five straight points from Aerial Powers. Parker-Tyus added a layup, cutting Minnesota's lead to 81-70 with 4:34 remaining.

Once again, McBride stymied the run, knocking down her sixth three-pointer to push the lead back to 14 with 4:16 remaining.

Looking to make a late run, Naz Hillmon's triple cut Atlanta's deficit to 84-75, but a pair of Collier free throws and another McBride bucket capped the Minnesota win.

Bridget Carleton's triple gave the Lynx their largest lead of the first quarter at 20-13 with 4:32 remaining, but Atlanta got the deficit down to 28-25 entering the second.

From there, McBride's floater gave the Lynx a 32-27 lead, before Crystal Dangerfield's 3-pointer and Powers' mid-range jumper knotted the score with 8:23 left in the first half.

Minutes later, Courtney Williams' jumper gave Minnesota a four-point lead, but Howard's triple and Powers' layup returned the lead to the Dream, giving them a 39-38 advantage.

Still facing a one-point deficit, Collier and Natisha Hiedeman each scored to give Minnesota a 48-45 lead with 58.3 seconds left.

Charles then connected on a layup before McBride's trey extended Minnesota's halftime lead to 51-47.

--Field Level Media

Regular Season Series

MIN wins series 4-0

Recent Plays

4th 0.0 End of Game 92 - 79
4th 0.0 End of the 4th Quarter 92 - 79
4th 0.0 Dream offensive team rebound 92 - 79
4th 0.1 Haley Jones misses 9-foot two point shot 92 - 79
4th 14.0 Bridget Carleton makes 25-foot three point jumper (Napheesa Collier assists) 92 - 79

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/wnba/500/min.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originMIN https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/wnba/500/atl.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originATL
31-62 FG 31-68
50.0 Field Goal % 45.6
13-29 3PT 6-22
44.8 Three Point % 27.3
17-23 FT 11-14
73.9 Free Throw % 78.6
31 Rebounds 32
5 Offensive Rebounds 10
26 Defensive Rebounds 22
23 Assists 23
7 Steals 9
4 Blocks 1
10 Turnovers 10
0 Team Turnovers 1
10 Total Turnovers 11
0 Technical Fouls 0
0 Total Technical Fouls 0
0 Flagrant Fouls 0
14 Points Conceded Off Turnovers 13
11 Fast Break Points 4
24 Points in Paint 30
17 Fouls 15
18 Largest Lead 5

Game Information

Venue: Gateway Center

Location: College Park, GA
Attendance: 3,265 · Capacity:

2023-24 Western Conference Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Minnesota - 10 L1 0.75 30
Las Vegas 3 13 W5 0.675 27
Seattle 5 15 W1 0.625 25
Phoenix 11 21 L1 0.475 19
Dallas 21 31 L9 0.225 9
Los Angeles 22 32 W1 0.2 8

2023-24 Eastern Conference Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
New York - 8 L1 0.8 32
Connecticut 4 12 W1 0.7 28
Indiana 12 20 L1 0.5 20
Atlanta 17 25 W3 0.375 15
Washington 18 26 W1 0.35 14
Chicago 19 27 L5 0.325 13
Full Standings

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