Minnesota held off a late Wings surge to win 85-77 in Arlington and extend its winning streak
The Minnesota Lynx beat the Dallas Wings 85-77 this afternoon at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas, improving to 15-4 and extending their winning streak over Dallas to seven consecutive games. The victory was more contested than the halftime score suggested, as the Wings climbed back from a 23-point third-quarter deficit to pull within four points before Minnesota closed the door.
Olivia Miles and Natasha Howard each finished with 21 points to lead the Lynx. Howard added 14 rebounds, and Miles distributed eight assists, several of them arriving at critical moments late in the game. Kayla McBride contributed 17 points and Courtney Williams added 12.
Paige Bueckers led Dallas with a game-high 25 points, and Azzi Fudd scored 21 on 23 shot attempts. Maddy Siegrist added 12 points and Jessica Shepard pulled down 16 rebounds for the Wings, who dropped to 11-8.
How the game unfolded
Minnesota took control almost immediately. The Lynx scored seven consecutive points after an early Dallas basket and ran off the final eight points of the first quarter to lead 28-16 after ten minutes. The three-point shooting was the primary driver, with Minnesota hitting nine of 17 attempts from beyond the arc in the first half while Dallas shot one of 14 from the same distance.
McBride was particularly sharp before halftime, hitting four threes on the way to 12 first-half points. Miles spent much of the first half as a facilitator, recording four of his assists on plays that set up Lynx three-pointers. Dallas went into the break trailing 45-29 and had committed nine turnovers for a team that averages a league-low 10.4 per game.
The lead stretched to 23 points early in the third quarter. Then Dallas found its rhythm. Fudd scored 12 of her 21 points in the third period and hit a three to cap a 19-6 run that pulled the Wings to within 64-54 heading into the fourth. When Bueckers converted a cutting layup with 5:15 remaining to make it 73-69, the game had a different feel than its first half suggested it would.
Miles and Howard closed it out
The Lynx did not let the deficit narrow further. After the Wings pulled to within four, Howard scored on a layup to push the lead back to six and then followed with another layup off a pass from Miles with just over a minute remaining to make it 85-74. Those two baskets, both operating through the pick-and-roll connection that has become one of Minnesota’s most reliable weapons, effectively ended the contest.
Miles shifted her approach between halves in a way that proved decisive. She was one of six from the field in the first half but five of seven in the second, attacking the basket rather than settling for perimeter attempts after Minnesota’s three-point shooting cooled off entirely in the final two quarters. Her ability to read the defensive adjustments and adapt in real time has been one of the defining qualities of her rookie season.
The game had a physical, competitive edge throughout. Miles and Bueckers exchanged words during the first half, and Miles picked up a technical foul for arguing with a referee at the third-quarter buzzer. The intensity reflected two teams that have met twice already this season with genuine competitive stakes involved.
Context and what comes next
Bueckers is now 0-6 against her home state team since entering the league last season, and Fudd is 0-3 in the head-to-head matchup against Miles. Minnesota’s seven-game winning streak over Dallas spans a 3-0 mark this season and a 4-0 sweep a year ago.
Today’s game also carried a notable sideline milestone. Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve, who was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday in Knoxville, tied Mike Thibault’s all-time regular season wins record with the victory. She will have the opportunity to break the record outright when Minnesota visits the New York Liberty on Friday in Brooklyn.
The Lynx also made a roster move Today, elevating forward Liatu King from a developmental contract to a standard player contract. The Wings and Lynx are scheduled to meet one final time this season at Target Center in August.