Lynx Survive Second-Half Collapse, Secure Second Straight Win

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One continuous issue the Minnesota Lynx have dealt with so far this season has been building up leads to only see them disappear in the second half.

On Tuesday night in Indiana, that was once the case and it nearly cost them yet another game.

After jumping out to a 22-point lead during an impressive first half, Minnesota was able to hold off the Indiana Fever 78-74 and avoid a disastrous second-half collapse and secure its second straight victory.

After outscoring the Fever 43-23 in the first half, the Lynx allowed Indiana to outscore them 51-35 in the second half and even take the lead midway through the fourth quarter.

After a few big shots on the offensive end, capped by a handful of late-game free throws from Odyssey Sims, Minnesota was able to improve to 6-5 overall on the season with the victory.

The Lynx began the game looking nearly unstoppable on both ends of the floor.

After trailing 5-2 early on in the game, Minnesota went on to roll for the rest of the opening frame to jump out to a double-digit lead. The Lynx went on a 21-7 run to close out the quarter to hold a 23-12 lead while shooting an impressive 52.6 percent from the field in the first.

To round out the first half, Minnesota continued its dominance on both ends of the floor to carry a 20-point lead into the break. The trio of Sims, Napheesa Collier and Sylvia Fowles put on a show for the Lynx, shooting 12 for 21 while finishing with 32 points in the opening half.

Along with getting hot offensively, shooting 50 percent from the field over the first two quarters, Minnesota held Indiana to shooting just 25.7 percent heading into halftime.

Almost immediately out of halftime, however, it was like a flip of a switch from what was displayed in the first half.

In the third quarter, the Fever fed off multiple Lynx turnovers to outscore Minnesota 29-17 in the frame and cut the lead down to just eight heading into the final 10 minutes.

In the fourth, Indiana continued to battle back, tying the game with just under seven minutes left and taking a 63-61 lead shortly after. The 22-point comeback tied the Fever franchise record for the largest comeback in team history.

Over the course of the final three minutes, however, Damiris Dantas hit a couple of big shots to push Minnesota ahead and Sims sealed the deal at the line to ultimately come away with the win.

Sims put together yet another nice performance to lead the way for Minnesota, tallying her second straight 20-point performance. She paced the Lynx with an all-around performance of 25 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and five steals.

Behind Sims, Collier had 16 points and four rebounds, Dantas added 15 points and five rebounds, Fowles had a near double-double of nine points and 11 rebounds and Danielle Robinson finished with six points, four rebounds and four assists for Minnesota, which finished shooting 46.7 percent from the field.

For Indiana, Kelsey Mitchell led its second-half surge to lead the way with 17 points and three assists. Erica Wheeler added 13 points and four assists and Teaira McCowan finished with 11 points and seven rebounds for the Fever, which shot 38.7 percent in the loss.

Next up for Minnesota will be a contest against the Dallas Wings at 3 p.m. Sunday in Arlington as the Lynx wrap up their current two-game road trip.

Ultimately, a win is a win, and Minnesota will look to make it three in a row on Sunday. But the Lynx still clearly have plenty to work on and some things to clean up moving forward this season.

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