Lynx turn in turnaround effort in Dallas, pick up first road win

Having a travel day to Dallas, the Minnesota Lynx weren't able to get a practice in after Tuesday's one-sided, defensively-challenged, turnover-prone loss to Chicago.

Only tape, rest and reflection.

It was enough. Two days after the team's worst performance of the season, the Lynx bounced back with an 85-73 victory at Dallas Thursday – Minnesota's first road victory of the season.

Up five after three quarters, the Lynx (5-6) opened the fourth quarter with a 10-0 run and were in control the rest of the game.

It was such a turnaround from Tuesday's loss, which began with the Lynx allowing Chicago to score 39 points in the first quarter.

Thursday? The Lynx, with the exception of a stretch to start the third quarter, defended well. Chicago shot 26-for-75 (34.7 percent). After three straight games with 20 or more turnovers, Minnesota turned the ball over 15times. Not great, but an improvement.

Minnesota out-rebounded the best rebounding team in the league.

And there were personal triumphs, too. Kayla McBride, who has worked so hard to find a rhythm this season, made three of six three-pointers on the way to a season-high 22 points. Napheesa Collier had 19 points and eight rebounds, this after matching her career high with 27 Tuesday. Center Sylva Fowles had a 14-point, 12-rebound double-double with three more steals.

The Lynx, who will play Dallas again Saturday, were able to contain Dallas star Arike Ogunbowale in check for three of four quarters; she finished with 20 points, but 12 of them came in the third quarter.

Satou Sabally (10 points) and Kayla Thornton (10) were also in double figures for the Wings (5-7).

With four of five Lynx starters scoring, Minnesota opened the game hitting five of eight shots – including McBride's three-pointer – and not turning the ball over at all while coming out of the gate with an 11-2 lead.

The Lynx didn't finish the quarter the same way. Dallas responded with a 10-2 run to pull within a point before the Lynx took a 20-16 lead into the second quarter. But the Lynx offense hit a wall. Minnesota made just two of its final 12 shots of the quarter, with three turnovers the Wings turned into five points.

The second quarter was strikingly similar.

Collier scored six points and Fowles four as the Lynx opened the quarter on a 15-5 to take a 35-21 lead on McBride's three-pointer with 5:38 left in the half.

But, over the next 3-plus minutes Dallas – getting three-pointers from Thornton and Moriah Jefferson – used an 11-2 run to pull within 37-32 on Sabally's free throw with 2:24 left in the half. But the Lynx finished the quarter on a 6-1 run to take a 43-33 lead at the half. That 33 points by the Wings – who shot just 11-for-35 in the first half – was six fewer than the Lynx allowed Chicago to score in the first quarter of Tuesday's game.

But, after being held scoreless in the first half, Dallas star Ogunbowale came alive – along with her teammates – to start the second half.

Ogunbowale scored 12 of her team's 22 points in the quarter. Dallas, down 10 at the half, opened the third quarter on a 15-4 run to take a 48-47 lead on Marina Mabry's basket. But the Lynx, led by McBride, ended the quarter 14-7 to go up by five entering the fourth.

The Star Tribune did not travel for this game. This article was written using the television broadcast and video interviews before and/or after the game.