The Minnesota Lynx bounced back following Sunday’s last-second loss to the Dallas Wings in a big way on Tuesday night back home in Minneapolis.
The Lynx blew out the Atlanta Dream 85-68 at Target Center to secure their third win in the last four games.
With the win, Minnesota improved to 7-6 on the season as it now begins a tough three-game road trip with stops in Connecticut, Chicago and Atlanta to kick off the month of July.
In the opening quarter, the Lynx were able to get off to a nice start and build themselves a lead early. After falling behind 10-3 to start the game, Minnesota rattled off a 19-11 run to end the frame to grab a 22-21 lead heading into the second.
To finish off the first half, the Lynx were able to outscore the Dream 16-13 to hold a 38-34 lead going into the break.
An area Minnesota has struggled in so far this season is coming out strong in the third quarter, but that wasn’t the case on Tuesday night and that proved to be the difference-maker in the game.
With a four-point lead out of halftime, the Lynx were able to go on a 14-5 run to start the third and ended up outscoring the Dream 28-16 in the quarter to take a 66-50 lead going into the final 10 minutes of play.
In the fourth quarter, Minnesota was able to put the game on cruise control and coast to a victory back in front of its home crowd at Target Center.
In her second straight start while filling into the starting lineup for the injured Damiris Dantas, who missed her second straight game with a calf injury, Stephanie Talbot shined for the Lynx in the win.
Talbot led Minnesota with a season-high 24 points, five rebounds and three assists. Odyssey Sims followed that up with 16 points and eight assists, Sylvia Fowles added 16 points and five rebounds, Alaina Coates had a nice night off the bench with 10 points and nine rebounds and Napheesa Collier finished with a near double-double of six points and 11 rebounds.
The Lynx finished shooting 47.2 percent from the field in the game, including making seven 3s, and tallied a season-high 24 assists in the victory. They also held a 38-26 rebounding advantage over the Dream.
For Atlanta, which was held to 41.2 percent shooting from the field and just four 3s, Elizabeth Williams led the way with 14 points and three rebounds.
Alex Bentley finished with 10 points and five assists, Brittney Sykes added nine points and four rebounds and former Lynx guard Renee Montgomery tallied three points in the game.
Minnesota will hit the road for a three-game road trip that begins with a contest against a tough Connecticut Sun team at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Mohegan Sun Arena.
