Lynx Bounce Back with Road Win Over Liberty

(image credit: courtesy of the Minnesota Lynx on Twitter)

Coming off one of their more disappointing losses of the season over the weekend to the Washington Mystics, the Minnesota Lynx continued their two-game road trip on Tuesday night needing a bounce back performance to try and hold onto a playoff spot in the heart of the home stretch of the regular season.

The Lynx, entering the night as the No. 7 seed in the WNBA standings while sitting in a spot where they could still make a jump in the postseason picture, were able to accomplish just that against the struggling New York Liberty on their home court.

Minnesota bounced back on the road to take down New York 89-73 on Tuesday at Westchester County Center in the Big Apple.

With the victory, the Lynx moved back 13-12 overall to get back above the .500 mark on the season and are now 4.5 games back of the top seed in the league standings while trailing the Seattle Storm and the No. 6 seed by just one game.

To open up the game, New York jumped out to an early five-point lead to only have that lead disappear in a blink of an eye with a strong run by Minnesota to end the first quarter. The Lynx finished the quarter on a 15-4 run to hold a 20-14 advantage over the Liberty heading into the second frame.

Before the half, Minnesota continued to hold onto a lead amidst a sloppy quarter from both teams entering the break. The Lynx, which led by as many as 16 points midway through the second quarter, ended up carrying a 42-40 advantage into halftime.

In the opening half, Minnesota finished shooting 45.5 percent from the field while New York recorded a 50 percent mark. The two teams combined to commit 22 turnovers and a total of 24 fouls in the opening 20 minutes.

Out of halftime, the Lynx didn’t waste any time jumping back out to a double-digit lead over the Liberty. Minnesota went on to outscore New York 24-15 in the quarter to take a 66-55 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.

In the fourth quarter, the Lynx were able to coast to a much-needed road victory while outscoring the Liberty 23-18 in the final frame.

Odyssey Sims, who leads Minnesota in both scoring and assists so far in 2019, led the way offensively once again. She tallied a team-best 17 points, along with six assists, three steals and two rebounds in nearly 31 minutes of action.

To follow Sims, Stephanie Talbot recorded 16 points and three rebounds, Danielle Robinson had a nice all-around game off the bench with 14 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals, rookie Napheesa Collier added 14 points and four rebounds, Lexie Brown had eight points and three steals and Sylvia Fowles added seven points and eight rebounds for Minnesota, which shot 51.6 percent from the field in the win.

Rebecca Allen was the bright spot in the game for New York, recording a game-best 28 points and four rebounds off the bench. Kia Nurse added 11 points and three assists and Bria Hartley finished with 10 points for the Liberty, who shot 43.9 percent as a team.

Minnesota was able to hold All-Star Tina Charles in check for most of the game, limiting her to shooting 2 of 9 from the field to finish with seven points and seven rebounds in the contest.

The Lynx will return back home to Minneapolis for a brief one-game homestand before returning to the road this weekend. Minnesota will host the Washington Mystics at 7 p.m. Friday night at Target Center, with the game being aired on Fox Sports Go, WNBA League Pass and 106.1 FM.

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