Courtney Williams, Napheesa Collier and Olivia Miles each scored 16 points Thursday night and the visiting Minnesota Lynx won their ninth in a row, 104-72 over the Toronto Tempo.
Kayla McBride added 13 points for the Lynx (24-6), who defeated the Tempo 100-93 on Tuesday in the opener of the back-to-back. Reserve Dorka Juhasz scored 12 points for the Lynx who have defeated the Tempo three times.
Laura Juskaite scored 19 points for the Tempo (10-18), who have lost five in a row.
Marina Mabrey added 16 points for the Tempo, who committed 24 turnovers leading to 31 points. Reserve Nyara Sabally chipped in 10 points.
The Lynx led by as many as 29 points in the third quarter and took a 26-point advantage into the fourth. The lead reached 35 on a layup by Eliska Hamzova with 3:57 to play as the substitutes took over.
Juskaite hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Tempo a 19-18 lead after one quarter, following an opening 12-3 run.
Williams made a 17-footer to give Minnesota a 29-25 lead with 6:11 to play in the second quarter as turnovers started to hurt the Tempo.
The lead reached nine points on Collier’s layup with 4:51 remaining in the half. Collier’s fadeaway jumper from six feet bumped the margin to 14 with 1:57 left. Sabally’s 3-pointer cut the lead to 50-41 heading into the break.
The Tempo committed 12 turnovers, leading to 18 points in the first half. The Lynx limited their turnovers to four, which led to two points.
A pair of Tempo turnovers helped the Lynx start the second half with a 7-0 burst. McBride’s steal and running layup increased the lead to 19 points with 6:00 to play in the third quarter.
The Lynx were playing a more connected game in the second half and when Juhasz snared a rebound before hitting a 3-pointer, they led by 25 with 4:00 to go in the third. The lead reached 29 before Toronto’s Kiki Rice completed the scoring in the third quarter with a 3-pointer to make it 81-55.
–Field Level Media
